How & Why to Start a Yoga Practice
On Sharon Gannon’s Magic Ten Asana Sequence and Why We Must Practice with Love
I came across this article today. Love it so. Sharon Gannon is the teacher of one of my teachers and the founder/creatrix of the Jivamukti yoga method.
In the article she talks about how the asana part of yoga allows us to feel at ease in our bodies, which frees the mind, the spirit. So true and I never really thought of it that way before. But if you think, you are sore or achy or you have chronic headaches or you are carrying too much weight for your frame – or you are too thin and arthritic and sore – all of these malaise, these complaints in the body help us to stay focussed on ourselves – our pain, our discomfort. The ego flourishes.
Meditation is the strongest medicine for transcending the ego. It stops the hamster wheel in our heads. Suddenly we have relief from the constant judging, categorizing, ranting voices, the ‘poor mes’, the skirmishes to the past or the future.
A regular asana practice allows the body to be limber, strong, at peace. The result is the ability to sit in meditation longer, which leads to peace in the mind. The combination of the two lead to peace in the spirit.
“Our bodies are made of our karmas. I have to be comfortable in this body in order to be able to let go of my fascination with me as this mortal personality, this ego being. I have to first of all feel at ease with me. Asanas help us to do that. But the body is a conglomerate of the residue of all of our past relationships. So it’s therapy. When I sit in the morning and do my eight rounds of japa (mantra) meditation, I don’t want to be distracted by thoughts about other people and issues that I am dealing with here or there. So doing a short asana practice, some kriyas and pranayama, helps to clear all that out first. And then I can meditate quite directly and keep my mind on God. Why do I do that practice every morning? Because it feels good. When I don’t do it, I don’t feel good and I don’t like to not feel good!”
She also emphasizes the importance of a daily practice and helpfully outlines (with pictures) her sequence for morning yoga. 10 poses that can be done in under 10 minutes. Check it out at the link below!
Read the whole article here
Art from Flickr by distelfliege
