"The Art of Doing Nothing"

On rare occasion, (after surgery, for example) we may be told to "do nothing---no sports, no lifting, no strenuous physical activity, etc."  What if we're told not to practice yoga?  Then what?  How do we spend our valuable time?  Can every waking second be filled with reading, television, movies, games, computer networking, light cleaning or organizing (yuk!) or worse yet, eating?  How do we deal with the boredom of physical inactivity?  How can we free ourselves from the feeling that we must always be doing something?

"No yoga" does not mean no yoking of body, mind and spirit in stillness.  Meditation is the meat of yoking with God.  It doesn't matter that there is very little, if any, movement or changing of postures (asanas).  But there is always the essence of remaining and abiding in a relationship with your best friend---the One whose presence calmed you moment-by-moment through the whole process of pre-op and post-op. When the often distracting flow from posture to posture is removed, what remains is what really matters about yoga---the God connection.  

This week try practicing yoga by doing nothing but remaining physically and mentally still in the peaceful presence of your Creator.  This practice of the sixth stage of yoga (called meditation or Dharana) is safe and is universally recommended for everyone in order to balance the busy-ness of daily life.  

• Physically---Choose a time and place to meditate where external distractions won't interrupt the stillness. The physical body can be seated in any of the traditional postures (asanas) for meditation:

1. "Adept's Pose" (Siddhasana described in the October 26, 2009 blog), 
2. "Hero Pose" (Virasana described in the May 27, 2009 blog), 
3.  "Easy Pose" (Sukhasana described in the May 4, 2010 blog), 
4. The most challenging seated posture for meditation is only for those with very open hips, called "Lotus Pose" (Padmasana  is not yet described in my blogs because I cannot sit comfortably for more than three breaths in this position.  Maybe next week.) 
5.  OR lying down in "Corpse Pose" (Savasana described in the January 24, 2009 blog) will work as long as you don't fall asleep because that's cheating (the relationship)!

• Whatever physical position you chose, it should be comfortable enough to avoid the pitfall of distracting pain.  Also, visual distractions (dust, cobwebs, etc.) can be partially eliminated by lightly closing the eyelids to practice the fifth limb of yoga called pratyahara, or withdrawal of the senses.  In the fifth stage of yoga, all five senses are brought under control as the focus turns inward to a present-minded, rhythmic control of the breath (pranayama) and its Source.   (It can be very freeing to step away briefly from the physical realm!)
• Mentally---Here lies the challenge of meditation!  When the element of physical activity is removed the mind seems to want to pick up the slack, so it's difficult to stay in each present moment without shifting to a past event or planning something in the future to satisfy desires or cravings.   As B.K.S. Iyengar states in his yoga text, Light on Yoga, "If a man's reason succumbs to the pull of his senses, he is lost....There is bondage when the mind craves, grieves or is unhappy about something.  The mind becomes pure when all desires and fears are annihilated."  And it's a constant battle of the will!
• As you practice freeing your mind from the pull of desires or fears, I've found that it helps to become an objective witness to where and upon what the mind is dwelling, but without any negative emotional responses.  If you experience the distraction of cravings or desires, simply return your thoughts over and over again to the joy of gratitude to your Creator for the gift of life that is experienced in each and every breath you draw from God.  God then becomes the object of your attention and affection as you become completely engrossed (dharana) in His goodness, mercy and compassion.  Your mind is stilled upon  the knowledge of Him.
• Spiritually---With a regular practice of meditation that uses the yogic tools of pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) , and dharana (complete absorption and focus) you will develop spiritual discipline!  These disciplines enhance the spiritual connection to your Creator that enables you to reject the broad path of destruction through satisfaction of the senses and embrace the narrow path to freedom from bondage through Christ Jesus' ultimate gift of love.  This is the "strait gate" that Jesus advised us to enter as recorded in the Book of Matthew:

"Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." 

 (Matthew 7: 13-14, KJV)