Heart of the Matter Yoga

March POM & TOM: Dharma

March 5th, 2015

March is coming in like a lion! (Or maybe that’s February heading out…) I hope you’ve all enjoyed our wild weather this month. I’m certain our snowed-in, stir-crazy students have appreciated our warm welcomes and loving invitations to turn upside-down and turn open their hearts!

To follow our January and February themes of Sankalpa and Bhakti, we’ll begin an exploration of the Purusharthas, or Four Aims of Life, for the months of March through June. The word purushartha literally means “goal of a person”, and consists of these four aspects:

dharma = literally “that which supports” truth and goodness, spiritual practice, moral
responsibility, proper behavior, duty, ethical truth, established custom, responsibility to others and to the world, right action

artha = wealth, prosperity, abundance, material success, power

kama = pleasure, desire, sensual enjoyment

moksha = liberation, freedom, recognition of the true Self within all beings

Our March Theme of the Month is Dharma.

In Exquisite Love, Bill Mahony defines dharma in many ways, including the “commitment to sustaining one’s family, society, and the world through one’s responsible and supportive action”. He describes the relationship between bhakti and dharma (and all of the four aims), saying “When our hearts are illuminated by (love), the spontaneous and yet also sustained expression of this love becomes, itself, the highest purpose of our lives.” The bhakti tradition of yoga “holds that there is a fifth purushartha that is the single and best way to attain all four of the other goals. This is the way of devotional love.” – p. 241 As we explore these four ways in which people seek fulfillment in life, let’s remember Bhakti as both the basis and the fuel for our practice. To quote Bill again, “In love, the path and the goal are one.” – p. 237

Of course, if you are familiar with the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most well-known texts on dharma (the text actually begins with the word), feel free to weave its teachings into your classes, as well. My favorite resource for interpreting the verses of the Gita is Douglas Brooks’ “Poised for Grace”. In this text, Douglas describes Krishna’s teachings on Dharma, saying, “Sometimes Krishna will focus Dharma on matters of duty or conformity to the law because this facilitates the greater good. Sometimes he will emphasize how Dharma is about making our best choices, seizing upon opportunities, and creating a structure that would allow us to build a future. But… Krishna always has in mind the deepest sense of Dharma as the focal point of all experience. In every experience there is the prospect of touching the divine, no matter how remote that may seem.” – p. 31Perhaps a more applicable interpretation of these teachings is this: “We change the world just by the ways we live in it and through every contribution we make. Dharma doesn’t bind or restrict us so much as it creates a foundation upon which to build higher levels of experience.” – p. 31
And: “We must recognize Dharma, the real nature of the Self inside, in order to live Dharma outside.” – p. 35

From Aim High, a Yoga Journal article that explores the purusharthas in an approachable, applicable way: “We all have a desire for a meaningful life. The purusharthas are the means that can help us achieve it,” says ParaYoga founder Rod Stryker, who wrote a book about the purusharthas that’s called The Four Desires.
“They are, in a larger sense, what practice is really all about,” he
says, adding that the purusharthas offer a yogic perspective on how to
engage skillfully in the world.

http://www.yogajournal.com/article/philosophy/aim-high/

And for a more traditional approach: Purusharthas (Aims) in Hinduism (http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_aims.asp)
If you refer to or quote this article in class, please be respectful of the wide range of our students’ beliefs. In general, when teaching concepts that have roots in Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, or any religion, teach in a way that’s universal and inclusive.

Our Poses of the Month are backbends, inspired both by our “bumping of the winter blues” spring challenge and Verse 3.16 from the Bhagavad Gita: “Thus was the Wheel of the Law set in motion, and that man lives indeed in vain who in a sinful life of pleasures helps not in its revolutions.” (from Juan Mascaró’s translation)

Asana:

Align & Flow – Urdhva Dhanurasana* (Upward Facing Bow, aka Wheel)
Vinyasa – Urdhva Dhanurasana* (Upward Facing Bow, aka Wheel)

Slow Flow – Urdhva Dhanurasana* (Upward Facing Bow, aka Wheel)
Deep Stretch – Setu Bandha Sarvangasana var. (Supported Bridge)

*Please note Urdhva is pronounced OORD not ERD (OORD-vah don-your-AHS-anna)

Resources

Urdhva Dhanurasana http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/175

Urdhva Dhanurasana http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/473
Urdhva Dhanurasana http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/2840

Alignment in Urdhva Dhanurasana http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/175

Reinvent Your Wheel http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/2733

Anatomy of Urdhva Dhanurasana http://yogaanatomy.net/urdhva-dhanurasana/

How to Do Urdhva Dhanurasana http://www.yogaoutlet.com/guides/how-to-do-upward-bow-pose-in-yoga/

10 Reasons to Love Wheel Pose http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-5661/10-Reasons-to-Love-Wheel-Pose.html

What Your Butt (and the Rest of Your Body) Shouldn’t Be Doing in Wheel Pose http://www.fitsugar.com/Tips-Backbend-Wheel-Pose-21476259

Supported Bridge – Here are some fun variations of our normal (and still wonderful) block-under-the hips supported bridge pose:
http://www.prairieyoga.org/articles/setu-bandha-sarvangasana/
http://myfiveminuteyoga.com/2298/supported-bridge-pose-cross-over-into-quiet/

Other important notes for backbends, from a former POM & TOM:

Warm up your legs, core, and back.
You’re gonna need these muscle groups to execute a backbend safely,
with proper alignment and balanced action. Try teaching the actions
your students will need in backbends (such as lengthening their
tailbone) in the warm up part of your sequence.
Quad stretches! Low lunge quad stretches, salabhasana quad stretches (on the side), sphinx quad stretches, supta virasana, etc.. A low lunge or lifting a leg in down dog is not enough quad opening for most students…
Hip openers. The pose I
call “everything bagel” is a great hip opener, for example, as well as a
quad stretch, backbend, and twist. It combines lizard lunge/turbo
pigeon, with a twisting quad stretch (alternate hand and foot) and
possible 1/2-bow-like backbend.
Shoulder openers, including those that take your arms into the upper plane (Dolphin does this effectively, for example.)
Shoulderblades on the back.
Teach your students to draw their arm bones into the shoulder sockets,
integrating their shoulderblades onto their back and bringing in the
lower scapula “wings”. Perhaps ask them pause on the top of their head,
before coming up into full wheel, to find this integration. This helps
keep the shoulders, neck, and wrists safer, and allows for deeper
opening in the upper back and chest.
Put the power in your legs! Teach your students to extend powerfully from the core, through the tailbone and out through their legs and feet. This is one of the most effective ways to keep low backs safe in backbends AND it helps with taking shoulders over wrists. Combine this lengthening-through-your-tailbone/extending-out-through-your-legs
power with strong inner rotation in your legs, and your low back will
feel long and free, even in deep backbends!