Yoga Story 8. Anjaneyasana (Lunge Pose)

It seems some of the simplest wishes in life are getting harder to get granted these days. For example, getting a bull’s-eye-shot at the Cupid’s arrow for marriage or producing a bundle-of-joy even after marriage are no easy matters anymore. Particularly, rising infertility issues among married couples are so dire that seeking IVF treatments are talked over lunch like norms. God must be going out of business due to high tech medical interventions nowadays…

In old days however, when women had difficulty in progeny, they used to pray. Not just wish-wash kinds of wimpy prayers, but hard ones at that, like embarking on one-hundred days of fasting combined three thousand daily kneeling in the moonlights…then somehow they could be endowed with a brilliant son or daughter in the end. That was God’s ways of testing the seriousness and readiness of women’s desire to be mother before. Now it seems obstetric specialists are replacing the God’s role. Because not many modern women have such patience and determination to wait until God answers her prayers…

In Yoga mythology, there are number of stories related to difficult progeny and magical births. One such story is about Anjana, the mother of beloved monkey-god Hanuman.

The Lunging Yoga Pose, Anjaneyasana, named after her arduous spiritual penance, is a deep, kneeling lunge that stretches the psoas muscle, which runs from the middle of the spine to the inner thigh. This very deep core muscle is pivotal in the fight-or-flight response that is built into our bodies. For many people, the fight-or-flight response is almost continuously stimulated by our on-going low-grade application of stress, by our daily habit of sitting for long periods of time on chairs, and results in a chronically locked psoas. Because of its relation to the fight-or-flight response, which typically engages when we are fearful, the psoas is where we generally hide fear. The process of opening the psoas gives us an opportunity to physically shed our fears and move into a state of fearlessness.

According to the story,

“Anjana was a beautiful woman who deeply desired to become a mother, so she prayed daily for the miracle of a child. The wind god Vayu admired Anjana very much, and when he heard her prayer, he decided to help her out. He blessed a few grains of rice and sent them with his bird friends, who were flying her way. Anjana was engaged in her daily prayer ritual. She had her arms stretched upward in anjali mudra, ready to receive the grace of God, when she received a few grains of rice instead. She knew better than to question what came to her through prayer, so she opened her mouth and tossed in the rice. Upon her consumption of the blessed rice, she became pregnant.

When her baby Anjaneya (which meant “son of Anjana”) was born, he was quite a precocious youngster. He was half mortal and half divine, since Vayu was his father. His demigod status is what often led him into big trouble. One morning Anjaneya woke up and saw what he thought was a giant mango floating in the sky. Since mangoes were his favorite treat, he immediately leapt up into the sky and rushed toward the fruit, not realizing it was actually the sun. When the sun god Surya saw this little troublemaker racing to take a big bite out of him, he threw a lightning bolt, which hit the boy in the jaw, killing him instantly and sending him tumbling to the ground.

When Vayu learned what Surya had done, his great fury made him take a deep breath. It was so deep that he sucked up all the air from the earth, and all the beings began to suffocate. The gods called an emergency meeting to try and placate both Vayu and Surya and restore order. Vayu refused to exhale until he got his son, Anjaneya, back. But Surya didn’t want his potentially dangerous child running around unrestrained.

Finally, an agreement was reached. Anjaneya would be renamed Hanuman, which referred to the broken jaw he received from the lightning bolt (hanu means “jaw” in Sanskrit). He would be revived, but cursed with short-term memory so that he would never recall his godliness long enough to cause any real harm. If he believed himself to be just a mortal, what damage could he possibly do?

And finally, he would be removed from his mother’s care so that he could start a new life. The trusted monkey king, Sugriva, agreed to take Hanuman under his wing, and the little boy took the shape of a monkey to better match his new family.”

Now this Hanuman is no ordinary monkey, who was to leave mother’s bosom and forget his godly nature for time-being, so that God could prepare him for his life’s grand mission to assist Ram, the greatest hero in the history of ancient India. Anjana, on the other hand, although she loved her son dearly, has to let go of him so that he could become a man of the world to fulfill his divine mission. In Anjanasana, we can access her fearless energy by thrusting our reluctant psoas muscle inside hip toward floor while folding palms into anjali mudra toward sky to indicate our surrender of inhibition and fear. Behind a heroic son like Hanuman, there is a heroic mother like Anjana. A fearless mother and ardent devotee like her is the lost role model for our modern mom-wanna-be. For more about Hanumanasana in the next story…

Yoga Story 7. The Shadows of Sani, the true beacon for everlasting happiness

The Ganesha story that I have posted previously, in how Ganesha was ended up with the elephant head, is the most well known version of its myths. However there is another version that is not the usual story where it was cut by his father Siva but caused by the Sani (Saturn). This story has more of astrological origin that is directly related to the nature of Saturn, the planet of longevity and lasting happiness with discipline and humanity as the prerequisite price. The unfolding story is,

“Lord Sani was desirous of seeing Lord Ganesha after hearing his birth. So he went to the mountain Kalias, the abode of Lord Siva and his family. The proud Mother Parvati was holding the child and other invited guests were adoring the gorgeous child. Sani before getting the audience saluted all the Lords—Krishna, Siva, Brhama, Dharma and Sun, and obtained their permission to visit the baby Ganesha.

When he was standing before Mother Parvati, his head bowed down and was avoiding looking directly at her or the baby. Mother Pravati felt offended by Sani’s strange behavior and asked “why are you not looking at me and my child?” Then Sani explained his wife put on him a curse that whomsoever he would look would get destroyed, since he forgot to honor her after his outdoor period, as he was engrossed in the thought of Lord Krishna.

Having heard this all the gods and dancers broke into laughter and Mother Parvati instructed him to see the child. Sani was in a dilemma and however glanced at the child from the corner of his eyes.

Immediately the child’s head got separated from the head and the bleeding headless child was in the mother’s lap. Everybody was in panic and the mother started weeping bitterly. Lord Krishna went to the river Pushpamudra, where a male elephant was sleeping with its female elephant, keeping its head in the northern direction. These two were surrounded by baby elephants.

Lord Krishna cut off the head of the elephant with his Sudarsan cakra, and put it on his mount, the Garuda. Meanwhile the female elephant got up and addressed Lord Krishna, her prayer. The elephant having touched the feet of the Lord got the blessings of long life a Kalpa. Then the Lord rushed to Kalias put the head on the little Ganesha and granted the life force. He also consoled Mother Parvati who took back Ganesha in this form and nursed.”

Among those who know astrology, Saturn is the most dreaded planet by far, out of the nine planets (Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu). While every planet is adorned and revered with their virtues and merits mostly; the Saturn is feared and avoided by at all cost, because of its associated nature being discipline and misfortune. However enduring happiness and glory also comes from Saturn’s slow and steady nature, unlike fast and quick ones like that of Mercury, or flirting and transient ones of Venus, etc.

Have you ever seen anyone, who keeps going up but never falls? Have you ever heard anyone whose lives are colored only with roses but not thorns? Fortune and misfortune go hand in hand. Without pain or sweat, we don’t know how to appreciate what goodness is. Saturn is the shadow of everyone, gods or humans alike. No one can escape from its gaze.

And yet, Saturn is in fact the most misunderstood and unfairly treated planet of all. We all love to hear and be inspired by those bitter sweet success stories, of those after enduring much pains and adversaries only to rise above all challenges. The focus, determination and willingness that are required for any significant achievements in life are all Saturn’s quality in nature. And yet we tremble at the mere sight of Saturn when he comes to knock our door. Sweat, pains, tolerance, discipline that are inevitable parts of growing process for human life…but just by mere mentions of them many would shy away, and wonders why they always feel lousy and are walking like a dead man in their alive but lifeless body, mind and spirit.

In Yoga, Saturn governs our life force, prana, and lots of pranayam exercises…that is the sure way to ensure his blessings. No one can be spared when Saturn put his gaze on. But if you do not challenge him directly, and instead welcome him with the way he looks away from you, then, no major disaster of getting heads knocked kind would happen. When he come to your door, then, just let him hang around for a while in the way he wants. Then his departing gifts are lasting happiness, longevity and success…

Yoga Story 6. Virabhadrasana (Warrior Pose)

One of the main effects that come when you practice yoga for sometimes is bravery and fearlessness in the way how we carry ourselves. There is also significant increase in our mental and physical focus that somehow we become less tolerant to our forever-busy-for-nothing in the hassled modern lifestyles. So without even going through the whole lots of self-help books in how to simplify our life, we just start to get more organized, systematic and prioritize what is more important from what isn’t. Thus life becomes less burdensome but more spontaneous expression of our joyous being; sharing happiness and gifts brought forward deep within the hearts. I feel most grateful to the yogic path I have been shown thus far, to be able to face any life’s challenges without fear and hesitations, but instead with courage and willingness. I suppose I became a quiet warrior without intending to. And I like it much better this way than playing a delicate princess or a queen that, as little girls we are led to fancy through fairytales…

The three variations of the Warrior Poses (I, II, III) are the most iconic Yoga poses among all Yoga Asanas. The first warrior pose raises its energy from the front with arms up over head, the second spreads sideways with arms outstretched, and the third balances forward with arms stretched forward parallel with the floor. All of them are mighty, fierce and strong standing poses that illustrates the power and ferocity of the warrior.

The warrior poses are physical and symbolic of warrior energy in that they require considerable strength in the muscles of the legs, which symbolize virility and power. And yet, at the same time, all three warrior poses demand that the chest and heart are remain open. The arms and legs are active, while the heart center, when open, banishes the fear of death.

In the yoga mythology, Virabhadra is the name of a warrior-devotee of Shiva, the lord of cosmic destruction and freedom bestowal. He was created from Shiva’s top-hair dreadlock out of his hot temper to make it even with Daksha, his father-in-law, who had committed the terrible sins of infuriating Shiva. According to the story,

“The great Shiva’s consort Shakti has many incarnations, as the gods often do, and one of her many lifetimes, she was known as Sati that was born to a mortal father named Daksha. Sati was incredibly beautiful and wholly devoted to Shiva. However, Daksha wasn’t a huge fan of Shiva, who is covered in ash, also known to have a bad temper and sat in meditation for thousands of years on top of a remote mountain. Not to mention his choice of clothing, which was pretty scant. Nonetheless, Sati’s heart was set upon Shiva while she was growing up and when came to her age to choose her marriage partner, she wanted no one but Shiva. Daksha had no choice but to give his lovely princess to the god he despised so much. But Daksha kept his contempt against Shiva even after Sati and Shiva were wed and living happily on the mountaintop.

One day, Daksha threw a grand party inviting all the gods and men of rich, except Shiva, which was an insult of the highest order. Sati became very upset that her father still would not accept the choice that made her happy. During the party, Sati appeared before her father with a saddened face and sorrow in her heart. All the guest turned to see Daksha’s beautiful daughter standing and weeping before him. Daksha, who loved his daughter very much, was distraught to see her so upset but stood by his decision to continue reject Shiva as her partner. Sati’s fury and great sadness ignited a fire that burned so brightly inside her that she went up in flames right in the middle of the party and was reduced to a pile of ashes before her father’s very eyes.

When Shiva came to know of what had happened, he became absolutely furious. In his fury and rage, he ripped off a dreadlock from his head, and this dreadlock snaked into the earth all the way down through the mountain, only to emerge in the center of the party, right in the very spot where Sati’s ashes lay. The dreadlock was transformed into Virabhadra, the great warrior, who rose out of the ground (visualize the warrior I pose, rising up with arms up overhead), drew his sword (visualize warrior II with arms open), and slice off Daksha’s head. When it fell to the ground, Virabhadra bent to pick it up and reached forward to place it upon a stake (think warrior III, arms reaching forward). This shocking act caused quite a uproar among the partygoers, who tried to flee the scene because they feared for their own heads.

In the world of the gods, things can happen almost instaneously, and this dire situation required the great Sati to secure another form very quickly so she could go reason with Shiva. She donned a new body and showed up at the party again, but this time, she scolded Shiva for beheading her father. “Look at what you have done!” she exclaimed to Virabhadra, knowing that Shiva would hear her on the mountaintop. “I know my father didn’t do a kind thing, but it wasn’t your place to step into the middle of it and kill him. Do you think that is going to solve our problem and make him accept you?” Shiva hadn’t really thought of that. He was just so angry at Daksha, he didn’t really consider how Sati would feel or that it would start a dramatic chain of events that would actually make things worse, not better. The problem was, he hadn’t thought at all. Sati demanded, “Make this right, right now!”

Well, Shiva himself arrived at the party, where a few lone partygoers were peering from behind trees to see what the great would do. He came marching in with his trident in hand and waved Virabhadra aside to keep him at bay. Shiva looked around and realized immediately that Daksha’s head was not suitable for reattachment, so he found the nearest replacement, which happened to be a goat. Off came the head of the goat, and onto Daksha’s body it went. Shiva breathed a great exhale, and life returned to a Daksha’s body. The object of his rage was standing in front of him, but Daksha suddenly felt grateful that Shiva had realized the error of his ways and made amends. In his gratitude, and with the realization that he had not behaved in a dignified way toward Shiva, Daksha held one final party and made Shiva and Sati his guests of honor.”

So Sati, the gorgeous and beautiful princess, despite the great love and respect she hold towards her father and beloved, and yet, was brave, firm and defiant when it came to setting things right. Even the great Shiva couldn’t argue with her. A true warrior as she is in her heart, maybe it will do good to those who hasn’t outgrown of princess dream to emulate Sati. Then life can be truly “happily ever after!”

Yoga Story 5. Natarajasana (Dancer Pose)

One day I saw a picture of pregnant dancer from a Korean magazine, wrapped in a white ciliate piece of cloth dancing in trance in bare foot while oblivious of her round and protruding belly. I remember myself thinking, either she must be crazy or just totally in bliss that didn’t care anything in the world except her dancing… But somehow she looked strangely mystic and fascinating to my young mind of barely twenty at the time.

She was an unorthodox, kind of a maverick in the highly conservative and traditional Korean dance world in those days. Yet she was successful exactly because of her daring and free spirited ways of dancing that was distinctively different than many others. She was also old (in her early forty at the time) for a dancer when most of other dancers were long ago to have retired. She took up dancing only in her late twenty and never stopped since then even when pregnant. As I read the interview article further, I also learned that she was the first Korean disciple of Osho Rajneesh, the controversial and flamboyant Indian Guru who rendered strong influence in the hippy generation. She dedicated her success to the practice of Yoga and the guru’s teachings. Another picture of her with Rajneesh at the corner somehow left ringing in my heart with certain longing and wanderlust.

It was then and there, my interest in Yoga and Indian mysticism began. I raved through any possible written materials in Korean about Yoga, Rajneesh and other Indian mystics. There weren’t many. I searched high and low with little success. One thing led me to another…even deciding to learn English so that I could go to India one day to meet Rajneesh. But then, it never happened because he passed away before I could even have a chance…Anyway life has always a way to eventually bring us to where we most want to be, but in completely different ways than we might expect or dream of initially. I have not managed to become a professional dancer like her or become the disciple of Rajneesh. But in the end, I did become a dancer of life and disciple of the original cosmic dancer, Shiva…

Shiva has many different personae that illuminate his essence. The most well known is his role as the King Dancer, or in Sanskrit, Nataraja. Natarajasna (Dancer Pose) is a standing balance posture that involves bending one knee and grasping the ankle or foot from behind. As we then lean forward and kick back with foot, an arm stretches forward to complete the pose. This pose is the physical embodiment of one of the many guises of Shiva.

In this guise he is commonly portrayed with snakes around his neck, dreadlocks standing on end, balancing atop a tiny dwarf, and encircled by a ring or fire.
Snakes are metaphors and frightening creatures for most of us that dangles from Shiva’s neck as he dances. The poison the cobra carries symbolizes the toxic nature of ignorance, the misunderstanding of ourselves as something other than divine that is represented by the tiny dwarf-like demon upon which he stands. The remedy to that affliction, which is enlightened knowledge and he carries its symbolic flame in one of his palms.

Shiva’s world-destroying dance is potent symbol that can be understood both cosmologically and psychologically. He performs the dance of destruction that destroys the universe. This is also the dance of knowledge that takes us from the unreal to the real, from the ignorance to the knowledge, from the ego to the Self. From a yogic perspective, the dance disentangles all the mental webs by which we have imprisoned ourselves in patterns and habits throughout our lives that don’t serve us, but rather inhibit us. Shiva, as Nataraja, is the destroyer of our delusions and illusions.

Yoga seeks to rid us of the ignorance through various practices, such as asana, pranayam, and meditation, and by constantly reminding us of the fact that we are all divine in nature. Still we constantly forget, fall prey to the poison of ignorance, the dwarf. This seemingly helpless creature is usually busy causing mischief, which mainly consists of keeping us all caught up in our own daily dramas. Shiva does not let this little character get the best of him and instead uses him as a pedestal for his dance. By standing over the demon of ignorance, he is able to have a higher gaze, or higher level of consciousness, which allows him to rise above daily drama by just paying attention to the rhythm of his dance.

Where there is beginning, there is end; where there is creation, life, there is dissolution, death. Life and death exists hand-in-hand. But most of time we fear death while celebrate life. Because for ignorant, unenlightened mortals like us, death implies the end of everything we are familiar with in this limited physical reality. However, Shiva understands that destruction clears the path for rebirth and that in rebirth and growth there is compassion. Brahma the creator cannot do his work properly if Shiva the destroyer has not done his. It is Shiva’s destruction that provides the fertile platform for Brahma’s process of rebuilding.

Thus destruction is not something to be fear of but to be welcomed for changes to come about for individual growth as well as cosmic evolutionary process. Shiva is not filled with guilt over the destruction he causes. His focus, his detachment in carrying out the painful duties of what others fear the most, he does it by simply transmuting his true compassion into the cosmic dance he is engrossed in. He destroys everything that stagnates, holds or blocks in our obstinate limited vision. But that is true compassion for he only ignites the fire of true courage in us, so that we could face the adversity only to become equal to the divinity within us. Time and again, whenever I find myself falling into forgetfulness, torpor, and lose focus in the midst of busy, ever churning petty mind, to stray away from what is important, it is the Natarjasana I keep come back to, to find back the balance and necessary perspective to be up and bounty once again. Like the image of a dancer that captured my attention long ago, Shiva is the divine manifestation I find most resonation deep in my heart…

Yoga Story 4. Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)

“Once upon a time, there lived a wise Brahmin woman, Gautami. She was a widow whose only son was bitten dead by a snake. A snake charmer caught the snake, brought it to the woman and asked her how he should kill it; cut it to pieces or burn it alive. The woman asked him to leave the snake alone, alive, since none could do anything against the strokes of destiny; to do anything in the matter like killing the snake would be a sin. In any case, her dead son would not come back to life now.

The argument went on and the wise woman said that the death of her son had not cause her agony as the boy had met his destiny.

The snake, now breathing more freely, told the snake-charmer that he had done what he was instructed to do by Lord of Death. But the act of biting the boy was of the snake, said the snake-charmer, and he could not be absolved of the guilt of the boy’s death.

In the meantime, the Lord of Death came and explained that impelled by the wheel of Destiny (the Lord of Time or Kaal) he (the Lord of Death) had instructed the snake to bit the boy.

Arguments went on between the snake-charmer and the Lord of Death, non agreeing with the other. Then Kaal reached the spot and explained—it was all the result of the Karmas of the boy—which had to give their results at a given time, through the instrumentalities of the Lord of Death, and the snake.

Karmic patterns of our past lives, allotted to us to enjoy or suffer in our present incarnations, at a given time, become in astrology, planetary patterns and the dasha system(planetary period)— representing Destiny and Time of the Wheel of Destiny”

The above story is from my Indian astrology teacher Mr. K.N Rao. He used to be quite an ingenious story teller, who cultivated the habit of making his points with stories, to evade direct answers to any uneasy inquires. (You can go to my older blog posting, April 30th 2008: The illumination Pill, Korean Ginseng Candy, for more about him.) The above story is just one of the examples he uses it when people ask of him when they will die. Sometimes his tongue is as sharp as snake bites in telling truths (mostly to hypocrites) but, many times he feels tormented when he sees inevitable ends for those anguished Indian mothers or wives come running to him for their ailing children or husbands. In those difficult moments, he weeps silently for them with deep prayers in his heart. And regrets his ever getting into astrology. Fearful snakes… are the image of my teacher to many others, but, to me, one of the most beautiful human beings I ever encountered…

In India, snakebite deaths are quite common occurrences, especially in older days. With such huge populations and undeveloped wild lands all over, I presume it might be, though I myself will quiver just by sheer imaginations of a snake slithering around.

The image of a snake, with its lithe body and cold skin, fierce eyes and sharp teeth, and venom, invokes terror to anyone hears of it. Clearly there is something profoundly unsettling about snakes. It’s the way they look at you with that steady unblinking stare. It’s as though they have come from another world. And indeed, ancestrally they almost certainly have. They have come from the underworld. Snakes are much feared animal by its venomous poison and also by its association with evil image in Christianity.

In Yoga, Cobra pose (bhujangasana) is a simple backbend that resembles the look of a cobra raising its hood. It is performed on prone position with bent elbows and hands beside the chest, lifting our head and chest higher up by using the back muscles, not the hands, like snakes with no limbs. Its main benefits are on strengthening, stretching and mobilizing spine while also helping to open the chest and shoulders.

In Indian mythology, snake enjoys much more revered status with many myths are attributed to it (no wonder there are so many snakes in India…).

Shiva adorns himself with cobra around his neck, signifying a deep familiarity with the fear of death. Shiva’s son, Ganesh, wears a cobra around his waist, not just as an homage to his father, but as a symbol of his attempt to follow his father-teacher’s footstep along the yogic path and shows his commitment to mastering his fears. Vishnu sits on Ananta, his thousand-headed serpent liaison whom we learned to be reincarnated as Patanjali in previous story. When the Buddha was meditating under the sacred bodhi tree, the king of cobras slithered up behind him and opened his great hood, creating a large canopy to protect him from heavy rain. Kundalini is the spiritual serpent lying coiled in the base of our spine. It is sleeping for most of people but, once it gets awakened, rising through the spinal cord like a king cobra raises its head and body, much super natural powers and enlightenment follows. The goal of Yoga is to awaken the Kundalini and Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga is the ultimate fit for that.

Thus the cobra is a fearsome creature for most, but it is the friend of the yogi. Its many manifestations can help us on the yogic path as we stumble over obstacles, poisons, and fear. The snake is a powerful symbol of our ability to relinquish all fears as we progress on a spiritual path. The way we give up fear is not by running from it, as some might do from the cobra, but by getting close to it and seeing it from a different perspective.

Whenever I see people are immobilized by their own fear, thus, unable to make necessary changes for anything good to about in their life, I feel so sorry for them. Because fears are nothing but like own shadows…the more we run away from it, the faster it will chase after us until we are drop dead. By simply stepping out in the sun, it disappears instantly. There are so many excuses we are making in not doing Yoga…but the way I learned to deal with my own fear of snake is by simply doing Yoga everyday no matter how I might feel. I found it became my most trusty solace that I turn again and again…I hope you would also come to love Yoga like a lifeline…because, it is really a lifeline in this fear infested society we are living in…

Yoga Story 3. Salutation and Grace

They say the eyes are the window to our soul. Yes, I find it very true. Whenever I see the sparkling lights that radiates their innermost spirit in someone’s eyes, especially the children’s, I can’t help but to just fall in love with them. My heart will start pounding and makes me grin from ear to ear by sheer joy of such encounters. Maybe I am a still helpless romantic longing for divine lights and love all around us, in a hope to light up our life with more joyous and delightful chorus of the hearts.

The Prayer Pose (Namaste) that puts our hands together in heart level with slightly bowed head is such a beautiful gesture of humanity saluting to the divine force within, and without. Its literally meaning is “I salute to the inner pure being in you, and in me.” Thus, whenever I get to glimpse the purity of souls through the eyes, or get to stare at those eyes for a while… It’s so loving and sweet like nectar. I feel we all must have been angels before we were born, or before we become all ‘grown-up.’ But then, I don’t know from where it went wrong … because not many of us are having those pretty eyes anymore…maybe we just forgot what we were before and all we need is a gentle reminder our divine nature. Thus, Indians or yogis greet each other with “Namaste” each time.

There is another gesture, known as Anjali mudra, where in you put out your palms in front of you with slightly downcast eyes in receiving position, as though you are waiting for grace to fall upon from up above. It is yet another important yoga gesture that has a significant place in Yoga, related with the story of how the “Pantanjali Yoga Sutra” came about. According to a legend,

“About two thousand years ago, there were many factions among those who practice yoga. Lying on the great serpent Ananta on the great ocean of possibility, Vishnu noticed this separateness in the practice of yoga, and he thought it would be a good idea to find a way to bring everyone together. He decided to send his liaison Ananta, charging the thousand-headed serpent with the task of bringing the yoga groups together into one great practice.

Down on earth lived a lovely woman who had the misfortune of being unable to have children. She was a devout worshipper of Vishnu and prayed every day for the miracle of a child. As she prayed, she held her hands open to receive any grace that might fall upon her. She waited and hoped and never gave up.

One day, as she was down on her knees with upturned hands reaching toward the sky, Vishnu decide to let the grace of his grand serpent fall upon this sweet woman. Into her praying hands fell baby Pantanjali. (“Pat” means “to fall” in Sanskrit, and “anjali” was the gesture the woman made with her hands.) This was no ordinary baby boy. He had the upper torso of a normal human, but his lower half was a snake’s tail. Apparently Ananta didn’t have time to make a complete transformation on his fall to earth. But who was the woman to question a gift from above? So she loved him and raised him as her own, despite his serpentine half.

Pantanjal grew to be a great master of yoga, and he helped the world by uniting all the different ideas about yoga into one grand work, called the Yoga Sutra means “thread,” and this classic text consists of short aphorisms, which pull yoga together into one great fabric. Each little phrase encompasses great wisdom, which has sustained yoga for the last two thousand years.”

Patanjali’s yoga sutras outline several different methods for achieving ultimate happiness, or yoga. The most well known of these is Ashtanga yoga, the Eight Limbs of the Royal Path in Yoga. (It is different than the contemporary and athletic style of ashtanga Yoga, founded by an Indian Guru Pattabhi Jois, and became well known by Madonna).

The Patanjali’s ashtanga yoga path includes; yama, the guidelines for ethical standards and moral conduct; niyama, the observances and disciplines recommended for yoga practitioners to follow; asana (postures) and pranayam (breath work) which together constitute Hatha yoga; pratyahara (senses withdrawal) that describes the natural process of senses turning inward; dharana (concentration), dyana (meditation) and Samadhi (enlightenment) together known as Raja yoga.

Praying with outstretched hands, in anjali mudra, symbolizes the unwavering belief that whatever one is praying for will soon arrive. Inherent in this gesture is a strong pulsation of faith. Faith is what is required to be able to make great leaps and receive great blessings, as Patanjali’s mother did.

While Namaste and anjali are generally interchangeable names for a similar gesture, there is no myth associated with the Namaste mudra. Namaste is a sort of variation on anjali that helps us in our efforts to find a balance. The word “Namaste” is also an important and pervasive aspect of yoga practice. Our gesture of bringing our hands to prayer and the salutation is reflective of yoga’s end goal, to be enlightened of the inner pure being.

This beautiful gesture of greeting with folded palms is, in fact, common gesture not only in India but in many different cultures. The prayer like hands gesture “wai” with a slight bow is used widely in Thailand, as a way of thanking or apologizing. Chinese style is a bit different which they do with wrapping one hand over the other in a kung-fu style in the heart level. Japan and Korea have, yet, another unique style of greeting. They do fold hands, but, in the low front of abdomen with almost ninety degree bowing forward position.

Though there are slight variations in styles, and yet, fold hands with smiling eyes or mouth to greet others are such humbling and graceful gesture, expressing our humanity and unity brought forward from bottom of our hearts. Sadly, there are some short-sighted pastors or other religious authorities that I heard, asking their people not to do the Namaste pose, saying that, it is a prayer to Hindu gods.

God resides in each of us in whatever forms or names we feel connected with. That way, we can stay close to our God. When we put our hands in Namaste or Anjali gestures to pray, we are praying to the God we hold dearly inside our hearts, not some foreign Hindu gods, just because yoga is originated in India. Yoga means, union, or bringing together, which is just the medium that unites our body, mind and heart with breath; so that it channels out our inborn love and reverence toward other fellow beings and God, regardless of any ethnic makeup or religious orientations. Not only Yoga, but, any spiritual disciplines we employ are just the means to arrive to our inner most being, residing in our hearts, that which our eyes are the direct reflections of it. Thus, why not we welcome each other with Namaste or pray in Anjali mudra more often? Who knows how fast we might able to arrive at the doors of our God?

Yoga story 2: Triangle Pose and Trinity

The popular and familiar yoga pose, Triangle (Trikonasa in Sanskrit), is one of the most difficult, strong, and stable poses among all.

Its three triangle shapes that you form from-- first with our legs and the floor, second, underneath the side of the body with the arm and front leg, and the third, connecting the top hand and two feet—are also the most mythical symbols of the trinity in nature, in spirituality, and in religions.

Triangle pose represents many sacred trinities in our world as well, such as the trinity of body, mind and spirit; that of earth, space and heavens; that of birth, life and deaths; and the Christian trinity of God as the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

The Hindu trinity is of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. They are respectively the creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe. The trinity represents the Divine in its three fold nature and function. Each aspect of the trinity contains and includes the other. According to Puranas;

“A powerful demon named Mahishasura had wreaking havoc upon the gods and goddesses in the heaven, threatening to overthrow them. He managed to distract them constantly from their duties, turning their attention instead toward worldly and unlasting pleasures. Mahishasura’s depravity was distressing Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu, the sacred trinity in charge. In an effort to overcome Mahishasura’s debauchery, the sacred trinity brought their energy together to create the great goddess, Mahamaya (means, great illusion).

A fierce warrior, Mahamaya and her trusty lion lunged at the evil demon. The wily Mahishasura transformed into different creatures to try to defeat them. Though his shape changed, his evil intensity stayed the same, and it became a formidable fight. Mahamaya’s lion swiped at Mahishasura’s chest, weakening him a bit. Mahamaya drew one of her endless supply of arrows and cry out and fall to the round. She promptly stood on top of him and used her scimitar to cut off his head, ending his evil reign. Having defeated the demon, Mahamaya restored light and grace to the heavens and to those who lived there.”

In this myth, the evil Mahishasura symbolizes the many distractions in our lives that pull us apart in many different directions. We are constantly running around, busy all the time, but unable to stay focus on one things or accomplish what is more important in life.

And the goddess Mahamaya symbolizes the triangle pose, the three gunas (Tamas, Rajas, and Sattva) or qualities that compose our bodies and minds.

Tamas guna, which arises from Shiva, is the quality of inertia or unconsciousness. It causes indifference and can have a destructive energy. Rajas guna, which comes from Brahma, is the quality of passion and creativity, which provides the creative energy we need for manifesting things. Sattva guna, from Vishnu, is the quality of lightness and consciousness, which is necessary to sustain harmonious living and maintain our enlightened awareness. These gunas come together to create maya, the world of illusion that we experience through our senses.

One of the aims of yoga practice is to invite as much clarity (sattva) in our lives as possible, while avoiding ignorance (tamas) and agitation (rajas). For that, we need the lion like fierceness and focus. The shape of a triangle is just that; groundedness, courage, precision and focus.

In my growing up years, I used to be quietly rebellious and feel sour with almost everything, anyone around me. A bit angular disposition in nature, you could say. But since doing Yoga, I got much softer over the years and rounder at the corners of my personality. Wiser, too! Now, I became more like a triangle; solid and stable at the foundation, while my views are always set to somewhere in the middle atop. I rarely lose my composure now, though still far away from full enlightenment.

The triangle pose also represent the Time. The past, future, and present moments are, like the Trikonasana, the trinity well rolled into one continuum. Whichever way you turn it around, they are of equal length. They can’t be separated because each depends on the others for existence and balance. And yet, we are so easy to over look this simple truth. We are constantly occupied with the past and future, while seldom lives in the present. So is it any wonder that we often feel as though we are missing out something important in life? That is why, I feel so liberating and yet grounded whenever I come into the triangle pose. I am at peace with the way I have lived thus far and where I am at for now, while looking forward to the years ahead, to more learning, growing and expanding experiences.

The practice of yoga aims to reach a state of pure goodness, in which all dualities are united in absolute harmony. All dualistic views about good and bad, pure and evil, right and wrong, etc, they are like the veils of goddess maya (illusion), preventing to see the truth behind, so that we can reside solely in our divine nature. In Triangle pose, we meditate on our solid foundation, reflecting what we need in order to live a more sattvic life so that we could leave the world of maya behind in times to come.

Thus, next time when you do the triangle pose, why don’t you press both feet (past and future) more firmly on the ground while relaxing your head to gaze upon your finger tips above (present)? Then you are entering into the realm of fullest possibility in your life’s manifesto. You will see, in instant, all limitation you have imposed upon yourself disappears, like the Mahishasura, in the brilliant lights of the goddess Mahamaya and rejoice the sweet victory …

Yoga Story 1: Ganesha, the elephant-headed god’s Story

There is a big, beautiful and elegant Ganesha’s picture hanging in the front wall as you enter our Yoga studio. Why the large elephant-headed god’s picture with his pot belly and pudgy figure is placed in a Yoga studio, instead of shining mirrors? Either being multi-culturally grown Malaysians, who got accustomed to diverse religious figures, or just plainly out of indifference, people rarely question me about it and I don’t elaborate it either when no one asks. But, certainly I didn’t put his picture there for no reason or just as a decoration pieces.

Ganesha, in Hinduism, is the guardian deity of Yoga, meditation and astrology, of the subjects I happened to study simultaneously over the past decades. When I began my soul searching, I found myself naturally drawn to all the three, one by one, because they seemed to be connected each other. So I studied them with particular interest ever since I started my journey in late 80’s. But as a Korean origin, I never knew or heard of him before, not until, my then-boy friend hubby gave me a present, a small and beautiful bronze Ganesha statue, that occupies the corner of our home alter till now. I learned of this lovely deity’s many crazy antics from Hindu mythology afterward. Since then, he occupied a special place in my heart and I thought it would be most appropriate to share some of his myths with my yoga students as an opening to the Yoga story series.

Ganesha is a master of Yoga despite of his round figure. He has very flexible body, and brilliant and expansive mind, who is a renowned Vedic scholar that wrote the great Indian epic Mahabharata. He is also the remover of obstacles, and no Hindu prayer or ritual, especially for planetary propitiation, may commence without a prayer to Ganesha. He is generous and easy to please who grants every wishes of his devotees when asked with sincere and genuine hearts. He gives progeny to the childless, he gives knowledge to the seeker, and prosperity to those who desire material gains. The sheer size and power of the elephant, who can remove any obstacle on his path, makes Ganesha the god who removes all obstacles from the paths of his devotees.

Ganesha is the first son of Shiva and Parvati, one of the most powerful gods in the Hindu Trinity pantheon and his equally almighty goddess wife. How then, Ganesha ended up with an elephant head, despite being a prince to the couple who had no match in the entire universe with their combined beauty, power, and strength? As the story goes;

“One day, as the goddess was going for her bath, she rubbed oil and dust from her body and created a young boy, into whom she infused life. Parvati told him that he was her son and asked him to keep watch while she went to bathe. Soon after, Shiva came to see his wife, but the boy would not let him in. He cut off the boy’s head in anger. Parvati, when she saw her headless son, was furious and threatened to destroy the heavens and earth, for she was also Shakti, the Ultimate Power. To pacify her, Shiva order his army of ganas (dwarfs) to bring the head of the first living being with his head to the north, which is the auspicious direction associated with wisdom. The first living being they met was an elephant sleeping with its head to the north. They brought back the animal’s head, which Shiva placed on the severed body. Parvati was overjoyed and named her son Ganesha or Ganapati, Lord of the Ganas.”

Ganesha is the most beloved of all the Hindu deities, for he combines in himself the elephant, a sacred and much-loved animal that is gentle and kind even as he is large and strong. There are amusing stories who loves with all things that are sweet, especially modaka, the sweet Indian desert, customarily offered by his devotees during Puja (Hindu prayer session).

“On one of his exploits, Ganesha actually consumed so many sweet cakes that his belly was full to bursting. He decided it was time to head home and relax his stuffed belly, so he hopped on his trusty “steed,” a tiny mouse. Because the mouse is such a small vehicle, Ganesha has to practice extraordinary balance to keep his hulking frame on the erratic creature (remember he is the master of yoga).

The pair was cruising smoothly along when a very long cobra slithered onto their path and frightened the mouse. The mouse darted one way and Ganesha fell the other. When he hit the ground, his overstuffed belly exploded and sweet cakes rained everywhere. This greatly perturbed Ganesha, who was upset not only by the cobra’s disruption of his ride, but at the loss of sweet fullness of his tummy. He walked around, collecting all the sweet cakes and stuffed them one by one, back into his belly. Then, he snatched up the cobra and tied it around his waist to cinch it shut. All the while, the moon, Chandra, was watching the extravaganza, and couldn’t help exploding into laughter at Ganesha’s crazy antics.

Ganesha got angry and broke off a piece of his tusk and threw it at the moon, cursing him to stop shining. So there was no more night and the sun shone incessantly night and day. With no night, no dawn, and no dusk, love was lost to the world. There was no place for romance, and men and gods alike became scorched and hopeless upon the hot earth. So the gods pleaded with Ganesha to take back his curse. Ganesha relented, but limited the moon’s shining to alternate fortnights, which is why the moon waxes and wanes. This, he decided, would be a permanent lesson for the moon so it would remember never to laugh at him again.”

Thus, we too, might be tempted to just laugh or smile after hearing of Ganesha’s episode with the moon, but, its myth is more than just a funny story that which carries profound symbols in it.

His corpulent body reminds us that outward appearance has nothing to do with inner beauty, with his huge belly representing his ability to swallow the sorrows of the universe. As the elephant is large yet, gentle, Ganesha represents the importance of right over might.

The head of the elephant is symbolic of his superior intelligence: wisdom and the strength of the mind, and the ability to remove obstacles. His large ears sift out the bad, so that only the truth can be heard. His broken tusk in his hand symbolizes knowledge, for he used it to write the Mahabharata.

The snake around his waist symbolizes cosmic energy (shushuma) that is dormant at the base of our spine, which can be awakened by balancing the sun (pingala nadi, or yang in Chinese) and the moon (ida nadi, yin) energies through yoga. The noose represents worldly attachments, which are like a noose around one’s neck. The modaka is reminiscent of the sweetness of one’s inner self, while Ganesha’s vehicle mouse, the tiny animal represents the equal importance of big and small people to God. Sometimes he holds rosary beads, a reminder of the importance of prayer.

Now, when you know what Ganesha is all about, how can you not love and adore him, even if you are not a Hindu? Thus, I pay my respect to him whenever I caught his eyes peeping while I conduct the yoga classes. Though I’m not a Hindu, but more of a student of Yoga from a different race, I don’t think it matters to him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have blessed my life to thread solely along the paths of Yoga. I can’t imagine myself what would have become have I not entered in this path…I feel truly blessed to have known him, of whom I commute with the prayer I learned from my astrology teacher,

Vakratunda maha kaya, surya koti samaprabha, Nirvighnam Kurume deva sarva Karyeshu sarvada.

(You of the twisted trunk and massive body, With the dazzle and light of a million suns: Lead me on a path that has no obstacles or hindrances, Clearing the way in all that I do, ever, always.)

So next time when you come into the studio or engage yourself in the practice of yoga, meditation or spiritual study, it will be helpful to remember Ganesha’s story, to hold your balancing of body, mind and spirit in joyous, relaxed but delicate manner with focus. Or else, the mouse will topple you over sideways to become a laughing stock to the moon, and lose all sweetness and love in life… If any of you want to learn the melody of how to sing Ganesha’s prayer, let me know, I can easily teach you during the yoga class. I taught it to the yoga kids, and they just love it immediately…

Yoga Stories for Your Hearts and Souls

Welcome to Beth’s new yoga story series!

Lately, I was searching for different story materials for my yoga kids so that I can make the kids’ yoga class more fun and exciting, at the same time, inspirational and uplifting for their tender hearts and spirits. Well, then, it dawned on me that, why don’t I share the stories with my grown-up yoga students as well??? Hey, they need fun, excitement also, as well as heart- warming stories for their tired and exhausted souls…!

Yes, in fact, we adults might need much stronger doses of soul food than children. While the young kids’ are easy to laugh and be joyous in spontaneity, many grown-ups lost the ability to feel passionate with life or be enthusiastic in anything at all. Instead they are easy to frown and complain, while so quick to rise to anger and frustrations, even with little, little irritations. Life has become too solemn and serious business for many of us as though the whole world is going to collapse if we don’t keep up with the Jones.

Life needs not be struggle if we know how to put it down in the Now like kids. Everybody adores babies and loves to play with children. Why? Because, they are fully present in the moment, in the Now. Their innocent minds are yet to know what is past or future. Their hearts are pure and free from any worries or fear. Thus they are naturally the masters of Yoga, the science of body, mind and spirit, but, not we, adults. We hold way too much tension in our body and noises in the mind for our innate spirit gets the chance to shine forward. If we can only allow our spirit to reveal its brilliance in natural fashion, then, our life will become so much more vibrant and authentic. We could reclaim our birthright for unconditional happiness and bliss.

In the upcoming Yoga story series, that which I will weave from various sources of tales, teachings, myths as well as my own personal experiences, my sole aim is, to help you ignite the sparks in your hearts, so that, you may rediscover your lost passion and motivations for life, to strive for greater happiness, perfect health and soulful success in whatever you do, wherever you are.

Yoga is from ancient India originated thousands years ago since their Vedic culture. The asana and pranayam practices, as largely known to be synonymous with Yoga, is, Hatha Yoga, one of the most potent forms of practicing yoga in balancing and harmonizing our energy, so that it becomes fit to attain enlightenment.

However, it is just one tiny aspects of yoga in the vastitude of Vedic literatures.
Less well known but not any less important aspects of yoga is, Upanishad and Puranas, that are the collections of inspiring stories and teachings of devas (gods), saints and gurus, told in timeless language in the backdrops of ancient India. In those stories, various encounters, deeds and adventures of gods and goddess are told to improve the quality of our lives and also to help our human souls’ emancipation. They stretch our imagination and ordinary comprehension beyond measure by defying any limitations about time, space, sequence and logics. Their points of tell-tales are not to make sense, but, to remind us time and again, the divine nature we are endowed with, but forgotten along the way of samsara (the endless wheels of births and deaths).

In this fast moving technological and material society we are in, there are less and less chances for actual human contacts in our daily lives. Everything can be done mechanically, automatically, through computer, through internet, through mobiles with just one click on the finger tips. When we hear the ancient stories of Upainishad or Purana, we might have to scratch our head in trying to make sense out of them. But, when, gods were looking down on us, with what we are doing in facebooks, YouTubes, mobiles…they will shake their heads and have really no idea what the he** we all are up to. It is us that who are not making sense, not they.

When I see our kids or people, anywhere, everywhere, sitting, standing, or walking…constantly hooked up with those wires or busy with fingers and eyes and ears… I get worry. Because, the more and more, I see distance and disconnection among us with what is more important in life. With our busy modern life, many people are becoming more like a dead-man-walking. They are well alive, but not breathing nor aware of with what is going on around them. Many are so caught up in their mind, in their virtual world, that, each are like an island unto themselves, isolated and disconnected, with the rest of world, even with close family members who are under the same roof. It seems, the busier we get, the lonelier our lives become. Nothing really matters as much like happy and contented smiles in our heart, because, that is what we are going to take with us when we leave this life.

Do you have a song in your heart? What will make your heart sing? Goodness, virtue, humility, sincerity, selfless devotion…those timeless qualities of divinity make my heart to skip its beat when I hear of them. My heart leaps into joy and ecstasy whenever I see the same divine sparks from ordinary to extra ordinary stories of people who dedicated their life, time, efforts in commitment to the love song in their hearts to give it to life, thus making it larger than life. We are no different than other animals in its physiological and safety needs, except the natural inclination towards the noblest, purest and highest, once our basic needs are met. When we dedicate our life to the calls for divinity, then, we can rise above what holds us back, to the timeless beauty and transcendental mythic land, to sing and dance, and rejoicing together with gods and goddesses.

Thus, I would like to invite you to the Yoga mythic journey to meet the heroes and heroines of whom we could aspire, emulate to become better of ourselves and lives…