Developing Devotion - Acquiring the Full Benefits of Yoga

Enjoy this new Yoga post on My Yoga Online by Kino MacGregor, Developing Devotion. Kino looks at the application of Yoga and acquiring the benefits of your practice when done through consistency and mindful devotion.

A yoga posture demonstrated by a master level practitioner is often the epitome of grace and ease. Yet when the novice student attempts to mirror these same movements the degree of difficulty is immediately evident. The real test of a yoga practitioner comes when the path ahead is laid out clearly and the student choose whether to commits to each step of the journey regardless of difficulty.

While the inner path is sometimes arduous, long and painful, it is also immensely rewarding, filled with timeless joy and one of the only sources of real, lasting peace. Each practitioner of yoga goes through periods of injury, pain and discomfort but not every practitioner has the dedication, heart and courage to find the light at the end of the tunnel. Those who maintain a relationship with their practice over a number of years begin to understand just how much it takes to make yoga a lifelong practice. There are moments of doubt, intense suffering and emotional turmoil as well as moments of bliss, ecstasy and realization. What commitment to yoga over a lifetime really demands is total devotion.

It is through the practice of dedicating yourself to your yoga practice everyday regardless of pain or pleasure that you learn the meaning of devotion. By traversing the murky jungle of the body and mind through yoga you develop the strength and fortitude of spirit needed to face life with dignity. By devoted yourself totally to the path of yoga you learn what it really means to surrender yourself to something. Before that moment of complete dedication there is always the chance to pull out, draw back or quit. But when you devoted yourself wholly your intention, energy and spirit moves mountains to create the real possibility of transformation. It is through the power of devotion that yoga changes your life.

When I started practicing yoga I was not a naturally strong person but I was deeply inspired by the masterful articulation of handstands and arm balances. For nearly five years I devoted myself entirely to the study of yoga with a special emphasis on the development of strength and steadiness in the body and mind. It is because I lived for strength in my yoga practice for a number of years that I now consider myself much stronger. It is because I followed the path of yoga through injury, pain, doubt, discomfort and disillusion all the way through into peace, joy, acceptance and love that I now share what I have learned through teaching. It is yoga that lead me to discover my own inner strength, a quiet voice that was always there though I did not know how to awaken it. When you begin your practice you will learn how ready you are to be truly devoted to yourself and to yoga. When you commit yourself fully to your chosen goal, be it in your yoga practice or in the world, there is nothing that can stop you.

A lifetime commitment to yoga teaches you the power of the deepest level of devotion. Whether you practice six days a week or only two times a week as long as yoga remains in your life over time you will delve deeper into the inner world and know what it means to fully surrender yourself to the path of yoga. When you are able to maintain your attention on your deepest dreams with the type of unwavering focus and heartfelt dedication that yoga teaches you, then you will also know the exhilarating feeling of actualizing your dreams in the world.

Learn more about Kino Macgregor

About Kino MacGregor
Kino MacGregor is a small business owner (www.miamilifecenter.com), yoga teacher and freelance journalist who has produced two yoga DVDs and is currently working on her first book, Inner Peace, Irresistible Beauty to be released late April 2009. For complete details please see www.ashtanga-awareness.com.

Other articles by Kino MacGregor:
The Unhappy Monk: How to Use Yoga

Balance and Intentional Flow in Yoga

My Yoga Online - I was recently reviewing some Yoga anatomy material by David Keil and was reintroduced to a wonder concept of creating balanced energy and flow in your yoga practice. David presented the common bandha applications of mula and uddiyana in a more generalized concept throughout the entire body. As a reminder, mula means to root and uddiyana means to flow or rise upwards. In our yoga practice, we strive to generate expansion and balance. By looking at your practice in terms of creating both a state of mula and uddiyana, we can establish a constant intention towards balance.

We can see how this is applicable with various points in the body. Let's take the foot, for example. In any standing yoga pose, we wish to ground or root (mula) through the toe mounds and heel. This earthy support allows us to draw energy from ground while bringing stability into the physical and mental state of the pose. In an opposing intention, we also wish to engage the medial (inner) arch of the foot. This mimics the intention of uddiyana-bringing a lifting energy from the base of the body up through the crown of the head. Hence, grounding flow downwards into the earth is reciprocated with an uprising intention. With lines of opposing energies and intentions, a natural expansion forms in the body. This physical expansion then readily transmits back through the nervous system into our mental practice.

Consider this application in the hands in Downward Facing Dog pose. As we establish our hand and arm positions, we encourage a mindful and rooting expansion downwards through the index finger pads and thumb pads. This rooting mula effect balances force loads across the wrist and hand joints. We can also create a subtle lifting energy (uddiyani) into the center of the palm that generates a direct unloading of the carpal tunnel. With the hands now properly aligned and balanced, imagine how this intention of balanced mula and uddiyana can be carried further into the pose. The uddiyana flow in the center of the palm can be welcomed up the arms, into the spine, and right out through the sacrum and sit bones. In opposite direction, the crown of head flows with release and grounding heaviness (mula) with the application of the rooted index and thumb pads. With the head and pelvis traveling in opposite flow, the vertebrae are holistically opened giving life and vitality to the spinal column.

Whether you are standing, sitting, inverted, lying, or balancing, visualize how the intentions of mula and uddiyana can coexist to bring greater integrity and purpose to your yoga practice.

Related Articles:
Subtle Rooting in Warrior Yoga poses
Asana Anatomy: Downward Facing Dog pose