This month our Moving into Meditation class is studying the Yoga Ethic of Aparigraha. Here are some of the resources we used in this morning’s practice of guided relaxation, mindful movement and sitting meditation.
We used mantra and bandha to seed our breathing consciousness in our pranayama practice.
Today We were gifted rare Japanese incense especially made to facilitate letting go.
Guided Relaxation
Welcome . . . to this present moment . . . as you feel your breathing . . . you extend a welcome to each breath . . . receiving and releasing . . . taking in and giving out . . . each mindful breath . . .an affirmation of your intimacy . . . intimacy with yourself . . . intimacy with all beings . . . . “It is so . . . intimate to be here – to be sharing this wild earth with you – sharing this breath, – drinking the same water – eating from the same soil.”
Together we’re feeling breathing nourishing . . . the outflowing breath affirming the life of other beings . . . every breath exchange – a meeting . . . “ Meeting [an other] . . . [we] try to contain all this, that swirls within and through [our] . . . aching human heart[s] . . . ” We lie below the bold beauty of the autumn sky . . . perhaps having walked through colored leaves . . . like flowers of blessing. We can take in this life with wonder – “ . . . that [here] [are] friends . . . and that we dance and weep together in this garden woven into a tapestry of life. . . “ (inspired by the nature poet, Ben Bushill.)
As we continue coming together in practice . . . like the many colored leaves floating through space to land on the forest floor . . . one by one we let go of the branches of our holding . . . releasing forward momentum of planning . . . shedding burdens of memory . . . imprints of experience on our cells and tissues . . . postural molds and bracing patterns . . . habitual ways we meet the world . . . There is so much we hold . . . so much we might let go of . . .
We come here and lend our selves to opening . . . new awareness surfacing in the natural rhythm of our breathing . . . having to let go, to be filled again. . . This is the realization of Aparigraha. The Yoga principle of non possessiveness . . . the practice of letting go . . .
aparigraha-sthairye janma-kathaṁtā saṁbodhaḥ
Bernard Bouanchaud in “The Essence of Yoga” takes us deep into the heart of this Yama: ” When the mind no longer worries about acquiring and keeping goods, we understand where we come from, where we are, and where we are going. We discover the meaning of existence….”
Tantra Yoga describes “Granthis” as energetic knots or blocks in our personality. In spiritual practice these knots are psychological or psychic barriers to freedom or liberation. In our energetic bodies a Granthi can prevent prana from moving freely. It is said that our Granthis bind us to our misperceptions and hold us to our preferences and our fears.
In yoga, knowledge is key to transcending fear, and, together with action can free us. We can follow paths of contemplation and introspection to reflect on how we are caught in a web of holding patterns. . . Allow whatever comes up to arise in your awareness . . . no need to magnify it with judgment or story . . . just another awareness . . .
We can use our practice, explorations of movement and touch to feel the strands of our inner web. We can trust the breath to guide us in disentangling ourselves. The energy and wisdom of aparigraha – create the conditions in which we can loosen our grip – and experience “release.” Imagine release. Imagine letting go. Psycho-emotional binds shifting. . . . Physiological structures rearranging . . . restored circulation of energy . . . expression of feeling or inspiration.
Can we let go and flow with these rivers and currents of energy? This is the treasure of Aparigraha. . . . Becoming lighter . . . loosening our grip on what weighs us down. Traveling through these streams of consciousness, emotion, energy and thought so intimately part of the greater web of life. Sensing how we can be carried and moved . . . how we can float on the surface of our many, many blessings. And finally coming to the many truths reflected in the light of our unbound awareness.
From the nature poet Ben Bushill:
“. . . Do you see it all behind these eyes? . . . the ocean
from which we all have come and to which we shall return. . . . I see it in you
And I try to give the love . . . the respect . . . the trust . . . that is yours. . . .
. . . friend and child. . . . you are like me, alone here . . . in a crazy, infinite whirling life symphony . . . full of stars and leaves and birdsong and tears. . . . So I bow my head . . . just a little as we meet . . . for I am in the presence of presence . . .
and in the court of love . . . the only language is gratitude . . . and the only words
are your heart prayers . . . keeping the rhythm of your life . . . as you walk the long road home . . .to the light that gave you birth.”
Active Breathing
Let’s begin to seed our breathing consciousness with Mantra & Bandhas.
Brahma Granthi is located at the base of the spine between Muladhara Chakra and Svadhisthana Chakra where primitive brain functioning like the “fight or flight reflexes” guarantee survival. Fear of death, anxiety about food, shelter or clothing, or general lack of grounding, all manifest as Brahma Granthi. . . . We use Mula Bandha to consolidate pranic energies and enliven thought, breath and speech with awareness.
Inhale deeply and feel the breath expanding all the way down to your pelvic floor . . . as you exhale slowly gather the muscles of your pelvic floor in and up (Mula Bandha) . . . hold the breath out . . . hearing & silently chanting Om Asatoma Satgamaya/Lead me from the unreal to the real. Draw the breath in and soften your pelvic floor releasing Mula Bandha. Feel yourself letting go as these tissues soften and the breath relaxes . . . Pause and feel your breath.
Vishnu Granthi knots energy between Manipura Chakra and Anahata Chakra. This Granthi is a knot of individual ego and power. This is also the knot of accumulation – of power, possessions, and fame. In order to transcend this level of consciousness we must must let go . . . our ability to be vulnerable unties this knot. . . . Uddiyana Bandha is the second consolidation of pranic enerigies.
Inhale deeply & feel the breath expanding down to your belly, letting it balloon in all directions . . . as you exhale slowly gather the belly muscles around the navel back to your spine and up toward your heart (Uddiyana Bandha) . . . hold the breath out . . . hearing and silently chanting Tamasoma Jyotir Gamaya//Lead me from darkness to light. Draw the breath in and soften belly releasing Uddiyana Bandha. Feel yourself letting go as these tissues soften and the breath relaxes . . . Pause and feel your breath.
Rudra Granthi is knotted between the Anahata and Ajña Chakras. Here we hold resentment against others, we judge them see them as “other.” When we transcend otherness and experience the “oneness of being” we bring consciousness into our compassionate actions. Jalandhara Bandha enables this leap of consciousness.
Inhale deeply & feel the breath expanding your chest and heart, letting your chin lift slightly . . . as you exhale slowly draw your chin back towards your throat (Jalandhara Bandha) . . . hold the breath out . . . hearing and silently chanting Mrityorma Amritam Gamaya/Lead me from separation to the Infinite. Draw the breath in and soften your throat lifting the chin releasing Jalandhara Bandha. Feel yourself letting go as these tissues soften and the breath relaxes . . . Pause and feel your breath.
For more information on Granthis and related practices see the Jivamukti article “Untying the Knots that Bind Us”)
Meditation
We entered meditation with the gift of rare Japanese incense gifted to us by one of our meditation friends. The incense, made with wisteria, was made especially for her family. Our friend brought this particular incense to support our intention of letting go.
Flora records indicate wisteria has been known to live up to 100 years and even older (there is a 1200 year old wisteria tree in Japan). It’s long-life bestows the symbolic meaning of immortality and longevity to the wisteria. It inspires reverence for life – what is enduring – the ancient resinous wood and – what is impermanent – the blossoms that bud, open and let go.
If you wish to learn more about the traditional use of incense, you can see Culture Unplugged’s short documentary, Kodo: The Art of Japanese Incense.