Tag: Vajra Yoga

Practice Notes: Rainbow Body

July 27, 2015
Posted by Sharon

rainbow bodyEach week, I teach a mindful yoga class on Tuesday nights at Mookshi Wellness Center.  Recently, I have adapted a new preparation technique for teaching my classes and find the foundation theme for my class through daily prayer and meditation.  I have always been guided to teach from the wisdom of my practice as I was encouraged to do so by my compassionate and insightful teacher and mentor, Jill Satterfield.  But, for the past two-months I have been randomly choosing a sutra from Lorin Roche’s beautiful translation and commentary of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, The Radiance Sutras, and allowing the message of that particular sutra guide my choice of breathing, asana and visualization practices.

This past spring I took a truly amazing distance learning course with Janet Conner called “Soul Vows” (also the title of her newest book, which is phenomenal) and was able to do so through a generous full scholarship that she offered to me.  The truth is that I had a hard time with the course.  I still haven’t come up with my soul vows.  But, I had found her course through some research I was doing for my Radiant Heart course that I was in the process of creating and the soul vow discovery process required that I choose a spiritual book to accompany me on the work to nourish and keep it sacred.  The Radiance Sutras are “112 Gateways to the Yoga of Wonder and Delight” and while I couldn’t seem to identify my Soul Vows during the course, I kept thinking of the phrase “Choose Joy!” and these sutras and the commentary truly are about choosing joy regardless of circumstances.

This week, in preparation for class tomorrow night (if you are in Pittsburgh, please join us–it’s pretty much the most beautiful gathering of people I’ve ever been a part of, not competitive and you are warmly welcome), I randomly chose the 20th sutra and in the commentary, Roche suggests that we “sense all directions simultaneously” (Radiance Sutras, page 214):

Above me is endless space.
Below me is endless space.
Behind me is endless space.
To my left is space.
To my right is space.
Within me is endless space.

Roche suggests that “As the directions dissolve, so does your definition of yourself (214).”  When I read this I was drawn to Rose Taylor Goldfield’s instructive description of the Rainbow-like body in her book, “Training the Wisdom Body”.  She says, “The main point to remember about your body is that it is appearance-emptiness like a rainbow; it is purely the energy and play of luminosity-emptiness, like a body in a dream when you know you are dreaming.  Recall that your body is naturally light and luminous as you practice yoga movement.” (Taylor Goldfield, page 97)

The “Rainbow Body” in Dzogchen (an esoteric Tibetan Buddhism), refers to a level of realization.  This realization is when the separation between all living beings and phenomenon dissipates and all is one.  Taylor Goldfield instructs, “As you move your body, dissolve fixation on the duality of your own body here and the surrounding environment out there.  Melt into space.” (page 97)

In our practice this Tuesday night we will play with space and expand our inner and outer light for the benefit of all living beings.  Can’t wait!

REFERENCES

The Radiance Sutras: 112 Gateways to the Yoga of Wonder and Delight
Author: Lorin Roche

Training the Wisdom Body: Buddhist Yogic Exercise
Author: Rose Taylor Goldfield

Path to the Rainbow Body: Introduction to Yuthok Nyingthig
Author: Dr. Nida Chenagtsang

Soul Vows: Gathering the Presence of the Divine in You, Through You, and As You
Author: Janet Conner

 

 

Day One, Week One: Attachment & Weakness

April 15, 2012
Posted by Sharon
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A few weeks ago I threatened to start Rodney Yee’s 8-week Home Yoga Practice program from his book, Moving Towards Balance: 8-Weeks of Yoga with Rodney Yee and blog about my experience.  Today, I’m making good on my threat.  It’s Day One of Week One.

Today’s practice involved practicing multiple versions of some standing poses.  Already, I’m kind of frustrated.  After twenty-years of practice, I like doing these poses the way I like doing these poses.  So, today, I met the beast of attachment head on and I did the poses the way Rodney wanted me to.  I’m still going to keep doing the poses my way, but once I got over my attachment issues, I did find that doing the poses in the variety of ways that the practice suggested, I was able to find different sensation in the poses.  It was really an invitation to feel the poses in a variety of different ways and this brought me into deeper awareness of sensation in my body and the alignment and use of my skeletal system.

I also discovered that I am weak.  Seriously W-E-A-K.  For each of the asana variations, we were instructed to hold the pose for 30-seconds.  I confidently came into Warrior II only to find that my whole body wanted to give in at around five seconds.  I have been holding poses for a mindful period of time, but only some poses that are a part of my regular Vajra Yoga practice.  Being forced to hold other poses took me out of my strength-zone and I was surprised to find out how weak I felt when holding poses.  In all fairness, I have been either pregnant or nursing a baby for the past 19-months and that is bound to exhaust a person and change strength and endurance in some ways and enhance it in others.

Finally, I should divulge that I did this practice in the center of my home’s family room with a sick five-year old sitting on the couch watching Pokemon videos and playing fruit ninja on my iPhone and my 9-month old dumping blocks out of a canvas bag near my head.  While in downward facing dog, my 9-month old crawled under me and pinched my boob.  Yes, you read this correctly—-she pinched my boob!  But, I have to say that I felt a whole lot more open, centered and, if not really relaxed, more prepared to continue with the day than I did before practice.  I mention this because so many adults feel that they can’t mke time for yoga because they keep waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect place or the time when they can have some peace and quiet.  Yes, ideally you can make your practice about taking some time for yourself, but if you can’t, then just push aside the crumbs and the toys—–roll out the mat over the chaos and make it happen.

Please feel free to join me in my 8-week program with Rodney Yee.  You can share your own experience by leaving comments on this blog.  It’s OK if you start on a different day or we get out of sync.  This is going to be fun!

Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, the fearless leader of Team Matrika.  Are you in Pittsburgh, PA?  Join us for a great class at Yoga Matrika in Squirrel Hill.

Spring Preparation #6: Make a Commitment

March 11, 2011
Posted by Sharon
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The kind of commitment that I’m talking about is also sometimes referred to as “put your money where your mouth is.”  You know that you want to make a commitment to developing your yoga practice, your meditation practice or both.  Maybe you’ve been meaning to try yoga for a while.  Perhaps, after the 15th article you’ve read this month about the benefits of meditation you feel almost obligated to give it a try.  Maybe you’ve let your mat get dusty this winter or it might even be frozen in your trunk?

Whether you’ve never done yoga or meditated before or you’ve been a yogi at heart for forever, this season of renewal reminds us of the value of commitment.  Registering for an 8-week small group series with Sharon for this spring is an excellent way to ease yourself back on your mat or cushion or find out what all the buzz is about for yourself for the very first time.

Here are just some of the benefits to committing to a private small-group class over dropping-in on large studio classes:

  • You have the opportunity to develop a relationship with your teacher and your fellow students.  You know that this small group will notice your absence and you will miss seeing them too and these relationships help you get to class when you aren’t quite feeling up to it.
  • You write the dates and times on your calendar and then you make it happen.  If you have to arrange a babysitter, then you do it.  If you have to figure out what bus you are going to take, you find that schedule.  When it is on your calendar, then you do it. Making a class a habit is an excellent way to make sure that you actually attend.
  • In a small group you get the attention and support you need to learn new skills.  With an 8-week series, the material can be presented in a consecutive way.  The instructor can get to know you and your special abilities and is prepared to modify your practice just for you.  No more hiding in the back of the room just hoping you don’t hurt yourself!
  • Let’s be honest.  You spent the money and now you are going to show up.
  • When you make a commitment, a whole new realm of opportunities will open up for you.  Whenever you make a commitment, it means saying “no” to other things or people.  But, it also means that a completely new set of possibilities will be revealed to you.

Stop talking about doing yoga or learning how to meditate and SIGN-UP.  See you in April!

This post was written by Sharon Rudyk, an independent yoga and meditation instructor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Read more about Sharon on her website.

Cabin Fever & Yoga in Pittsburgh

February 12, 2010
Posted by Sharon
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There was one very brave student at tonight’s class.  She was new to Yoga Matrika and was curious about what the class title, Mindful Yoga, really meant.  I prattled on about Vajra Yoga and not making a distinction between asana practice and meditation and how we create a moving meditation through our practice……….but during our practice together, I started to question the whole thing entirely. 

You see, that’s the problem with having an answer to everything—-you miss opportunities for reaching a greater understanding.  In this case, I was incredibly inspired by the clarity of this student’s practice and she taught me a lot about mindfulness.  So, thank you dear student, and hope you come back soon!

What I realised is that what I don’t know about mindfulness is a lot.  While there are so very many things that I hope that my Mindful Flow classes mean, the real mindfulness is in the interpretation.  I asked my student to choose an intention for her practice and to anchor that intention with awareness of the breath or awareness of sensation in the body.  As we moved through the Vajra Opening series, I made some slight adjustments and made requests of the student to move in different ways or experiment with various modifications. 

I was delighted to watch as this student’s mind literally moved from place to place in her body and she fully explored each asana.  Thanks to this student and her beautiful practice, I realised that it is possible to see mind.   A great gift to a yoga teacher on a snowy night after a long week of being indoors. 

I received a similar gift through my dear friend and colleague on the teaching team at Yoga Matrika, Kristie Lindblom.  She posted a beautiful entry in her blog about how she is personally experiencing this long week of a storm and nature enforced hibernation.  Again, a new lesson on mindfullness.  By staying present in the moment, Kristie rides out the storm, the cabin fever and the heavy nature of this weather.  Her mindfulness includes all of the wonderful things that are growing, changing, transforming and preparing for birth right under our very feet in this very moment.

Thank you dear student and Kristie for the lessons in mindfulness. 

When in Pittsburgh, study Mindful Flow with Sharon Rudyk at Yoga Matrika.  Don’t worry, when there hasn’t been a recent snowfall of over 20 inches, there’s normally more than one student! So, not everyone gets watched so closely.

Posted by Sharon Rudyk
Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika

http://www.matrikawellnesscenter.com
http://www.prenatalyogapittsburgh.com
https://www.yogamatrika.com/

Check-out Kristie’s Blog entry here:

http://searchingforsattva.blogspot.com/