Well it's not like I haven't used the bowls before. For about three years I've worked with autistic children and young adults, intuitively using the bowls to address various issues and create an environment which is conducive to healing and relief from their normal day-to-day tormented world. It was this experience which encouraged me to pursue the whole subject and travel to Nepal to study with a Tibetan master. We studied, ate, and meditated together.
After returning from Nepal armed with a whole array of layouts and different approaches to various complaints ranging from a stiff neck to anxiety I started introducing the bowls and their uses to a gang of friends. You'd think this would help but, actually, it just started throwing up a whole load of new questions.
This is particularly true when you start to meet people who have their own experiences and views on all things, religious and spiritual. In all, the process of learning never stops. And that's what's so wonderful about working in this area. Every day I learn to use the bowls in a different way and every day I'm refining my practice.
And every day I'm finding some new adornment or development in my own Dharma practice...
Monday, 29 April 2013
Saturday, 7 April 2012
Yoga To Strengthen Your Body Or Yoga To Strengthen Your Mind?
It's actually quite a contradiction to say Yoga to strengthen your body “or” Yoga to strengthen your mind. It is, of course, a case of using Yoga to strengthen your body “and” your mind!
You can start out thinking that you'll avoid all the esoteric and spiritual stuff connected with Yoga but it’ll be very hard to avoid the magical effect that doing the exercises has on your mind. It's similar to the focusing effect of using verbal affirmations, generally, but when combined with specific Yoga mantras the result is electric.
Imagine this: you learn a new posture to use with your daily Yoga routine; this posture requires that you concentrate hard on finding just the right position to get the maximum benefit from it and have to use all your conscious power to hold it; because of the angles, strength and discipline needed to hold the pose you have to concentrate – really hard…
What effect do you think this will have on your mind?
The beauty of learning new and demanding postures to use in your daily yoga program is that your mind automatically becomes focused on your body and engaged elsewhere from the worries of daily life. When it's busily engaged to this extent it becomes almost impossible to think of anything else. The result is a relaxed and empty mind.
In addition to the effect of strengthening your mind you can add extra movement to your Yoga exercise to increase the cardio-vascular element of your practice. This is particularly true of Ashtanga Yoga and results in a stronger body. But there’s always more than one way to approach a subject like this.
If you have the idea that something is going to be unpleasant and cause you pain then you’re unlikely to engage with it with any enthusiasm. If however, you use something to enhance the practice like powerful words or sounds, then it will raise your practice to a new level and give you renewed positive focus.
While putting your body through its paces with demanding physical postures and improving your immune and respiratory systems with regular and systematic breathing, your mind will focus with rejuvenated clarity. This is why you should use Yoga to strengthen your body and Yoga to strengthen your mind!
You can start out thinking that you'll avoid all the esoteric and spiritual stuff connected with Yoga but it’ll be very hard to avoid the magical effect that doing the exercises has on your mind. It's similar to the focusing effect of using verbal affirmations, generally, but when combined with specific Yoga mantras the result is electric.
Imagine this: you learn a new posture to use with your daily Yoga routine; this posture requires that you concentrate hard on finding just the right position to get the maximum benefit from it and have to use all your conscious power to hold it; because of the angles, strength and discipline needed to hold the pose you have to concentrate – really hard…
What effect do you think this will have on your mind?
The beauty of learning new and demanding postures to use in your daily yoga program is that your mind automatically becomes focused on your body and engaged elsewhere from the worries of daily life. When it's busily engaged to this extent it becomes almost impossible to think of anything else. The result is a relaxed and empty mind.
In addition to the effect of strengthening your mind you can add extra movement to your Yoga exercise to increase the cardio-vascular element of your practice. This is particularly true of Ashtanga Yoga and results in a stronger body. But there’s always more than one way to approach a subject like this.
If you have the idea that something is going to be unpleasant and cause you pain then you’re unlikely to engage with it with any enthusiasm. If however, you use something to enhance the practice like powerful words or sounds, then it will raise your practice to a new level and give you renewed positive focus.
While putting your body through its paces with demanding physical postures and improving your immune and respiratory systems with regular and systematic breathing, your mind will focus with rejuvenated clarity. This is why you should use Yoga to strengthen your body and Yoga to strengthen your mind!
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