Limiting beliefs

What do you notice about this picture?

Do you believe the flower to be imperfect, or perfect and beautiful just as it is?

What if this flower were a person looking in the mirror. Perhaps it would be telling itself that it is not perfect, not beautiful, not good enough. Believing in this it would probably be feeling bad, suffering in other words.

We all have them, those beliefs that limit us.  This article invites you to explore those limiting ideas, what they might be and mean and give you some strategies for seeing them for what they really are. To get the most from it, sit down with a pen and notebook and do the suggested exercises while you read it.

Ready?

See if any of the following resonate with you.

• I am too fat/skinny/unfit/stiff/weak
• People don't love/respect/like me
• I have too much/more/something else to do
• I cannot do or be something as I am too ignorant/young/old/female/male
• I need a bigger/different/better organised/ house
• It isn't possible because I live where I live and not somewhere else

If you can add any of your own to this list. Grab your notebook and jot them down, and jot down the versions of these that most resonate for you as well.  Don't worry about reinforcing them, we are going to work on that.

Take a look at the list. See if you can arrange them under the following headings (some may seem to cross over more than one, just try to make the best fit for the moment.

• I am not good enough
• There is not enough time
• I don't know enough
• There is more I need to do
• I am in the wrong place or lack space

Did they all fit somewhere in thse headings? These categories I have given are not a random choice but a version of the five Kanchukas, or limitations, which the wisdom teachings tell us are clouding our understanding of our true nature.

• Raaga - limited perfection (shows up as desires which seek to fill up that which is lacking)
• Kaala - limited time 
• Vidya - limited knowing
• Kalaa - limited action or doing
• Niyati - limited space (shows up as being confined to a location, as in a body)

But they are not only the limitations themselves but when we start to notice them they become signposts that point us towards our true nature.

• Raaga, limited perfection, points to our inherent wholeness - Perfection
• Kaala, limited time, points to the timelessness of pure Being, which we are - Eternal
• Vidya, limited knowing, points to the all knowing wisdom which is also here, always - Omniscient
• Kalaa, limited action or doing points to there being no doer and the state of not doing that is the state of pure Being - Omnipotent
• Niyati, limited space points to the spacious infinity of pure Being - Omnipresent and Infinite

Now, go back to your list of limiting beliefs. For each of them, find and record next to it, an opposite.

For example, if you have a belief "I haven't done enough" you might take the opposite to be "I always do the best I can" or "I do as much as I can to the best of my ability"

If you didn't get out a notebook and pen, while the others are completing this task, take a moment to think of what prevented you from doing that.  Perhaps it was "I am too busy right now, I just want to read this and get it over with". This would be the limitation of time, wouldn't it? Was there a different reason?  Is there a Kanchuka there?  Not in the right place just now? Limited space. Unsure of where all this is going?  Limited knowing. There is something wrong with being asked to do exercises? Limited perfection. Can't be bothered doing exercises?  Limited action.

OK, so now look at your list and pick the limiting belief that you find most poignant or resonating with you right now in this moment.  Ask your heart and don't hesitate. Take note of the opposite you have created. 

In a moment take some time to sit awhile with your eyes closed and take the limiting belief, and explore what it feels like?  What emotions does it raise? Where does this live in your body? Sit with that a moment and explore it a bit, being curious. Then take the opposite. If you take this to be true, what does it feel like? What emotions does it raise? where is this in your body. For a little while, as long as you like, go between these two opposites. Take enough time to let the belief, its attendant emotions, perhaps memories, and feelings arise and note the bodily sensations that are there, before moving back to the opposite.

What happens?  Does there come a time when they can both be here together?

Now for a critical question. Who is dong all the observing of these beliefs, these memories and emotions, these sensations in the body? Can you just be there, be that?

Why do we chant mantras 108 times?

At the Yoga Australia teacher's retreat in South Australia recently we took the opportunity to chant the Gayatri Mantra 108 times. This is a traditional practice which is why there are 108 beads on a mala. The fingers are run over the beads to facilitate counting while chanting. There is also a tradition in yoga of doing 108 sun salutations.

The question arose later in conversation, why 108? What is it about 108 that makes it chosen as the number of times to chant a mantra or  do sun salutations?

108 is a number that is ascribed mystical significance in Indian traditions but other traditions as well. Here are some attributions:

• The deities of Hinduism often have 108 names. 
• There are 54 letters in the Sanskrit alphabet; with each letter being attributed with a masculine and a feminine aspect, or more accurately Shiva and Shakti, 54 x 2 = 108. 
• There are said to be 108 Gopis or servants of lord Krishna
• In symbolic terms 1 stands for the one Universal Consciousness from which all arises; 0 stands for completeness or perfection which is also fully spacious (empty, void) that is the goal of the spiritual path; 8 stands for Infinity (laid on its side it is a universal symbol for infinity
• In numerology 9 is considered the number of completion and 12 is the cosmic number. their product 9 x 12 = 108, 108 is the Universal number
• 1+0+8 = 9; in numerology 9 represents unconditional love
• Some schools of Buddhism say there are 108 feelings, multiplying the six senses of taste, hearing, smell, sight, touch and consciousness by the three attributes of  painful, pleasant or neutral, multiplied again by the two factors of whether they are internally or externally generated, and again by the three time divisions of past, present or future. 6 x 3 x 2 x 3 = 108
• 18 is a revered number in Judaism. Gifts and charitable donations are given in multiples of 18 (18 x 6 = 108) and in the number 108 the fullness of zero sits inside 18.
• Many Buddhist temples have 108 steps

But none of this really satisfactorily explains why.

The ancient Indians were keen astronomers (and astrologers) and great mathematicians, so I wondered if all the magical mystical significance comes about due to their understanding of the maths and science of it. And it turns out that there are indeed some pretty amazing things about 108 when we turn to science and mathematics. Like this:

• The average distance of the earth from the sun is 108 times the diameter of the sun
• The average distance of the earth from the moon is 108 times the diameter of the moon

At least it would have been as far as the ancients could observe and calculate it - with modern instruments and computers it is a bit off, but still, I am already going wow!

Now for the mathematics.  I have to admit to quite a lot of  "glazing over" when researching this for I am not noted as a mathematician. But it turns out to be a pretty cool maths idea too. See if you can get your head around these:

• 1¹ x 2² x 3³ = 108 (1 x 4 x 27 = 108) - that is called hyperfactorial. But wait there's more!
• 108 is a refactorial number meaning that it is divisible by the count of its divisors, that is it has 12 divisors, 1 and 108, 2 and 54, 3 and 36, 4 and 27, 6 and 18, 9 and 12, and it is divisible by 12
• The measure in degrees of the internal angle of a regular pentagon is 108 (Euclidean space) - this relates back to metaphysical excitement about the number as pentagons are also considered a magical shape.
•  2 sin (^108°/₂) = ᵩ (the Greek symbol phi which means the golden ratio )

• Apparently it is also a "self number", an "abundant number", a "semi-perfect number" and a "tetranacci number" but this is about where my mathematical capabilities resulted in a headache.

I do not know if all of this has resulted in an answer, really, as to why we chant the mantras 108 times and do 108 sun salutes, or why the deities have 108 names, however with such an amazing number, why not?

Many thanks to my daughter Chaitanya Shettigara for her mathematical input ... she actually does understand it all and was most helpful in researching this article.

Trikonasana

1. Spot the triangles
Photo credit http://up4yoga.com/trikonasana/

Tri = three
kona = angle (think cone or corner)
asana = posture

TRIANGLE POSE

Often called Utthita Trikonasana

Utthita = striving, exerting, extended

EXTENDED TRIANGLE POSE

While we teach it to beginners, Trikonasana is a difficult pose, especially to practice in its extended form. In fact you would be forgiven for thinking it is trickinasana, the Tricky pose!

In the picture to the right is a man practising a well aligned Utthita Trikonasana and the picture is overlaid with triangles to demonstrate how it gets its name.You could also find another triangle from his hand to hand to crown of head.

Utthita trikonasana requires flexibility in the hips, external rotation in the thighs and exceptional alignment through the spine.

One of the biggest traps for many is to try and immediately emulate the way the chap in the picture is doing it, hand all the way down to the foot. Without the prerequisite opening of the body and alignment some very unfortunate things result. In the pictures below the one on the left shows what immediately happens when it is attempted to take the hand lower before the body is ready (and it may never be, by the way, more on that later.) See how the body has dragged forwards? Our colourful triangle man above would look more like the picture below right if we viewed him from the correct angle.

2. Photo credit http://www.fitnessnetwork.com.au/resources-library/the-art-of-alignment

Going back to our colourful man of the triangles above, do you notice how the sides of his torso are the same length. All too often the attempt to "make the shape" results in a student actually doing a side bend, contracting the waist on the lower side of the body, like this:

3. Photo credit: www.spfitnation.com 

Notice that this model has her back foot turned out at 90 degrees to the front foot and that her stance is not very wide.  Both of these factors might be contributing to her difficulties.

There are many ways to improve your alignment and expression in the pose, and the effort to gain better alignment will give you a more authentic Trikonasana perfect for you. No doubt you have heard these solutions form your teacher.

4. You can still make triangles when you modify the pose 
Photo credit http://up4yoga.com/trikonasana/

Start at the foundations. An ideal distance lengthwise down the mat for your feet to be is about a leg length. however you must be stable and comfortable in the distance you choose.  What that is will however impact upon your finished pose.

Then have your front foot pointing straight forwards and allow the back foot to angle in, maybe 45 degrees, with the toes pointing more towards the front than out to the side.  This will allow you to compensate for an inability to find external rotation in the hips and prevent you from putting undue pressure on your sacroiliac joint in a quest for ... what?

The one thing that the model above who is doing a side bend is doing correct is to not try to come down too far. Let go of the ambition to get the hand on the floor.  one day, after many moons of practice, that might happen. But who cares?  A comfortable and beautifully aligned Trikonasana is surely more important.

Your teacher will offer many suggestions and practices that will work towards your inner discovery of alignment.

What is it that makes it so very tricky?

Trikonasana challenges us even to the structure of our body! In this article I will just address hips on this subject.  It is very likely that not all of your constraints are muscular.  If you encounter a bony constraint, there may not be any further you will ever go, short of surgery to knock off a bit of bone and I really hope that no-one would ever seriously contemplate that!

5. Bone on bone - the greater trocanter meets the rim of the acetebulum
Photo credit: iynaus.org/book/export/html/248

Consider the illustration to the right. As the leg is taken out the knobbly bit at the top of the femur, the greater trocanter, is bumping up against the rim of the hip socket, or acetebulum. There is nowhere else to go.

In the next picture, bleow, you can see that when the thigh is rotated outwardly it may free the constraint and more outward movement is possible in the thigh. - Maybe. The ability to draw the thigh into such external rotation is also dependent on your unique structure and some very strong muscles to make it possible. Another scenario is that instead of rotating the thigh externally, the temptation is to tilt the pelvis forward which will tend to bring the whole torso forward and you finish up with the alignment flaw we saw in figure 2 above. At some point or other we may have to accept that this is as far as we go, in this body we are blessed to have.

6. Photo credit: iynaus.org/book/export/html/248

Why do we do Trikonasana, what are its benefits?

The pose strengthens parts of the knees, spine, core muscles and shoulders and stimulates abdominal organs. It stretches the thighs, knees and ankles, hips, groins, calves, shoulders, chest and spine. It builds better posture through an inner discovery of the connection between the head and the tail.

But these are but physical benefits. Perhaps its most profound lessons for us lay elsewhere. Tricky trikonasana gives us opportunities to explore some of the trickiest yamas and niyamas of the Yoga Sutras.

Santosha - contentment - can you be content with where you are and give up wanting to be like the chap in the colourful triangle picture at the top?

Satya - truthfulness - can you really honour and discover your own truth in this pose?

Ahimsa - non-violence - can you kindly meet yourself where you are and not violently try to push into something that you are not?

Brahmacharya - conservation of the life-force - can you find a place of ease and not over strive and exhaust yourself in the practice of Trikonasana?

Svadhyaya - self study - what can you learn about yourself as you meet and greet all of the nuances of your, perfect-for-you Trikonasana.

Navaratri

First published in "On the Mat" 2013 

While traditions vary across India, the festival of Navaratri honours the Goddess in her different forms, mainly as Saraswati, Goddess of learning and culture, Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth and prosperity, and Durga, Goddess of strength, courage and encompassing the ferocity of a mother in protecting her young.

Maa Durga

The word navaratri literally means nine nights, and the festival of Navaratri lasts nine days and nine nights. It occurs during the first nine days of the bright half of the month of Aashwayyuja in the Indian calendar. In our western calendar it is a "moveable feast" like Easter is, because the western calendar is not linked to the phases of the moon.

West Bengal celebrates Navaratri as Durga Puja. Kolkata (Calcutta) probably derived its name form Kali, another name of Durga. The last three nights and days are given over to magnificent welcomings of Maa Durga to her earthly home. Huge displays of earthen sculptures of Durga with her sons Ganesha and  Kartika, and Saraswati and Lakshmi are erected as the focus of large communal prayer meetings followed by mass feedings and cultural celebrations. On the tenth day they are taken in a procession to a nearby river where they are ceremoniously immersed.

Dancing Dandiya in tradiational dress

In western India, especially in the state of Gugarat, people spend the nine nights in party mode, dancing the garba and dandiya dances all through the night, with a puja for the Goddess and food served for everyone present. Women dressed in beautiful brightly coloured clothes with a wide skirt, blouse and scarf draped gracefully, dance the garba, a graceful dance in circular patterns, moving in a big circle around a central pot containing a lamp. Men and women participate in the dandiya, which features bamboo sticks held in the hands that are brought together, either one's own or another's, as the intricate patterns of the dance proceed.  The dance commences slowly but as it progresses the tempo increases to a frenzy.

In Mysore in the southern state of Karnataka, the biggest day is Dusshera, the tenth day after Navaratri, when the city turns on a parade to celebrate Chamundi, a form of Durga, and her victory over the demon. Chamundi is the family deity of the Maharaja of Mysore and the parade features the palace elephants decked out in all their glory,hoses and courtiers, who wend their way throughout he city and all the way to Chamundi Hill which overlooks the city.

A typical golu display

Many places throughout India have a custom during Navaratri of erecting tiered displays of dolls called by various names such as golu, kolu, bombe habba, bommala koluvlu. The displays are erected in the house on an odd number of tiers (usually 7, 9 or 11). Just like we store our Christmas decorations and get them  out from some high shelf, or from under a bed where they have languished for a year, so too the golu dolls emerge at the beginning of the festival, the steps are arranged and the dolls displayed. Deities are displayed on the top tiers, and depictions of householders lower down as well as animals on the lower shelves. Women and children visit each other during this festival to view each other's displays, sing some bhajans for the goddess and take home packages of prasadam from that house (often the day's sundal, see the recipe section). Unlike Christmas trees which can tend to linger for ages, the golu display is promptly packed up at the end of the festival and put away for another year.

Yoga trends in the fitness industry and why it doesn't belong there

It bothers me when I am filling out forms, like the census form, when I needed to describe the industry I work in, or the industry that the business is in, as happened when opening a new bank account the other day. It seems to be a choice between fitness industry or health professionals. Sometimes allied health is available, so I choose that one because inner well-being and equanimity certainly leads to better health.

Yoga is a big word for only four letters. It was used for at least two millennia without a trikonasana in sight to mean both a goal, an end-state, and a range of practices to reach the goal. It means union and refers to a recognition of our True Nature as whole and undivided. Since the middle ages, body positive Tantric practices created Hatha Yoga, which added body postures to the range of practices that would assist us in finding that wholeness, that union inherent in the word yoga.

Roll the clock forward and yoga has taken on a meaning that places it in the fitness industry, and it seems in danger of losing its real meaning and original purpose. The American College of Sports Medicine, when it published its "Fitness Trends for 2016, ranked "wearable technology" number 1 and "yoga" number 10! (News article) Yoga is a fitness trend!

I have wondered if this is cultural appropriation? Is this an upsetting trend to Indians to whom the word yoga rightfully belongs?

I enjoyed this article which compares yoga in India and Seattle. The author, Arundhati Baltmangalkar, reports on how she adjusted to the yoga world in Seattle when she migrated from India. Her generous attitude helped me attain a more generous outlook as well. She says:

"I knew of different styles and lineages, but the idea of chocolate yoga, yoga to live music, rock and roll yoga, naked yoga, love yoga, etc. would shock the daylights out of me. Coming from a traditional yoga background, I often found myself annoyed and upset, but soon learned to ignore the eccentric ideas that have borrowed the name of yoga."

Those last words seem to be the nub of it. Much of what is understood as yoga these days is just a borrowed name.  If it is fitness stripped of those aspects which teach us a more wholesome way to live, that lead us to know our inner wholeness, then it cannot really be yoga and it has only borrowed the name.

But what if the name has become so disconnected from its real meaning and the practices that it represents that those who offer a traditional yoga are feeling unable to use the word?

It has been suggested to me that people who come to a class called "yoga" are expecting a fitness class, and are disappointed if they do not get it. So if we are offering real yoga, we should call it something else that will attract the true seekers, not those looking for fitness.

I tend to balk at that. If anyone should drop the word yoga it should be those who have "borrowed it" and stripped it of relationship to its real meaning. But that is unlikely to happen. A multi-billion dollar industry is now built around the word, yoga fashion and yoga accessories fuel desire for more possessions.

Patanjali gave us ethical precepts or behaviours as the place to start our practise of yoga. One of these is non-possessiveness. The person taking yoga seriously in the west has some big challenges as they resist the influence of those who have borrowed the term.

I would love to hear what you think. Please leave a comment.

Snakes and Ladders

This being a yoga aspirant is a game of snakes and ladders. Just when we think we are making great progress, there is a snake and we seem to slide down and away from the goal.

This image was found in an interesting article about the game. See a link at the end of this article.

However I begin to think that there is an illusion in this. Those setbacks are perhaps another form of progress.

I don't think it matters how we define the goal.

We ask you why you have come to yoga when you first visit our studio.

"Flexibility, strength and wellbeing"

"Feeling better"

"De-stress, health and wellbeing"

The answer comes in different forms but they are mostly along the same lines.

As we come into the practice we might discover how to breathe more fully, and with this comes a greater feeling of wellbeing.  It might even be a ladder, propelling us faster than we imagined towards that goal.

As we undertake physical practices that stretch us out, we slowly become more flexible, but the process might also release all kinds of tight areas in the body and this might also lead to a greater sense of wellbeing.  We might not still be able to touch our toes in a seated forward bend but we feel lighter, freer, more full of wellbeing.

Then comes the day when we are doing a practice and we suddenly feel really, really sad.  We have no idea why.  Sometimes the feeling persists and we carry it with us out into the world.  Is this a snake?  Have we just lost ground and been slid away from the goal?

I believe it can depend on how we greet this experience. If we can take this as a signpost we might welcome it, asking "why are you here, what do I need to take notice of here." The answer might be a revelation you can put into words, like "Oh, I remember that time in my childhood when...." or it might not, it might just stay around awhile as a feeling. Just welcoming it and exploring it may bring interesting resolutions.

So could it be said to be a setback or a part of the journey to feeling better overall, to a deeper sense of wellbeing.

It might not be sadness, it might be anger, frustration, irritation, or some other emotion we could be used to regarding as negative.

Next time this happens, see if you can welcome it instead, explore it, and seek of it what it has to reveal. Be patient.  Our habits of repression may have secured things behind a thousand locks and it will take time to gently persuade them to open and reveal.

So the game of snakes and ladders might seem like two steps forward ten back at times, but treating everything as an opportunity and a messenger, nothing will take us further from the goal, only closer.

You might want to check out this article: "The Game of Knowledge taught about the slow upward path of the spiritual seeker"

On returning from retreat, Frankston June 2016

So, how was retreat?

I have become breakfast, tissues scintillating like Coco Pops;  

I am spread thinner than vegemite with the butter showing through.  

I have become the sound of softly falling rain. 

I am champagne feeling the bubbles rise and burst. 

As ripples circling around the duck on the pond 

I ripple in all directions. 

Driving, I am flying, senses spread from horizon to horizon 

the air blowing through me. 

Rolling to the red light, I cease to exist in stillness. 

I am spread taut across the universe 

so the Beloved can play infinite rhythms upon my membranes. 

Delight is shimmering here, and there, can’t you feel it?

It was lovely, thank you.

©Tina Shettigara 2016

[Note for non-Australians: the Australian national breakfast spread, Vegemite, is hated by just about everyone else in the world, probably because when they first try it they spread it thick like jam. The only way to eat Vegemite is to spread it very thin.]

Image credit http://blogs.acu.edu.au/international/15898/the-truth-about-vegemite/