Namaskar - Oct 2006

Namaskar • A Voice for Yoga in Asia
Dristi Letting Go
Thich Naht Hahn. I start on the inhale and breath twice,
repeating mentally: “inhaling, I calm my body, exhaling, I
smile. Dwelling in the present moment, I know this a perfect
moment.”
“You have a choice. You can
either choose to see that
everything is a miracle, or
that there are no miracles.”
Anytime you need a little more peace and joy please try
this. It can be applied and repeated anytime or place.
The idea that this is a perfect moment is a great example of
letting go completely, of aparigraha. You see each moment,
but then it is gone. You can not hold on to it. If you do, you
get stuck. Instead, simply breathe and see each moment as
a perfect moment and you will have the key to being happy.
Albert Einstein once said, and I paraphrase, “You have a
choice. You can either choose to see that everything is a
miracle, or that there are no miracles.” Personally I find it
much more enjoyable to live in a miraculous universe. When
I choose to see it is all a miracle, there is no reason to hold
on too much to any one part of it.
Holding on to something rigidly, including one’s thoughts, can
result in a loss of our ability to appreciate the present
moment and see where we’re going. Whereas simply being
present gives us the power to determine our state, to move
from stress into bliss. Thus we can start to see how we
create our state and how we are borne. We can learn more
about how our influence on reality works, and appreciate the
lessons of the past, use the present in a worthwhile way, and
plan for a future life of greater contentment.
Dylan teaches and lives in Rayong, Thailand, a coastal
city about three hours from Bangkok. There he is
helping open a new w studio called Blis
liss s Hot t Yoga and
invites all to come practice by the beaches of Rayong.
dylanniall@yahoo.com
Good and Bad
Pain ain in Yoga
Laura a Walsh
Pain is universal. We’ve all felt, at some
point and to some degree, what the
Encyclopaedia Britannica defines as “a
physical response to a harmful stimulus
followed by an emotional response to that event”. What is
unique, though, is our personal interpretation of this
experience called pain. It turns out pain is more of a
perception and less of an automatic response to your body
being hurt. According to psychologist Dennis Turk, ‘“pain
affects our thoughts, memories, attitudes and emotions,
movements and behaviours and in turn is affected by all of
these”. Many experts believe, including my son’s karate
instructor, pain to be an amazing teacher. “Pain is neither
good nor bad. It’s your body’s way of telling you something
interesting is happening”, shouts Si Fu as he guides his
martial arts class. Others, including Sravaniya DiPecoraro
and Michel Besnard, both yoga teachers for more than 20
years, agree. “When pain comes up, you’re learning”,
explains Sravaniya. This is not to say pain is a figment of
our imagination and doesn’t really exist. Far from it. Pain is
a real survival tool our bodies use to warn and protect us
from harm. The goal when you practice yoga, is to
distinguish between a pain that leads to an injury, from a
pain sending you feedback on whether your body’s ready for
a certain asana or if you’re even doing the posture properly.
Sport or exercise in general, including Hatha yoga, will
always produce some physical aches and pains. For a
muscle to become stronger, it must be stressed at a higher
level than it’s used to. Often referred to as “the burn”, it’s a
sign the individual has pushed their physiology. As long as
this discomfort disappears within a few minutes to a few
hours and is followed by rest, health and fitness experts
agree this type of “pain” is okay. Another form of muscle
soreness occurring during exercise is called “delayed onset
muscle soreness” or DOMS. Muscles that haven’t been
exercised for long periods of time, respond to increases in
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