Yoga, and staying aware
As I'm getting ready to move again soon, I found myself paying great attention to my yoga instructor's words during class last night. At one point she said something like this: "A part of yoga is about spreading your awareness throughout your body. So when you're in a pose, don't think about just the part we seem to be working on, but also go back and check your other body parts. Are your feet planted firmly on the floor? Is your weight balanced evenly? Are you maintaining length in your stretches? How is your breathing? Is your face relaxed?"
Shunryu Suzuki talking about breathing
One of my favorite talks about Zen breathing comes from Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki, in his book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind:
When we practice zazen our mind always follows our breathing. When we inhale, the air comes into the inner world. When we exhale, the air goes out to the outer world. The inner world is limitless, and the outer world is also limitless.
We say "inner world" or "outer world", but actually there is just one whole world. In this limitless world, our throat is like a swinging door. The air comes in and goes out like someone passing through a swinging door. If you think, "I breathe", the "I" is extra. There is no you to say "I".
What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale. It just moves; that is all. When your mind is pure and calm enough to follow this movement, there is nothing: no "I", no world, no mind nor body; just a swinging door.
