VF Yoga Sadhana: looking to 2011

[sherry7899]

Will there be a separate check in thread for the Sadhana?

Thanks!
Sherry

[Pat58]

Ooty, so glad you'll be with us. I'm with you on those gym mats - in my mind's eye I can see populations of oogly boogly green, orange and yellow things jumping on them!!! Won't touch 'em. It sounds like you and I have had years from hell. {HUGS} we can be the gentler sisters of the Sadhana.

[SharonH]

I'm in. I would like to commit to doing a daily Kundalini practice, even if it is only an 11-minute meditation. However, I hope to get a lot of longer practices in, too.

Thank you for sharing the lovely poem.

[Kyra]

I've been thinking about this for a while now. I'd like to join; I did it a few years ago and suffered yoga burnout. At the time my goal was to do any practise for 40 days straight. That was probably not the best way to go about it!

This past summer I did an 8 week book program, Moving Toward Balance, that I enjoyed and have been wanting to revisit. My plan will be to work through some sections of the book, continue with my live class, and maybe add a video or two here and there. My goal is to reconnect with my mellow, so to speak!

[Sophie]

Originally Posted by Kyra

I've been thinking about this for a while now. I'd like to join; I did it a few years ago and suffered yoga burnout. At the time my goal was to do any practise for 40 days straight. That was probably not the best way to go about it!

Glad to see so many people joining us! I'm directing these next comments not at Kyra specifically, although she is giving me something to riff off of - just thought I'd share some ways to "get through" the 40 days.

First of all, if you really feeling like you're burning out, don't sweat it - just drop it. It's yoga sadhana, not yoga survivor. It will always be waiting for you when you're ready again.

That said, the company of a check-in can really help stay motivated, and most of all, curious - sometimes the stated intention becomes really dry and stale and you need to refocus on something else. One year my intention was to meditate for 40 days (!). I got to the point where I was dreading sitting on that blasted cushion. Ann/hounddog wisely counseled me that it was no longer adding to my equanimity, so I switched my focus back to asana. So I do think it's helpful to be willing to jump sidewise onto one of the many other paths of yoga.

In years where I tried to focus on posture practice or a pinnacle pose, I sometimes got injured, or my body was telling me it wasn't the right kind of practice, or it wasn't working out well with my other activities. So moving towards a different pose focus or restorative was helpful then.

Also I've bailed out on reading - my sadhana reading one year was going to be Light on Life, by Mr. Iyengar. I didn't get past the first chapter. So I just read bits of other books that interested me.

So without turning this into a tome, I just want to put out a reminder that it's OK to change your original intention, listen to the suggestions of others, and by the end of the 40 days, you may have found yourself exploring aspects of yoga you didn't plan on....it's all good.

[toaster]

Sophie, what a great post! Of course, if the sadhana is no longer a pleasurable, joyful thing, than it is no longer serving its true purpose.

The first year I participated, my intention was to practice asana daily. However, there were a few days that I just didn't have time, so I "counted" doing a little bit of yoga instead (I believe that on one of those days, my reading took place browsing in Barnes & Noble! ). But in my opinion, it's the intent that is significant: if you want to do the sadhana and all you have time for on a given day is to do eagle arms seated at your desk, well, that "counts," too!

[Fidget Queen]

Sherry - there is only one meditation CD I use and it is a guided mula bandha breathing meditation given to me a doctor a couple of years ago. It was tremendously helpful at the time, but I completely burned out on it. Please PM me if you want more information about it. There is a set of "InnerTalk" music CDs that I use for informal meditation. It's just relaxing. I also strangely love Ravi & Ana's kundalini and have several DVDs that have short meditation segments, so I plan on incorporating those, as well. And this may seem like cheating, but I plan to incorporate my artwork/sketching as meditation. When done with all of my focus, it is a powerful meditation itself. Then I also have the satisfaction of having completed something concrete, which is nice for shallow people like me .

Otty - thank you very much for the support. I hope the sadhana brings you much needed bliss, as well.

[sherry7899]

Thanks, FidgetQueen. I own every Ravi/Ana release, so of course I do not think it's strange to use their meditations

I don't think doing artwork is cheating. I think any activity that puts you in a better state should count as meditation.

Hugs,
Sherry

[SharonH]

Originally Posted by Fidget Queen

I also strangely love Ravi & Ana's kundalini and have several DVDs that have short meditation segments, so I plan on incorporating those, as well.

If you're strange then I'm strange, too! I also love Ravi & Ana and am looking forward to what 40 days of consistent Kundalini will do for my mind and body. I recently traded for Dr. Yoga House Call and Total Tune-Up, so I'll have extra practices to add variety. I'm sure I'll do some non-Kundalini yoga as well, but that won't be part of my Sadhana focus.

[sherry7899]

Sharon, I know you've wanted those for awhile, so I'm glad you got them. I was thinking of doing kundalini only for 40 days, but knowing me I would not stick to it. I will definitely do a lot of kundalini, though.

Sherry