Wellspring of Wonder

Vipassana means to see things as they truly are.  I have no idea how things truly are, but this is my description of one effect of my practice.

Typically, when your mind focuses on something, many thoughts and emotions will come to mind.  Some small detail throws you into a passion or a rage, and another may bury you in a conversation with yourself about who you think you are, or where the world is going to.  Or where you are going for dinner.

Meditation, vipassana in particular, trains the mind to focus on what is.  It doesn't fight the flood of thoughts.  They are too, after all.  The practice is to let them be, just as it is to let everything else be.  And to allow the emotions that come up out of the flood.  To watch them come and go, come and go.  Arising.  Passing away.

When you've adapted to the intense focus of the practice, your mind can meld with whatever you experience.  Like driving 60mph, or listening to rain, it's intense, intricate, captivating.  Wonder is the timeless and open state of experiencing an object with little to no filtration, or judgement, by the mind.  The interface of the experience and consciousness is primary; the reactions of the mind are secondary.  The only thing going through the mind is the experience, punctuated by "This is what I am experiencing now...  now... now..."

To experience wonder, suspend reaction.  To suspend reaction, practice.

Myopia

It's often easy to lose sight of greater reality when focused on details in general, and conflict in particular.

• An individual or group in suffering or turmoil may lose sight of suffering and turmoil in the rest of the world.  They may pull away and isolate from others, or lash out as a means to express their suffering.  Reaching out to others with good will in a time of turmoil, they can be reminded of the goodness in humankind, and in life, that comes from suffering.
• With a particular aim in mind, an organization may seek to attain a goal, not comprehending what repercussions, seen or unseen, may come about by their actions.  The focus on attainment of their specific goal may hinder the values for which the goal was selected.  With a goal of flexibility and evaluation with integrity, adaptable corporate cultures flourish.
• While in a yoga posture, focusing intently on a particular muscle, sensation, movement, or combination of these can deaden awareness of the overall pose, and other goings-on in the body.  It can also mask the contents of the mind, be it straining, frustration, control or other form of self-conflict.  A body-mind can become aware of its entirety, and adapt its position to meet its needs and aims.  This body-mind is adaptable, and can react compassionately to pain, tension or fatigue, as well as fully experience emotional or muscular tension or release.

Knee Guarantee

Protect your knees!  Especially if you have tight hips.  Your future self will thank you!

• Lift the kneecaps while in standing asanas, and in some seated postures; anywhere hyperextension or knee-rolling is possible.  Do this by bending the knee, flexing the quads, and then gently straightening the knee.  You can do this initially without putting weight on it, to get a good idea.  Lying on your back and sighting down your leg, try straightening the leg with the quads minimally engaged, and then flexed.  Yes, your knee might look "fatter," but that's all muscle!
• Say that, in a seated pose with external femur rotation, like baddha konasana or janu sirsasana  Say you can't get your hips square and upright without raising your knee above your pelvis.  Don't just put pressure on the knee with a hand or elbow.  (I did this for years, upon instruction by many fitness professionals!)  Instead, raise your pelvis by sitting on a cushion or block until your femur can move with greater range.  Over time, with muscle action and gravity, the tissue will make room for the movement!
• Self-massage is an awesome way to deal with long term tension that can't be stretched away.  A guide like this and a foam roller could help you realize some real bliss!  (Pro tip:  I've actually used my protein shake container, a Nalgene... even the edge of a mattress and the side of my truck!  Whatever works!)

Survivor

She's a fighter.  This teacher sustained a head and spine injury while teaching at her studio six months before I met her.  What she taught:

• Feel the shake; it means you're getting stronger.
• If you're about to pass out, go into child's pose and focus on your breath.
• Don't ever go further into a pose than you can correctly.
• A positive attitude can keep you alive; don't let others take it away from you.
• Follow the rules or you can expect growling.
• You only get what you put in, so give everything you have, every time.

Abhyasa

Turtles enjoy sex.  You can enjoy yoga practice.

• Doing the poses "right" -- like a model, like your teacher -- often isn't actually safe.  Pushing your body into things it's not ready for can lead to injuries over the short- or long-term.  The safe way to do poses is slowly, carefully, mindfully.
• If you go into a pose, and there is resistance there, stay with that resistance.  Don't push past it.  See if it dissipates.  If it doesn't, okay.  If it does, then find the next point of resistance.
• Pace and quantity are nothing.  Control.  Quality.  It's okay to take it slow.

Hot Yoga Incorporated

Lessons I learned from hot yoga.  "Here we go everybody!  Push it!"

• When I know I look good enough, I don't feel the need to look around to see who looks better.
• When I do look around, if I revel in the pure beauty of everyone else's bodies, I fill my heart with awe and gratitude for the variety and strength of the entire race.  Even that fat guy sweating it out in the corner, cursing under his breath. 
• When the teacher's yelling a correction, it's not necessarily at me.
• When someone encourages you to wear something "cuter," you so don't have to.  Sweatpants are just as functional and a bikini.
• Turns out, you do have to wash your towel and workout clothes every time.
• If I push myself until I cry, I'm crying about something I've been holding onto for months, years, or maybe my whole life.
• If I feel sore, it's a good thing.  If I feel pain, it's a bad thing.
• When I can't drink enough water -- when I fill my belly 24-7 and am still thirsty -- I'm in need of mineral salts; electrolytes.  Coconut water, vitamin water, whatever works.
• Savasana is as much a challenge as any other; if I want to run out of the room, it's because my mind's about to tell me something that part of me doesn't want to know.  If this happens to you, trust me:  You DO want to know, even if it hurts.  
• Breathe.

New York Foundations

• Smile!  Or relax the face.  Whatever.  You just don't have to be so serious all the time.
• Real yoga is not just fitness.  Real yoga is not giving a f---.
• There's a lot of bullshit out there.  You just gotta do what works for you.