Laughing Yogini’s HOME Practices:

• ASANA (Physical stretching and toning)
  
• PRANAYAMA (Breath Work)
  
• DHYANA (Meditation) 
  

~ THE PHYSICAL SPACE

1. Set up an area dedicated to yoga. Give your practice the space that it needs…space that is available whenever you are.

2. Preferably there will be wall space for you practice inversions or standing poses….

3. The area should be as quiet as possible, especially if this will function as meditation space as well as asana practice…and if you use a clock, you probably want one that doesn’t tick audibly

4. Make the space as visually pleasant as possible….clean, tidy, and as free from distractions as possible. Visually connect with your practice with posters or other wall hangings that take you deeper into your yoga. Fresh flowers remind me of the earth and of my own growth in yoga.

5. The space should be easily accessible, with just enough light to see so that I can practice even when I have insomnia at 3:00 a.m. A couple of candles in glass containers remind me of the sacred energy that I am practicing and meditating in.

6. Have any props that you like to use nearby. A sticky mat or two, bolsters, blankets, eye pillows, straps, chair, stool. You’ll find your practice is more effective if you don’t have to run around looking for a chair to support your feet, for instance, should you decide today that you’d like to go into Halasana (plough pose) with support.

7. If you prefer to practice with DVDs or with a TV teacher, or even if you enjoy music while you practice, have the necessary media nearby.

Having said all of that, remember the ancients didn’t have MP3 players, or bolsters, or even sticky mats…maybe they used a little butter candle…yoga can be done anytime, anywhere….these are simply aids to get you going and to help keep you going….when I think of my own home practice, I always remember long-time yogi, Jon Kabatt-Zinn’s advice for maintaining practice is “butt glue.” Whatever it takes, whatever you find works for you, get yourself to your mat and cushion. Your life will be the richer for it.

~THE MENTAL SPACE

October seed head, Fredonia NY (ckg photo)

Dedicate your practice to ahimsa, the first yama (ethical precept taught by the sage, Patanjali). Most of us are familiar with the word, ahimsa, from Gandhi’s political nonviolence in colonial India. In context of practicing yoga, we need to develop an attitude of nonviolence to ourselves. That means respecting your limits.

Work at your edge-not beyond. Strive to become more sensitive to feeling when your edge occurs. Become mindful if and when the “war” against yourself begins. Breathe in peace, if you feel agitation starting. Unfortunately, most of us have been brought up on “no pain, no gain” or “grin and bear it” or “buck up.” We have been acculturated very successfully-to the point where we lose touch with what we actually feel. We develop barricades against feeling. Pain is often held in our bodies year after year after year.

Erich Schiffman has an excellent piece on working at your edge in chapter 8 of his book: YOGA, THE SPIRITOF MOVING INTO STILLNESS . Highly recommended.

~ EMOTIONAL SPACE

1.Practice with an attitude of exploration and play. Take a look-see where you are at today in each pose. While it may be “natural” to compare ourselves to where we were at the last time we practiced, we need to let go of that. After all, the last practice was in the past and we want to be fully present to whatever the present experience is. At the same time, try not to get hooked by future expectations either. You know the ones: those goals we set for ourselves, like “I am going to be able to touch my toes in Forward Fold by the end of the year.” The reason these do not serve us is because they take us out of what we are actually experiencing. They take us out of feeling our way through the practice. Keep a journal if you want to see how you are transforming through your yogic endeavors.

2. Not only should we avoid comparing our poses with past poses we have done, we should strive to let go feelings of comparison with others. These can be equally insidious. The person doesn’t even have to be in the room, and yet, in the back of our mind, we’re thinking about how they approach the pose. We are opening ourselves to the twin headed monster: discouragement and pride. (“Oh, that was OK, but my splits will never look like Rebecca’s” OR “Wait until so-and-so sees this pose, he’ll cry in envy!). These are two pernicious ways of attacking our practice.

3. This mental and emotional space is so important to a healthy practice and I so often see it violated that I took the name of Laughing Yogini. While yoga is of great importance to me and the practice makes my life, I don’t want to create a lot of “stickiness” around it. I want the energy to be light enough so that it can flow. I don’t want to obstruct the practice and the reason I am practicing in the first place.

~ THE SPIRITUAL SPACE

We most easily access the spiritual plane of our existence through our breath. The breath is a very effective link of the body, mind and spirit. Remember to move on the exhalation. The physical release that occurs with the out breath can mirror a deeper release of the physical plane. After the letting go, there is a moment of utter peace. Be present to that peace. Remember to keep returning to that space in your practice.