Many thanks to Cora and Lina for a fascinating day on yoga
and philosophy on Sunday 8th Feb. 2015 at Canterbury Yoga Studio. We had the chance to revisit some yoga
philosophy and explore it through discussion and through asanas (yoga
postures). The day helped to kick-start
my return to a focus on philosophy in my teaching.
Over the years I’ve studied the Upanishads twice formally
and since January, I have been re-reading them, with a view to integrating them
into some of my yoga classes. The word
“Upanishad” means “sitting down near”, referring back to how students of yoga
would spend time (years!) sitting down near a teacher in the forest, with a
view to absorbing that learning into their lives. The Upanishads mark a shift away from relying
on ritual knowledge and the authority of ritual specialists (as in the writings
of the Vedas) to an interest in exploring the self and human experience.
The Mundaka Upanishad jumped out at me with its interest in
“ways of knowing” – through thinking, through the senses, through the heart,
through meditation – and with the concerns it shares with contemporary
mindfulness.
I’ve started a 3 week block of classes drawing on the
Mundaka Upanishad. The first class last
Thursday (5th March 2015) began to explore “knowing through the
senses” and “knowing through thinking” in our awareness of working in a yoga
posture such as the extended side angle stretch (utthita parsvakonasana). We reflected on how you can “over-think” a
posture by emphasising the precise form and trying to reach the perfect form
(although principles of alignment remain important). We need to remember also to seek softness and
comfort in the pose – using awareness from our senses – in order to “be” fully
in the pose. This helps the yoga
practice involve the whole person more.
A 3 minute meditation on the senses to start the practice
and towards the end a meditation on sounds, followed by a bodyscan meditation –
all these combine to activate knowing through the senses in a way that gives
the mind a rest from knowing through thinking.
In the next two classes, we continue to explore these two
ways of knowing, whilst also considering the Mundaka’s view that they are both
“lower” ways of knowing, compared with knowing through the heart and knowing
through the mind stilled with meditation.
If you are interested, please email me, Sue, to register for
the class or phone reception at Fitness Connection Gym, High Street, Sandwich,CT13
9EB tel. 01304 614000
See also www.dsjyoga.com
