Practice

by Baxter

Leslie Greinstein, Age 62, Practicing Mayurasana with a Prop

When my friends inform me that they have started to “practice” yoga, I am always pleased to know it. But the part of me that knows the true benefit of practicing regularly—what we here at YFHA refer to as “home practice”—always has to ask them how often they are doing yoga. Almost invariably, they are taking one, sometimes two, asana classes each week at a yoga studio. This is a great start, and I want to encourage those of you out there at this stage of practice to keep it going. At the same time, we know from the oldest of yoga philosophy texts that the fruits of yoga come partly from consistent, daily practice. 

The Sanskrit term for practice is abhyasa, which means, its simplest definition, “diligent, focused practice.” In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, about 2000 years old and one the most relied upon texts on the philosophical and practical basis of yoga, several passages are devoted to describing abhyasa and its relationship to other key concepts on yoga, such as vairagya, or detachment. The ancient yogis saw the negative effect an undisciplined mind can have on our overall happiness and contentment. Their solution was to train the mind and quiet the overly active thought processes that create so much suffering.

The Yoga Sutras tells us that regular practice (abhyasa), done with the right attitude (detachment, or vairagya), is what will quiet our minds:

1.12 Practice and detachment are the means to still the movements of consciousness.
1.13 Practice is the steadfast effort to still these fluctuations.
1.14 Long, uninterrupted, alert practice is the firm foundation for restraining the fluctuations —translation by B.K.S. Iyengar

Nicolai Bachman, one of my favorite contemporary translators of the Yoga Sutras, has a slightly different take:

1.12 The stilling of the mental fluctuations (i.e. quieting of the mind) is due to diligent practice and unattached awareness (vairagya).
1.13 Abhyasa is the effort put forth to maintain a point of focus.
1.14 Abhyasa becomes firmly established when pursued with eagerness, sincerity, and continuity for a long time.

So, the Yoga Sutras tell us what the goal of yoga is, as well as what the practical tools are to achieve the goal of a mind established in equanimity. I can’t help but recall the old joke about the concert-goer who stops a cabbie in New York City to ask, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” and the cabbie responds, “Practice, practice, practice.” Patanjali adds in certain important qualities of practice that increase our chances of success, whether our goals are purely physical, such as improved balance, are mental/emotional, such as resolving anxiety, or are loftier spiritual goals. Those are stated above as "eagerness, sincerity, and continuity" by Nicolai, and "long, continuous practice, with a quality of alertness" by Iyengar.

Abhyasa applied to asana practice could be simply directing our mind and attention to the breath, a particular body part, or even where the gaze is directed. Applied to meditation practice, it is the effort exerted to maintain a point of focus. The act of applying effort to maintain a point of focus could also extend to things not normally thought of as “yoga,” such as playing a musical instrument or even riding a bike.

When we consciously choose to “practice” in this way, we are also choosing to establish new habits that become stronger with time and consistency. We do this to overcome our old, unhelpful habits, or undesirable samskaras, and replace them with more desirable samskaras that move us closer to our goals (see Changing the Brain's Stressful Habits).

And although Patanjali describes other tools to help us achieve our goals, such as pranayama and cultivating the yamas and niyamas, abhyasa can be applied to all of them as the base practice to amplify all others. So let’s get cracking!

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Yoga for Healthy Eating, Part 2

by Baxter

Today, as I was driving to the Farmers Market in Berkeley to enjoy my weekly ritual of buying local grown and produced fruits, veggies and animal protein, I happened to catch a bit of the show “Your Health and Fitness” on KPFA. The host posited the assertion that “health” bestows on each of us the opportunity to live a full life. I gotta say, I loved the simplicity of this notion, and all that it really implies. Then I got home to read the following comment on my recent post regarding yoga for healthy eating, full of more wisdom born out of personal experience. It came from an old friend and colleague of mine, and with her permission, I share it with you now:

“Hey Baxter,

Kudos on taking on such a complicated subject! I have a few ideas I think are worth adding to the discussion on mindfulness and healthy eating, and when I say "ideas", I really mean personal opinions I've formed along the journey of nurturing my personal health.

The first idea that really drives my weight management is focusing on eating more good food rather less bad food. "Eat less" is very common advice, but when we set out attempting to do this, what happens is, we end up eating meals that are less than we need to feel satisfied, and then, when we are inevitably hungry in an hour or two, we reach for a convenient snack. This snack is rarely nutritious, and does two things; it keeps us from our goal of losing weight and gives us a sense that we are inept in managing our food. This second part is often the killer. When people ask me for advice about weight loss, I always say the same thing; "EAT MORE VEGGIES". If you add a large serving of vegetables to lunch and dinner, you will not be hungry in between meals. And these vegetables are of tremendous value to your long term health. Your body will shift naturally a healthier size. Eat more, not less.

Also, I believe that living in the modern world means being absolutely inundated with information about dieting, and most of this information is not helpful. Find a plan that works for your lifestyle and stick to it. I've used the same food plan through two terms of weight loss (one in my early thirties & one after my daughter was born), and I generally use the same plan for maintenance today. Find a plan that works for your lifestyle and stick to it.

Lastly, I think exercise is vital to weight maintenance, not because it assists in weight loss (I've actually found it to hinder my weight loss), but because it helps with stress reduction and confidence in the long run. Stress is perhaps the most important factor in why we eat and why we fail at weight loss. When we find exercise that we enjoy and we can integrate into our lifestyle, we have a useful tool in managing our long-term health through stress reduction. Secondarily, we gain in the process an enjoyment of our bodies that is necessary to continue on a path of nurturing self -care. Exercise we enjoy makes us feel good. Feeling good helps us to want to continue on the journey.

Hope this is helpful to the greater discussion.

Amelia”

Yes, Amelia, I think this is very helpful to the greater discussion around healthy eating. Implied in Amelia’s approach is, as I see it, the idea that a longer vision goal is being set by each of us as we decide to make healthy changes in our eating habits. It seems prudent, as an example, that if my goal is weight loss for me to sit and consider what my expectations are when my goal is reached: do I expect to feel better physically, emotionally or mentally? Do I expect a present health problem to resolve itself secondary to my weight loss goal being met? Is there an expectation of an underlying happiness that will arise? In all likelihood, quiet contemplation around this goal of “weight loss” will reveal these sorts of underlying hopes and expectations that could ultimately be more important than any number on the scale.

The practices of yoga, starting with pranayama as a beginning method to quiet the normal mental chatter and give the busy portion of the mind a rest, can be quiet helpful in this process of introspection.  From there, dharana and dhyana, one-pointed concentration practice and continual meditation practice, will refine and sharpen the ability to be receptive to these deeper goals. One of the qualities that is always mentioned in either succeeding or failing at these sorts of attempted changes is the presence of “will power.”  And according to Stanford psychologist, author and yoga teacher Kelly McGonigal, scientists now consider will power to be like a muscle, versus something you either have or don’t have. We all have the muscle, and you can strengthen it with practice. And yoga is a discipline that teaches us about practice, or abhyasa, as one of the main tools for succeeding in meeting our highest goals. 

So to recap Amelia’s wisdom:

• Eat enough good food (VEGGIES!) to satisfy your energy needs and satisfy you hunger.
• Find a plan that works for your lifestyle and stick to it, ie practice it everyday!
• Don’t underestimate the value of exercise as a stress reducing and confidence-inspiring tool (a strong asana practice could be part of that I’d think!), as stress is a huge trigger for unhealthy eating.  And exercise makes us feel good, which has a positive feedback on motivation.

Keep those comments coming! We love ‘em!

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