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December 03, 2009
Ahimsa
About 5 months ago, I stopped practicing Bikram yoga and decided to explore vinyasa for a while. I had reached a point with Bikram where I was stuck in a rut.
The vinyasa yoga I have been practicing is in a heated room, so I still get the detox benefits, and the heat helps to open up all the undoings that 12 marathons and who knows how many half marathons and 10K races.
I have been practicing the yamas (restraints) of yoga, the first of the eight limbs of the yoga path. In particular, I have been practicing ahimsa, or non-harming. In the hardest cores of yoga, this means respecting all living animals and becoming vegetarian. While I'm not quite ready to make that leap, although I am close, I interpret it in other ways.
As it relates to my physical yoga practice, I often get very competitive. Not necessarily with others in the room, although that can happen, but with myself. I am driven. No two yoga classes are the same. One day I feel like a ballerina, the next like a walrus. It is way too easy to beat myself up when I feel like a walrus, and too easy to steal the energy of those around me when I feel like a ballerina.
Neither is practicing ahimsa.
As it relates to my yoga practice off the mat, it means not thinking in a harming way. In New York, this is easy to do. Simply walking the streets can be a challenge, and I often find myself thinking "Jeez, people, get out of the way!". This is not practicing ahimsa.
I'm not completely there yet, but I'm working on it. And I am blessed to have met Rachel who has helped me on my yoga path. I will miss her when we leave this weekend. I will practice in her class one last time today.
Posted by dave at December 3, 2009 08:09 AM