I haven't posted in over a week because I have been immersed in teacher trainings for over 10 days. The first was an amazing workshop on Sanskrit with the inspiring Manorama. Sanskrit is the language of yoga, and one of the original languages. It is at the root of most Indo-European language, and is said to be the manifested vibration of awareness. Its sounds are said to come from the energy channels in the body, and just repeating the sounds has a profound effect on consciousness and awareness. Because sound rides on the breath, the conscious use of sound is the conscious use of breath -- our life force. The alphabet is beautiful -- each of the 42 letters is like a work of art and is said to represent the 42 steps on the path to enlightenment. There are precise rules for how to write each letter -- the direction of the pen, the flow. There are precise rules for where each letter is placed in the mouth -- palatial, dental, labial, cerebral. There are precise rules for how consonants are combined with other consonants and vowels. Learning Sanskrit requires intense concentration and focus, and thus becomes a meditation in and of itself. And it can be daunting. Among the many things I took away from this workshop is the realization that every single thing we do can become an entry point to something greater. Even focusing on where the tongue is placed on the palate can be a portal that reveals something profound and self-changing. Whether we stick with something challenging and difficult can reveal great truths -- how do we engage the energy of our lives? What do we do when something is hard and we don't "get it" right away? Do we try to go through it, or go away from it? Yoga asks us to pay close attention to that which we often don't notice at all. How do we react when realizing there are an infinite number of things to learn? Do we shut down because it it overwhelming? Or are we energized with excitement to jump in? Just noticing where your mind goes when you confront something new or difficult can change your life.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Sanskrit lessons
I haven't posted in over a week because I have been immersed in teacher trainings for over 10 days. The first was an amazing workshop on Sanskrit with the inspiring Manorama. Sanskrit is the language of yoga, and one of the original languages. It is at the root of most Indo-European language, and is said to be the manifested vibration of awareness. Its sounds are said to come from the energy channels in the body, and just repeating the sounds has a profound effect on consciousness and awareness. Because sound rides on the breath, the conscious use of sound is the conscious use of breath -- our life force. The alphabet is beautiful -- each of the 42 letters is like a work of art and is said to represent the 42 steps on the path to enlightenment. There are precise rules for how to write each letter -- the direction of the pen, the flow. There are precise rules for where each letter is placed in the mouth -- palatial, dental, labial, cerebral. There are precise rules for how consonants are combined with other consonants and vowels. Learning Sanskrit requires intense concentration and focus, and thus becomes a meditation in and of itself. And it can be daunting. Among the many things I took away from this workshop is the realization that every single thing we do can become an entry point to something greater. Even focusing on where the tongue is placed on the palate can be a portal that reveals something profound and self-changing. Whether we stick with something challenging and difficult can reveal great truths -- how do we engage the energy of our lives? What do we do when something is hard and we don't "get it" right away? Do we try to go through it, or go away from it? Yoga asks us to pay close attention to that which we often don't notice at all. How do we react when realizing there are an infinite number of things to learn? Do we shut down because it it overwhelming? Or are we energized with excitement to jump in? Just noticing where your mind goes when you confront something new or difficult can change your life.
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