Resourcing the Revolution Guides

I Am a World Changer (and My Time Has Come)

September 3, 2014 by Jessica Leave a Comment

How can we expect to create a balanced, sustainable world for ourselves and future generations if those of us who are creating change are doing so in an unsustainable, imbalanced way?

Fellow change maker,

Our time has come.

For too long we have stood by, mired in the fight, watching as the world heaved in chaos around us. With each passing day we dug in deeper, clenched our teeth and put that much more of ourselves into the effort. As time passed, we found that the struggle was starting to wear on us, to create cracks in our strength, and we considered giving up. And we woke again the next morning with the enormity of our task weighing on us: “If not me, who? If not now, when?” We braced ourselves, took a deep breath, and shouldered our burden anew. We reassured ourselves with the thought that we were making a difference, laying ourselves on the line, giving ourselves up for the greater good.

Because, really. Our fight is important. Imperative, even. The future rests in our hands, and we have this moment, this fleeting opportunity to turn things around, to be the change we wish to see in the world. What could be more important? We are but one small piece of a grander vision and if we have to sacrifice ourselves to make the world a better place, that seems to be a worthy way to have spent this life…

Right?

But sometimes we get this flash of an idea, this glimmer that maybe things don’t have to be this way, maybe we don’t need to be martyrs for the cause. We hear a voice that raises the question: what if? We start imagining the possibilities, but then our old ways of thinking win out again, and our imagining turns to what will be possible after we win this fight, what could be, if only this one last step could be completed, this last set of conditions could be reached. If only. And we think – maybe we’ll get there one day, but not yet.

And again I say to you, fellow change maker: our time has come.

What if there is a better way to create the change we wish to see in the world, and what if it’s possible right now? What if we can step outside the current system and create a new possibility, a new paradigm?

I believe that the best way for us to bring positive change into the world is to create it within ourselves.

I don’t have all the answers, but we each have to start somewhere. I invite you to come along on this journey with me, where we can begin to discover a new way of bringing our positive change to the world by first cultivating it in ourselves. Together, we can find a simpler and more sustainable path to creating positive impact.

Gone are the days of us flinging ourselves upon the pyre of our cause, flaming brightly for but a moment before we are reduced to ash, used and burnt out, unable to continue on our path. What if, rather than burning out, we were able to create a sustainable path to change? Instead of the current revolving door model of change making (where on one end, fresh faced and energetic young dreamers come in the door and systematically turn into the jaded, burned out souls who come out the other side), what if we were able to create an ever-growing ocean of balanced, energized and empowered change makers?

My goal for the Rebel Yogi community is to reach out into the world, empowering thousands of world changers to improve their lives through yoga, while also creating a sustainable life balance as they make their lasting mark on the world.

This is the future that I see, the possibility that I believe in – and I can’t do it alone. I believe that, with yoga, we can change the world – and I see the possibility that we can create together by bringing the Rebel Yogi way of life to changemakers all over the world. Thank you for your company along the path, as we create this journey together. The community starts with you and our shared journey as we learn how to increase our impact in the world while decreasing the impact on ourselves, and then share those stories with each other.

I started working on the manifesto for Rebel Yogi back in February.

Yes, it has taken me almost seven months to finally give myself the kick in the ass I needed to get it finalized and out into the world. To be honest, I kept falling into the “all or nothing trap,” thinking that it had to be perfect before I could put it out into the world. Long story short, it’s been a struggle to ship.

Along with the manifesto, I have included the invitation that some of you may recognize from the funding campaign that I ran back in the spring. It felt fitting to share the words with you again, since the manifesto goes hand in hand with the invitation to join the Rebel Yogi revolution.

And, please share the manifesto far and wide. Our time has come!

The Rebel Yogi Guide to the 8 Limbs of Yoga: Stillness

August 20, 2014 by Jessica Leave a Comment

This August I want to take you deeper into the full practice of yoga. This means that we’re going to explore the 8 limbs of yoga from the perspective of the worldchanger. I’ll do my best to help you answer the question “just what are these 8 limbs, and what the heck do they have to do with me?”

Over the last few weeks we began an exploration of Asana, the physical practice of yoga; Yama, the abstentions; Niyama, the observances; and Pranayama, breathing. We will now move on to the topic of stillness, which encompasses the last 4 of the limbs of yoga – Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhayah. Even though the last four limbs are considered to be the most important along the yogic path, they go deeper into practice and philosophy than I’m interested in taking you, hence the short and sweet recap. This will be our final chapter in this series!

We’ll look at the sanskrit for each of these four limbs first.

Pratyahara = withdrawal of the senses

In our seeking to still the mind, the senses often cause distraction. The eyes find things to focus on that bring thoughts to the mind, the nose smells things that cause us to feel hunger, the ears hear things that engage the mind… The senses are a gateway of sorts, allowing the outside world to come in. When we turn the senses outward, we take in the world, but if we allow the senses to draw inward, there’s nothing to distract us; this allows us to move on to the next limb.

Dharana = concentration

This can also be thought of as the binding of the mind to a single place, object or idea. Concentration begins to train the mind, getting us ready to meditate. When the mind inevitably wanders from that single focus, we bring it back – over, and over, and over again. In his commentary, Swami Satchidananda compares this process to training a monkey; in our Raja class during teacher training, our mind-monkey was often described as being drunk and stung by a scorpion. So give yourself a break when the mind wanders – it’s a tricky beast to train!

Dhyana = meditation

We reach the state of dhyana when concentration becomes effortless, and turns into meditation. What most beginning meditators are actually doing is just concentrating really hard; there’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just the first step along a long path. During true meditation, it often feels as though time is transcended. An hour of meditation can feel like only five minutes has passed.

Samadhayah = a superconscious state / contemplation

Samadhi can also be explained as mental detachment or tranquility of mind. Edwin Bryant describes samadhi as when the mind is so fully absorbed in the object of meditation that it loses all notions of itself as a self-conscious, reflective mind.

These four final limbs are more internal than the first four. We have moved from external (the body and the breath, with Asana and Pranayama) to internal through the course of our exploration. What we find is that if the body is still, it is easier to make the mind still. Through the body, we can control the mind; the mind ultimately needs the body’s cooperation to accomplish anything.

So why is stillness important to us?

In our search for balance and quiet, it means we must first be still. We can’t hope to find relief for the high amounts of stress around us in the world while we’re running around like madmen. It’s when we become still and quiet that we begin to find that capacity within ourselves.

We sometimes get hung up on this idea that in order to “successfully” meditate that we have to sit down for 30 minutes or an hour. Then we think about all the other things we have to do, and we end up doing nothing. It’s like the “all or nothing” trap I wrote about a couple of months ago. But we’re going to start breaking out of that cycle, right?

Here’s my challenge to you:

Find a few minutes every day to just sit still. Find someplace you find beautiful, and just absorb the scene around you. Focus on the beauty, and see if you can’t let your mind be still for just those few minutes. Your to-do list will still be waiting for you after you’re done, but maybe you’ll feel a little more calm as you begin to tackle it.

If you find that even sitting still doesn’t work, take a look at the yoga nidra practice that I shared two weeks ago. 20 minutes, even just a couple of times a week, can help you to find complete stillness, and then maybe you will be able to find a little bit of silence in the mind as well.

It’s not going to be easy. Remember, we’re taming and training a drunk, angry monkey. But, it’s worth it – being able to find a moment of stillness and peace here and there can mean the difference between being over the top stressed out or being able to take that stress in stride. I shared a quote on Facebook last week that I think fits well with this idea:

Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.”

Like I said, it takes time, but the best time to start is now. One step at a time, one day at a time, one breath at a time. Find some stillness this week, and let me know if it changes anything!

These explorations of the Yoga Sutras have been fueled by both the Edwin Bryant and Swami Satchidananda commentaries.

The Rebel Yogi Guide to the 8 Limbs of Yoga: Pranayama

August 13, 2014 by Jessica Leave a Comment

This August I want to take you deeper into the full practice of yoga. This means that we’re going to explore the 8 limbs of yoga from the perspective of the world-changer. I’ll do my best to help you answer the question “just what are these 8 limbs, and what the heck do they have to do with me?”

Last month, we began an exploration of Asana, the physical practice of yoga; Yama, the abstentions; and Niyama, the observances. We now move on to the fourth limb of yoga: Pranayama, breathing practices. You may remember a post about breathing from earlier this year, and today I want to go deeper into this topic.

The literal translation of pranayama means control (ayama) of the life-force (prana).

If we take a look at the concept of Prana, we understand it to mean the energy that makes up the entire cosmos, the sum total of all the energy that is manifest in the universe. When we’re talking about this energy, we can reference physics for examples of our definition of energy: kinetic, radiant, potential, thermal, etc.

So, you may gather that pranayama goes a lot deeper than just breathing; it’s the regulation of the prana, which is achieved through controlling the breath, regulating our inhalations and exhalations. And, as in our asana practice, our breathing practice should be gentle, slow and fully controlled (no straining!).

Pranayama is incredibly beneficial, supercharging the blood with a fresh supply of oxygen, which then gets distributed through the entire body. It also balances the nervous system and promotes the elimination of toxins from the body. You can use pranayama to warm the body when you are cold, or to cool the body when you are overheated.

Pranayama is also an excellent way to prepare the mind for meditation. When you work on and focus your breathing, the mind begins to become calm and still; since the mind and breath are closely related, the mind can be calmed by regulating your breath.

As you may have come to expect from this series of posts, pranayama is closely tied to the other limbs of yoga. If you think back to our exploration of Yama, and more specifically Brahmacarya (the practice of moderation), it ties in with our use of prana. Prana gets wasted in many ways: moving the body and the mind unnecessarily, talking too much without any real purpose, overeating… But one of the biggest causes of wasted prana is high levels of stress. Anything you overdo causes you to waste prana. It would be like leaving your car with the engine running while you were home for lunch – why would you want to waste that fuel?

For this particular exploration, I also want to pass along some tips for how to practice pranayama:

Except for cooling breaths, all breathing should be done through the nose. The nose does some pretty amazing things; it warms, moisturizes and filters the air that goes into the body, which makes our breathing practice easier on the lungs. When we breathe out through the mouth, we release prana – and since our pranayama practice is about controlling the prana, it’s beneficial to breathe through the nose so we’re not losing any in the process.

When you’re just beginning to practice pranayama, keep the patterns of inhalation and exhalation even – three counts in, three counts out. Once your practice becomes more advanced, you can then think about starting to make the exhalations longer than the inhalations.

If you become dizzy, lightheaded or begin to strain, take a break from the practice, and return the breath to normal.

There’s no reason to rush! Building your pranayama practice takes time, and should never be done in a hurry. Because it impacts the heart, lungs and nervous system, it’s best to always be gentle in your practice and avoid any strain. (Remember our exploration of asana – steady and comfortable? That applies here, too.)

We have now worked our way through the first four limbs of yoga: Yama, Niyama, Asana and Pranayama. I hope that these explorations have been helpful as you begin to navigate your own yogic path. We will continue to build on the knowledge gained here as we bring yoga into our day to day lives, and begin to integrate it into our world-changing! As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or comments, and I’m always happy to delve deeper or have longer conversations around anything I write about here!

These explorations of the Yoga Sutras are being fueled by both the Edwin Bryant and Swami Satchidananda commentaries. This week’s post also draws from Swami Satchidananda’s “The Breath of Life: Integral Yoga Pranayama”.

How to Let Go and Relax (Even If You Think You Don’t Have Time)

August 6, 2014 by Jessica Leave a Comment

In this hectic world of to-do lists that stretch on for miles, appointments and meetings that take up too many of our working hours, and the general frenetic pace of life in the modern world, sometimes it can feel impossible to actually relax.

Relax? That’s the thing we do on vacation, right?

But given that somewhere around 50% of vacation days are left unused in the United States and two thirds of those on vacation still do work while they’re gone, it begs the question: when do you actually take the time to relax and recharge?

If our “time off” is no longer relaxing, how do we give our bodies the time they need to recharge?

Confession time: how much time do you actively waste on any given day?

Please note, I’m not talking about the stuff you do for fun, the things you do that you find relaxing, or anything that falls under the category of mindfully enjoying yourself. I’m talking about the “I’m bored and don’t have anything better to do, so I guess I’ll [fill in the blank]” – mindlessly surfing the internet, flipping through the channels, staring blankly at your smartphone…

If you added up that time, I bet that we could all find at least 20 extra minutes every day, or even every couple of days.

So why am I focusing on this seemingly insubstantial amount of time? Because actively using those 20 minutes, even a couple of times a week, can make a huge difference in your stress levels. Yup. You heard me right: changing the way you use a small chunk of your day can actually make a noticeable difference in your overall health.

One of the practices that I learned during my teacher training is a process for deep relaxation called Yoga Nidra. If you followed along while I was at the Ashram, you might recall that I didn’t sleep for the first 19 nights. I am convinced that the only reason I didn’t get really sick or have a complete mental meltdown was the fact that we were doing Yoga Nidra at least once a day.

The numbers vary depending on who you ask, but doing a Yoga Nidra session (which can be anywhere between 15 and 45 minutes long) can provide benefits equivalent to somewhere around four hours of deep REM sleep.

During Yoga Nidra, you don’t actually fall asleep – you hover in a state between waking and sleeping, in conscious awareness. And when you come out of a particularly good Yoga Nidra session, it feels… well, freaking amazing. I find that my experience leaves me somewhere in the middle of completely relaxed but also rejuvenated. You won’t have that same groggy feeling that you sometimes get from taking an afternoon nap, and your brain will be clear and ready to get back to work. Or, if you do a session right before bed, it can help you to fall asleep faster once your head hits the pillow.

Because I’m awesome, I want you to be able to experience the yummy goodness of Yoga Nidra any time you want. I recently recorded an audio version of the practice, and I’m giving it away for free*!

I think by now we’ve all realized that we can find at least 20 minutes a couple of times a week to do something awesome for ourselves. So do yourself (and me) a favor and go grab your copy of the recording. Give it a spin, and then report back. I want to hear the stories about how Yoga Nidra has impacted your stress levels!

* Technically for a trade, because we all know that nothing is really free. Sign up for my mailing list, and I’ll send you a copy of the recording! If you join the mailing list, I promise to only send you awesome things, and to never share your contact info with nasty spammers – scout’s honor.

The Rebel Yogi Guide to the 8 Limbs of Yoga: Niyama

July 16, 2014 by Jessica Leave a Comment

This July I want to take you deeper into the full practice of yoga. This means that we’re going to explore the 8 limbs of yoga from the perspective of the world-changer. I’ll do my best to help you answer the question “just what are these 8 limbs, and what the heck do they have to do with me?”

Last week we began with an exploration of Yama, the abstentions, and now this week we’ll move on to the second limb of yoga: Niyama, the observances.

In the same way that the Yamas are the things we shouldn’t do, the Niyamas are the things that we should do. If you remember from last week’s post, we can also look at the Yamas as external work and the Niyamas as internal work; the Yamas produce their effects without being aided by any other factors, but the Niyamas are dependent on the successful cultivation of the Yamas to reach their full effect.

Similar to the first post, we’ll break each of the Niyamas into the sanskrit name, its general translation, and then a quick exploration of what each means for us in this particular context. And again, look for the patterns and the places that each of these recommendations overlaps with the others.

Sauca = Purity or cleanliness

This translates to purity of body, thought, word and deed. It can be broken down into external (the body) and internal (the mind, your attitude).

We can take this niyama literally, but also to mean embracing simplicity. When our lives are simpler, there is less to manage, and we tend to be happier. Add simplicity together with keeping the things that come into our bodies and minds pure, and we are better able to maintain a calm and steady mind. This in turn leads to generally being less stressed.

Santosa = Contentment

In this case, contentment means being just as we are, without relying on outside things for our happiness, to neither like nor dislike.

We can also look at Santosa as coming into right relationship with life, being able to surf the up and down waves that life brings our way. We can cultivate joy and gratitude, and focus on being present to the current moment – not living in the past or the future.

Tapah = Austerity

This one gets a bit more difficult to fit into a modern-society context; one literal translation means to accept pain without causing it. For this Niyama and the ones following, we’re going to take a more modern (read: less literal) exploration.

We can break this Niyama down by looking at a situation where someone says something mean or hurtful to you, and rather than retaliating or responding in kind, we simply choose to walk away from the situation. We could also look at this in a different light: as determination and perseverance through struggle, or simply the hard work that is required to attain a lofty goal.

Svadhyaya = Spiritual study

While the literal interpretation means the study of “scriptures and spiritual texts” or “practices that we have been initiated into”, I rather like the way that Jackie Dumaine looks at Svadhyaya. To do this, we take “study” to mean self-inquiry, exploration or observation.

This can mean that we are our own ultimate guru: we have all the answers within us, but we have to sit still and contemplate long enough to find them. We can also explore why we do the things that we do, and what our behaviors mean; for example, why we set an alarm with the intention to get up at a certain hour and then hit the snooze button for 30 minutes; why we talk about doing things like getting exercise and eating well but then don’t follow up; and other behaviors of a similar nature.

Isvara pranidhana = Surrender

The final Niyama means total surrender, allowing us to attain Samadhi (tranquility of mind).

Isvara pranidhana asks that we allow ourselves to flow; to do our own work, and then to get out of the way and surrender to what is and will be. We can do anything and everything as long as we do it with the idea of serving the world at large. The biggest piece of this is letting go of the things that we can’t control.

So how can the second limb of Yoga be integrated into your life, or your work? My guess is that you’re already practicing quite a bit of this without even knowing it. During the coming week, maybe try to pay attention to when and where you notice both the Yamas and Niyamas coming up in your everyday life, and feel free to get in touch with any comments or questions.

These explorations of the Yoga Sutras are being fueled by both the Edwin Bryant and Swami Satchidananda commentaries. I have also referenced the Yoga Code by Jackie Dumaine for this week’s post.

The Rebel Yogi Guide to the 8 Limbs of Yoga: Yama

July 9, 2014 by Jessica Leave a Comment

If you recall from last week’s post about Asana, this July I want to take you deeper into the full practice of yoga. This month, we’re going to explore the 8 limbs of yoga from the perspective of the world-changer. Just what are these 8 limbs, and what the heck do they have to do with me?

This week we begin an exploration of Yama, the abstentions, and next week we’ll move on to Niyama, the observances.

Yes, in a literal sense Yama refers to abstaining, otherwise known as “the things we shouldn’t do”. But before we get wrapped up in rules and regulations, just remember that these are guidelines along the path, road markers to guide our footsteps, and not absolutes. We can also look at the Yamas as external work and the Niyamas as internal work; the Yamas produce their effects without being aided by any other factors, but the Niyamas are dependent on the successful cultivation of the Yamas to reach their full effect.

Hang in there. This piece feels huge, and it’s a lot of information, but I’m going to do my best to make it as easily understandable as I can. We’ll break each of the Yamas into the sanskrit name, its general translation, and then a quick exploration of what each means for us in this particular context. You will likely start to see a pattern, that each of the Yamas interacts and overlaps with the others!

Ahimsa = Nonviolence

The first of the Yamas (which is the first limb of yoga) is understood to be the most important of the bunch. The literal translation means that we should not injure (or cause pain to) any living creature anywhere at any time.

What we can take away from the idea of nonviolence should also extend to ourselves; having kindness and compassion toward ourselves and others can be one of the hardest things that we do. At its root, practicing ahimsa means that we should be non-violent in thought, word and deed. This idea extends into diet, as well; in the strictest sense, a vegetarian or vegan diet is a requirement for a yogi, according to the Sutras.

Satya = Truthfulness

This one is fairly simple in its translation – one’s words and thoughts should be in exact correspondence to fact.

This one is also pretty simple on the outside: tell the truth. But it goes a little deeper, teaching us that our speech should not be deceitful or misleading, and should be for the benefit of all others. We can also dig a little deeper to ask if we are being true to ourselves, in our lives, our actions and our thoughts.

There is one exception – truth must never cause harm or result in violence (see above for Ahimsa). If there is a conflict between two tenets of the Yamas, then Ahimsa must always take precedence. “One should not tell the truth unkindly.” According to the Edwin Bryant commentaries, this includes not always speaking bluntly and truthfully to people about their shortcomings (aka: being tactful). Truthfulness should bring benefit to someone, and harm to no one.

Asteya = Non-stealing

This Yama translates to both not stealing (taking things belonging to others) and also to not harboring the desire to do so.

We can look at this in different ways: always being on time and being respectful of other people’s time – if you’re late to a meeting, you are stealing time from someone else; another way to look at this on an individual level is to allow yourself the opportunity to reach your full potential – if you don’t, you may very well be stealing something from yourself. And, really, the world needs you to reach your awesome full potential!

Brahmacarya = Moderation

Confession – the literal translation of this one is usually celibacy or abstinence from sexual indulgence, but we’re going to look at this a different way.

I think the more applicable way to look at Brahmacarya is to explain it as moderation in all things. We don’t want to eat too much, sleep too much, spend too much… Here we find the idea that we are able to figure out what “enough” means in our individual context, and then only do that much of whatever it is we’re talking about. It’s finding the balance: not eating too little, or too much, but just enough to keep us healthy and happy. It’s like Michael Pollan’s recent explanation of the diet that’s healthiest for both us and the planet: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

Aparigraha = Non-attachment

This can be viewed as the renunciation of unnecessary possessions, not accumulating beyond our capacity to use things in the proper ways.

We can also look at this one as not becoming attached to thoughts, ideas or routines, as well as possessions. The past few years have seen a rise in the minimalist movement – people who want to live a simpler lifestyle, finding freedom from “stuff” by not assigning too much meaning to our possessions, and making decisions about what does come into their lives in a very conscious manner (see this post by Joshua and Ryan of the Minimalists for a great explanation).

Whew. That feels like quite a bit to chew on, so we’ll leave the discussion here. As I mentioned above, next week’s post will begin to delve into the Niyamas, which build upon what we’ve covered today. There’s no test, I promise!

So how can the first limb of Yoga be integrated into your life, or your work? My guess is that you’re already practicing quite a bit of this without even knowing it. During the coming week, maybe try to pay attention to when and where you notice the Yamas coming up in your everyday life, and feel free to get in touch with any comments or questions.

These explorations of the Yoga Sutras are being fueled by both the Edwin Bryant and Swami Satchidananda commentaries. I have also referenced the Yoga Code by Jackie Dumaine for this week’s post.