New Year, Sva Dharma (Gem #1), Cleanse

Great turn out for class today -- it had all the energy of New Year's resolve kicking in big-time with 12 students packing out room 105 (including dear baby Cassidy).  I profoundly felt the momentum of resolution myself today and yesterday morning, the first Monday of the 2009.  I woke up at 4:00 a.m. (which I often do), but I actually got UP and went to practice.  Then after 2 hours I headed downstairs and decided then and there to begin Susan Barendregt's 3 week cleansing diet (for the 3rd time since April) which always brings me into mindful, conscious eating.  

BTW, Susan's starting an official "Cleanse Group" in 2 weeks and I'm going to offer a weekly cleanse yoga class as part of that, but more on that another time.  But if you feel inspired to break-through to some diet ah-ha's, I highly recommend signing up and learning more from Susan.  Plan on getting a lot of support and enjoying a tremendous momentum working with her and her weekly group teach-ins.

I've been thinking a lot about what to teach this session and what I'm really aspiring to share as a teacher -- as a guide.  Well, perhaps I should just share the hallmarks of what makes a class a Para Yoga class (this is copyrighted by Yogarupa Rod Stryker and I should note that I'm not an official purveyor of Para Yoga yet -- this year is my year to get certified), but as an 8-year student of this master teacher and an initiate in the tradition, I will try to offer something of his teachings, just not yet officially.  Anyway, today I chanted the full Para Yoga Invocation for Parashakti 3 times at the close of class, sequenced the class around twist energy with an activating (rajasic) focus to build inner light and fire and I talked about the first of the 6 Gems of Para Yoga (TM) which is Sva Dharma (Self Purpose -- Unique Soulful Expression in the World; Unique Destiny).  This Sva Dharma fits in so perfectly with the energy of resolve and the new year.

This session I'll transmit and teach this powerful mantra as a gateway to connect with the energy of the divine mother that guides us on our path to our unique destiny -- to Sva Dharma.  This is a central concept to this lineage of yoga that goes well beyond asana -- we are each unique expressions of light and divine energy and it is our duty to fully BE that expression.  We each are driven by a guiding force to fully individuate on a soul level and to have a clear vibration that is cultivated and shared in our lifetimes through our life's work.  Yoga is a masterful vehicle to help us achieve this goal by giving us techniques that cultivate prana (energy) and a means to direct it into manifest expression.  Anything that we can imagine, we can manifest.  It is this drive to BE that lines us up with the energy of the New Year, of possibility, of intention and resolve.

The goal of today's class was to raise our vibration (which we did right off by chanting A-U-M three times bringing the energy up the spine from root to crown through the central sushumna channel) and to cultivate inner light which we did through visualization of a flame at the navel center through a series of poses that concentrated energy at the solar plexus (especially utkatasana/chair/fierce and revolved triangle poses), leg raises (which fired up the abs--big wake-up call) and the closing twist.  All of this was powerfully supported by deeply cultivating a connection to breath and mindfulness by extending the inhale and exhale in balanced symmetry through sama vritti (equal waves) breath.  In the end, we integrated this energy in savasana and directed this consciously toward our personal intentions clarified in the centering.

We will go more deeply into all of this and learn a new 'gem' a week so that by the time I fly off to India, you'll have all 6.  And I promise, we will actually meditate in class -- I will start class on time in 2009 and stop talking and have you in savasana with 20 minutes to rest and come up for stillness.  That's a promise.

Hari Om.

Kathy