Just, Um, Just Relax …
There are a lot of very cute and important goings on in this video:
Props to Black Yogis and Baltimore’s Holisitc Life Foundation.
concrete yogi
the musing of an omie
March 19, 2012
December 31, 2011
Crazy Leg’s Yogic Twin [video]
Since I became especially studied in asana, I have marveled at the way that much of the postures can be found in breakdancing. It’s marvelous because it exemplifies the way hip hop culture parallels the limbs of yoga:
1. asana;
2. pranayama (breathing techniques… ever try to bust a Busta Rhymes verse and not know how to control the breath?);
3, 4, 5. dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (a state of superconsciousness when one becomes one with the subject of meditation… the best emcees will go in on one subject to deliver the most cohesive song, album, career);
and, of course, as within every culture, a look beyond the mainstream reveals the other limbs:
6. yama (universal moral code of conduct)
7. niyama (disciplined self-purification), and
8. pratyahara (withdrawal from sensory overload).
It’s marvelous because the impoverished communities from which hip hop sprung (and which, in many ways, it still serves), is in need of such artfully expressed science.
Mostly, though, it’s marvelous because something like this happens:
Note: shout out to MindBodyGreen.com, where I first saw this vid.
September 7, 2011
Let’s Play! Goapele’s Yogic Single
Kundalini rising. The first time I heard this song, I immediately added it to my personal practice rotation. I’m siced the accompanying visual has some exquisite pinca mayurasana in it (note the 1:24, 1:30, 1:50, and 1:52 marks).
Note: Emphasis here on “personal” practice. As much as Goap sings about “touching,” please don’t come to my class looking for a rub down. I consider the most enlightening “touch” to be a hands-off kinda moment.
August 30, 2011
Word Is Om
"aum" written in Sanskrit
meditating in virasana
So the story goes, God spoke into existence that which is. In yogic thought, the first utterance of what is was “om,” or rather, “aum,” a four-part sound vibration that starts in the diaphragm, reverberates from the root chakra through the crown of the head, and ends in silence.
It took me years to understand this. I moved around a lot. I’ve lived in more than 20 different apartments/houses, in every quadrant of DC; in 3 of the 5 burroughs of NYC; and in St. Thomas, USVI. I summered with my Fort Wayne, IN family. It felt like I was on an endless tour of duty. When I wasn’t enjoying myself, I would sob and whine, “I want to go home.” Even when I was in one of my “homes,” I would cry, “I want to go home” (it was a default tantrum). My dad would ask me, “Where is home?” I didn’t know. I would furrow my brow to decipher an answer and then smile at my confusion.
One day, I was in my mid-20s, sitting on the floor of my room, reading a book about yoga (my tantrums had become much more sophisticated). In it was a prompting to meditate with the word “om.” I had heard it before, and probably said it before, but I wasn’t really into drinking Kool Aid (unless it was actually Kool Aid, but more about the SAD diet in another post). This day, though, I went in, I said it out loud. “Auuuum.” I smiled. It sounded a lot like “home.” “Auuuum,” I said again. “I want to go hooooooome,” I said. Laughter.
There is a particular way that language speaks to us, and the speaker can attempt to apply meaning with emotion or emphasis, but the truth is always the same. In this instance my understanding of ”home” shifted from a place where the body dwells, to a dwelling of the soul, and I became liberated. I would never have to beg to be “home” again, I could just close my eyes, click me heels and, you know…
“Aum” photo courtesy of sancho_panza
