One of the curious things that we come up against time and again in healing work is resistance to change. I say it’s curious because even people who are “formally” on the road of transformation often butt up against an innate resistance to change. This is the dastardly work of the ego, keeping the status quo, telling us tall tales and keeping itself on top…of the True Self.
I started this post after reflecting on the attitudes of some of the clients I work with. I don’t hold myself back in transformative work. I tend to move quickly, push past the discomfort zone and realise results, or at least steps forward, with some rapidity. Being a Canadian living in Spain, I realise that many if not most of my clients and colleagues are not only not open to such rapid change, they are positively mistrustful of it. In my yoga teacher training, we study Viniyoga. This system’s motto is “the yoga adapts to the person, not the person to the yoga”. Well and good. Except when you translate that to mean “put in no effort, you’re fine as you are”.
I often recount, with decidely black humour, my various experiences of training in Spain. For example: I went up to Valencia to do parts 1 and 2 of Yanardana Das’ Cuencoterápia course. We were 15 in the room. In London or Toronto, that would have meant 13 vegans and 2 raw foodists, all teetotal. In Spain it meant lunch at the local restaurant, fish, meat, BEER etc. I mean, in the middle of a tibetan bowl course, you go out and have a beer? Yes, that’s how it is round here. OK, so I concur that on my yoga teacher training course we are pretty abstemious, but….but….the predominant onda is one of permissiveness. I find it hard to square. But also, as a person who seeks stimulation, I find it hard to maintain my own good habits in the midst of such lassitude. So perhaps my great complaint is that I miss the support of a community of seekers who understand the pull of the grape or the bud, but who choose with heart and might to put it off, one day at a time. I look at my friend Suki’s Facebook posts and yearn…
Then I go to thinking – maybe it’s living in the “Olde World” that makes everyone more resistant to change? I am resolutely “New World” in my thinking, convinced that change is necessary and positive, inevitable and desirable. Perhaps the pushing back of frontiers is in my blood? Perhaps the reticence that I rail against comes down to the keeping of traditions. After all, in Spain la fiesta is of supreme importance. Anyone who works the brutal “doble turno” (two shifts) or in a firm that observes siesta knows that almost all waking hours are consumed by the workday. The rewards for such dilligence are pitiful – Spain has some of the lowest salaries in the Eurozone. But, as most will tell you, a fiesta at the end of it makes it mostly tolerable.
I think that the Spanish permissiveness to alcohol and other drugs is down to a deep resistance to change (traditionalism) and avoidance of reality. I am not saying this in a judgmental way – I am just trying to make sense of the world around me. It’s been a long time since I lived in North America…What might it be like over there? Are you more open to change in the “New World”?
Fresh from the garden – the yoga of food.
My partner coaxes wonderful vegetables from the clay-ey mediterranean soil. I have just spent the morning making green juice (using Triestino radicchio now, so a little less bitter), then a curly kale stir fry (with home grown chilli pepper, onion and market-bought ginger and garlic) and finally a lovely creamy pumpkin and ginger soup (the pumpkin is also from the garden, harvested in September). I had bought both my juicer (GreenTech Gold) and my blender (Blendtec) about three years ago, when I tried a high-raw diet for about a year. I managed to make good use of the blender, but the juicer rather stalled as I didn’t have access to good quality greens. I did juice wheatgrass for a while, but summer came and the flies filled my planting trays and, you know, rather put me off.
So….now I have the best to both worlds. High quality equipment and plentiful fresh veg. The yoga of produce plus kit. (for those who don’t know, yoga means “to yoke” or “to unite”) What more could one ask for? Of course, the niyamas of Astanga Yoga talk about sauca , cleanliness and this food definitely promotes a clean, healthy body. The yamas talk about ahimsa, or non-violence. The vegetarian diet is part of this.
Yoga gives me the awareness to feel my body, its balances and imbalances. This contact, consciousness, inspires me to invest in and care deeply about my health. I encourage you to do the same. Make it a priority. AUM.
The key that opens the door.
I never give up. I am absolutely dogged in my determination to find the clues to living this Life fully and happily. I became sad, unbearably sad, at about age 15, and have spent the intervening 25 years trying to figure out why and trying to figure out if there exists a permanent, drug-free way out of this sadness. I think I have found it. Could it be green juice?
For me, I think that this is the magic missing ingredient. But let’s be honest: this follows on from years of acupuncture, yoga, breathing, chanting, suffering and believing. This Spring I found magnesium chloride salts and added them into my daily regime. But something still wasn’t right. This Autumn I began drinking green juices and finally found the energy I had always been lacking.
I think that once we become able to overcome some of the tricks of the ego-mind, we begin to find peace and serenity. But all of you will have met at one time or another, a wonderfully serene yogi/meditator/teacher who, when class is over, is just as tormented as the rest of us. I think that this is simply to do with a lack of energy, a lack of cellular energy. Mitochondrial aging is the cause of many, many degenerative diseases. Care for your mitochondria, care for yourself. Mitochondria need magnesium, y punto. Iron deficiency causes anemia and robs us of energy. The blood needs iron, y punto. Give you body magnesium and iron and it can keep up with all those wonderful, caring, plans and initiatives that your restless mind cooks up. We experience deep frustration when we can’t do the things we want to do because we are tired. Our mind is sluggish, we become emotional, we find our creativity blocked. Give your body the nutrients it needs – in a living form – and you will get more out of life, be happier and more creative. Oh yes, and see if that gives you the pep to add yoga to your life!
Farmers Markets and their importance during "la crisis".
One of the great pleasures of living in Spain is the fruit and veg. Year-round, all sorts of stuff is coaxed from root, shoot and tree then sold on to our friends in the north of Europe. Yes, sadly 90% of all the commercial organic produce is for export, leaving us with the sprayed remains. But this needn’t mean that you are condemned to choose between bitter, second-rate, unsprayed veg or the more luxuriant treated kind. In between, there is the locally produced seasonal fruit and veg. You just need to know how to ask and where to find it.
First of all, the markets normally host two kinds of vendors: producers and resellers. Resellers buy and sell veg. They might buy really fresh stuff from neighbours but mostly they will buy from the distribution warehouses.
The producers will have their own fields and produce much of what is on offer. Just feel free to ask ¿Es suyo? or ¿Tiene campo? Most are very proud to show you what they themselves have produced. They can tell you if it has been sprayed (often it hasn’t) and when it was harvested. The other big difference with local produce is the way it is handled between field and market. To keep a cold supply-chain, wholesale fruit and veg is placed in a powerful refrigeration chamber. Some insist that this changes the taste irrevocably. I think that just avoiding the carbon footprint of those big units is a good move.
So, visitors and expats in Spain, buy at the market and be brave – talk to the vendors! The Spanish take their food very seriously and it is a travesty that firms like Mercadona are selling simulations of Spanish food, with all the denutrification and industiralisation that that entails. Buying locally, from the producer, puts money in the pockets of hard-hit Spanish, helping stave off the worst effects of “la crisis económica”. Yoga teaches that we are all united, all really from and going to the same source. Practice the yoga of spending, buy locally produced food.
Now, I am off to feast on pomegranates, mangos, bananas and avocadoes, all of which are in season. Nyam nyam.
Cellulite – a few tips
OK dear friends, I have been refining my lifestyle tips for the combat of the dreaded peau d’orange. Here is what is working for me:
1. The ZenChi machine, now known as the ReViber Bodywave. This little baby is a gem for microcirculation, joint mobilisation and general détante. I use mine everyday.
2. Maté. Yerba maté is a hot drink typically taken in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The bitter brew comes from a plant related to the holly bush. I sweeten mine with stevia. So, the maté helps fat metabolism and the stevia balances blood glucose levels. What more can you ask for? Maintaining ideal weight is an absolute prerequisite for shapely legs. I could post you some leg photos of my argentinian friends who drink maté. Stunning.
3. Magnesium. I know, I do go on about magnesium. But really, it is the best thing you can do for yourself. I use a brand widely available in Spanish health shops, “Ana Maria LaJusticia”. It is magnesium chloride salts, to be dissolved in water. Use sparingly at first magnesium is strongly detoxing and can provoke healing crises. Use transdermally (put it on your skin), orally (rinse the mouth after brushing with ToothSoap or coconut oil) and finally, swallow. You will be full of vim and vigour, your skin will shine and your liver and kidneys will love you dearly.
4. And of course, practice yoga. Deep breathing pumps lymph. And a properly designed yoga practice will turn your apâna ’round, making those heavy legs a thing of the past.
AUM
Escape from Samsara
The name of a legendary late 90´s techno-trance night in London. Also, a very worthy endeavour. Samsara is the name given to the soul’s endless cycles of birth, life and death. To escape samsara is to attain enlightenment and cease to be reborn, cease suffering.
At this time of great uncertainty in Europe, many of us are overwhelmed by the constant stream of bad news. I, personally, find myself working harder than ever to earn fewer euros. Those that I do earn are permanently destined to rent(s), tax(es), insurance(s), gas etc etc. Yes, we lived in a glorious bubble through the late nineties and early noughties. It was fun, but it had to end. The trouble is, our expectations have been inflated and it´s hard to crash down to reality. As a mother, I like to have enough spare cash to indulge my child in ice cream or shiny baubles. But, I increasingly find myself saying no, because I actually can’t afford to indulge her. Maybe that’s a good thing. I know that when I was a child my parents didn’t buy me ice cream every time I asked!
But, I look at how I am living and see duplication and excess everywhere. My wants are greater than my needs. My work is to make my wants equal my needs. I need to be less greedy and be more easily pleased. Probably my greatest excess in recent months has been moving house. Leaving behind a perfectly fine but somewhat small flat, we moved to a rented house in the campo. The sunrises are glorious and the birdsong a treat. But I am not in a position to have two residences, two sets of bills etc etc. It is sad, but also liberating, to freely judge that I, too, must live within my means. So, adios campo.
I also received the unwelcome news that I, the all-knowing Rachel, have been the victim of a scam. Look up Greenleaf Global insolvency if you want to know more. They say that if something appears too good to be true, it probably is. Well, the scheme was. Ah, I guess one can’t be called a real 21st century human if one hasn’t been caught out at least once, eh? It is sad that a supposedly green and ethical investment turns out to be a total sham. I guess us softies are an easy target.
All this makes me want to retire alone and meditate quietly until my mind is calm. It is hard to remain clear, calm and sure when samsara is all around. But, I put one foot in front of the other, for the journey is long. At least I should endeavour to carry as little baggage as possible, in order to make my footfalls lighter.
Glimpses of the eternal
Yoga is an experiential science. There are plenty of books about yogic techniques, but it can only be learned and internalized by practice. Whenever I give a class, I try to reach that moment of expansive stillness that offers us a glimpse of the eternal. I usually do a savasana mid-class, then sing or chant mantra. The changing (prakriti) gives way to the stillness of silence and I can feel that wonderful ephemeral relaxation descend upon the group. I gently ease back into movement, first observing the mind, inviting it to remain present for the rest of the practice, before doing some gentle pranic postures, like apanasana or dvipada-pitham with bandhas, before sitting for pranayama. It’s just my way of constructing a class, my humble offering. AUM.
The Human Revolution
The question has been there forever. What can I do to make the world a better place? The answer is simple: Human Revolution.
I first heard this term used as the title of a book by Daisaku Ikeda of the Soka Gokkai International. This international Buddhist organization, with origins in Japan, use rapid mantra chant as their main tool of transformation. I joined the SGI in London and chanted Nam Myoho Renge Kyo with intent for about a year and a half. But, like everything organizational, I grew disillusioned with the, erm, organization, and took my search upon new roads. Coming full circle twelve years later, I uplift myself with Sanskrit mantra, carrying on the transformation.
Like most of us, my teenage mind was inquiring and doubtful of the status quo. I took to protesting, letter writing, boycotting, even some direct action-lite. But, again, I grew disillusioned with the way that individual good intentions seemed to get lost when the masses convened. Really, peaceful anarchist punks who seem to always been raising their fists? No, thanks.
So, the question has been there for a long time. But the answer took its time to coalesce. Nowadays, I meditate upon the fact that only by beginning with ourselves can we change the world around us. Also, we need to be humble enough to recognize that we can’t change the whole world. Too many youthful flowers turn into mid-20’s rot when, disillusioned, we give up entirely and sit upon our sofas, waiting for the end.
I think that what we need to learn is patience and humility. Oh yes, and we have to have faith. I have seen through personal experience that we really can begin to take change out of the personal realm and into the world when we integrate ourselves so completely as to become completely sincere and transparent. It’s hard- I’m not patting my back here. But I do know that what I transmit in my yoga classes, and in my life (I hope) is a sincere belief in the finer qualities of the human being. When we begin to manifest our True Nature, our Purusha, we grow calm, compassionate and loving. With those qualities, we share smiles when there are only frowns. We hug warmly when there might otherwise be only a perfunctory “dos besos” (two kisses). And, most importantly, we begin to share our selves, our wealth, open our homes to and generally offer and be prepared for true deep connection with others. This is the Human Revolution: we care for and prepare ourselves to be sane, reasonable, non-judging, generous and accepting. With these qualities, we touch lives. At no point are we on any pedestals, nor do we offer ourselves congratulations. We just find the inner joy, radiate it. That is the reward.
I really don’t know much. But this I know: The real revolution begins within.
The tree of enlightenment
Yoga is the seed, the mind is the fertile ground and detachment is the water that quenches thirst. Like this, we grow the mystic tree of enlightenment.
Kings and Queens
Here in Spain we are taking a day off to celebrate the arrival of the Three Kings in Bethlehem. Bearing gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense, they came the rejoice in the birth of the baby Jesus. Whatever your take on modern-day Christianity, Jesus did some pretty cool stuff in his time. My friend Joel Gazdar, of the Wild Food Café in London posted this on FB a few days ago:
Christmas: Celebrating an unmarried teenage mom giving birth in a stable, to a baby who grew up to be a prominent activist for peace, playfulness, laughter, love, liberation, appreciation and beyond-capitalist values; who preferred the company of honest prostitutes to that of the religious and political elite; who partook in joy-filled, ecstatic, radical direct action in transcending the banking system, and was publicly executed as an enemy of state. My prayer today is in: Celebrating that this wisdom within guide all who call themselves Christians, or any other illusory label or limitation in this world.
This day of the Three Kings, I urge you to honour and venerate the king – or queen – you carry within. We are all born noble and beautiful. Throughout our lives, we carry the light of illumination within our spiritual heart – Hridaya. We can dull our light with ego and illusion, but it never stops burning, with hope and persistence, as long as our heart beats and out lungs draw air.
Yoga is a practice that allows us to believe in, then perceive, and then polish our inner light. When I began practicing yoga, I had no idea that inside myself I carried such beauty. In fact, I didn’t have a very high opinion of myself at all. I judged myself so harshly – the inner and outer me – that I wept often, crying out in pain and frustration at the brutal futility of life. Or, seeming brutal futility. Because that light was glowing within me even if I could not see it. It manifested in many ways, but I had been trained to see these manifestations of loving compassion as something negative. I judged myself as weak, emotional, tearful…unrealistic.
But from the darkest night, the sweetest dawn. From the thickest mud blooms the rose-hued lotus. That gnawing resentment of the state of the world hammered at me, pushed me forward, forced me to find solutions. Our suffering is our friend. As Patanjali says in YS II.23 “svasvamisktyoh svarupopalabdhihetuh samyoga”, which is translated by TKV Desikachar as “however powerful or disturbing something may appear to be, it is our reaction to it that determines its effects…” This means that every time we suffer, it is really an opportunity to practice distinguishing between the observer (our inner light, our purusha) and the observed (the changing material world, the prakriti). Because I suffered, I found yoga.
Yoga has helped me see my inner light, to polish it, and to keep it as a sacred part of myself. Of course I am still dogged by my ego, my stupidity. But I don’t suffer as much because I know and believe that the inner light shines bright and constant within me, and that I, and everyone, every single person, is blessed with this light. This is your inner King, your inner Queen. Honour and love him or her. Celebrate his or her arrival. Accept the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Rejoice and be happy. Share you happiness with someone else and soon we will all be free. AUM.