Easy Pose, Easy Enlightenment
/Dear Yogis!
What would be the easiest yoga pose, do you think? Would it be the one actually called ‘Easy Pose’… Sukhasana or crossed-legged position? I might have to take this to the authorities for disinformation! It isn’t easy! There doesn’t seem to be a Guinness Book of Records record for sitting crossed-legged and I’m not surprised.
I found myself contemplating this last Friday during a visit to the Nipponzan-Myōhōji Buddhist Temple in Milton Keynes. (It’s the Buddhism that Tina Turner follows.) I sat in crossed-legs in the shrine room for an easy five minutes. Soon the ego kicked in and told me I’m a yoga teacher and should be able to do this. Then pain kicked in and I could no longer hear the chanting and drumming. Sukhasana is said to be a suitable pose for gaining enlightenment. Needless to say, I’m still here!
Somehow, seated positions such as Sukhasana, Lotus, Vajrasana (sitting on your haunches and heels) were thought of as perfect meditation poses: The Buddha (who was a yogi) was having none of this and said that you can meditate standing up, walking, sitting or lying down, as long as you don’t sleep!
By the way, the Nipponzan-Myōhōji ‘sanga’ (clergy) have erected several peace pagodas in the world including the Milton Keynes one, opened in 1980, and the Battersea Park one, opened in 1984. The Reverend Sister Yoshie Maruta, chief Nun Milton Keynes Temple, worked on both. She said they had special permission in London to go to Covent Garden Market in the early morning to get fruit and vegetables out of the skip to feed the pagoda builders. Good bit of local history, I thought!
Zoom Classes
Y’know, Zoom Yoga has been amazing for corporate yogis. Energy and endurance have improved considerably. Last week in one company there were three Shoulder Stand Lotus poses. Other corporates have raised their resilience as well. Also, people have shown up who would never come to class in the office. I’m blown away.
Come to class today at 5.00. I’ll include some core work… in response to requests for more core!!! For all classes and especially today, you can book here.
Yoga in the news
The Washington DC-based Pew Research Center say: Most Indians, including most Hindus, do not practice yoga. ‘Among Indians, the practice of yoga is much more widespread among college graduates than among those with less education (56% vs. 33%), and somewhat more common among men and younger adults than among women and older adults, respectively.’
The Washington DC-based Hill has: Your yoga top could soon measure how well you are moving. ‘“There are lots of potential applications for conductive yarn in any activity where you want to identify and improve the quality of a person's movement,” said Olivia Ruston, a doctoral student at the University of Bath, in a press release. “This could be very helpful in physiotherapy, rehabilitation, and sports performance.”’
Al-Monitor has: Yoga for Gaza paramedics raises controversy. ‘Yoga, which is a physical activity that contributes to emotional balance and mental comfort, is not very popular in the Gaza Strip or in Islamic societies due to its Buddhist roots.’ Who knew!
Enjoy the football.
