Finding a New Earth On Your Yoga Mat

“There are three words that convey the secret of the art of living, the secret of all successes and happiness: One with life. Being one with life is being one with Now.”
                                                      ---A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle

Oprah's Webcast extravaganza with author Eckhart Tolle is over (technically, it ended last Monday). Tonight Oprah will be speaking with Jill Bolte Taylor (which will most likely be a mighty interesting interview) about her stroke experience. If you didn't get the opportunity to listen to any/all of the Webcasts, would like to read the transcripts, and/or download some wonderful audio exercises, you can visit the New Earth download center. I've read through all of the transcripts myself and compiled some notes so that I can review the particularly powerful ideas time and time again. Because as we all know -- personal growth and evolution is an ongoing thing.

Oprah summed up the whole book in a Cliff Notes-like sentence:

"And the whole point of A New Earth is for everybody to realize -- no matter what age you are -- that being is of more value to us than doing."

I've been learning that lesson on my yoga mat (and meditation bench). From my perspective, Tolle's book is an excellent teaching manual and the classroom is the yoga mat. For me that body-breath-mind connection puts me in a place to access and understand (and live) Tolle's teachings. 

Everyone is busy. Often it's a challenge to find time to juggle commitments and relationships. We're sorting through emails, text messages, voice mails. Everything seems to be going at a relentless pace and that we'll be flattened if we don't keep up. What we never seem to make time for is the present moment. Simply sitting and breathing. You can certainly do that. Even if you don't have time for a full-fledged yoga practice, you can take a few breaks each day to simply sit and breathe (this is advice I often give to my clients).

I don't think I was tuned into this idea before yoga. I spent a lot of time up in my head. I'm not sure I even realized that there was something below my neck. Yoga opened up a whole new world for me -- or perhaps in this context you could say that it opened a new earth. This is the reason I choose yoga as a career -- to bring this to others. Books and the ideas brought forth in them are wonderful -- but experience is invaluable. The book may crack open the door, but it's the experience that'll blow the door wide open.

The experience is only a breath away. For the book part, here are some of the big ideas from the 10 weeks of Webcasting (these excerpts were taken from the Webcast transcripts)...

Questions to continually ask yourself:
"What is my relationship with the present moment?"

"At this moment am I able to accept this? Am I bringing acceptance to this?"

"Can I be the space for this?"

"Can I be at ease with not knowing?" (You become comfortable with uncertainty, infinite possibilities open up in your life." And it means when you become comfortable with uncertainty, it means fear is no longer a dominant factor in what you do and no longer prevents you from taking action to initiate change.)

--You don't become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that's already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge. (For me, this sentence reminds me of the teachings of Mark Whitwell -- you're already whole; you practice yoga to remember that)

--All it takes is sometimes letting go. There's more power in letting go than in clinging or hanging on to something. So there are situations when you actually become empowered when you let go rather than when you cling. It does not mean that people walk all over you.

--...but if you can become comfortable with not knowing who you are, with not defining yourself to yourself or to others, mainly to yourself because the ego is constantly a self-definition to remind yourself who you are.

--The most powerful way of bringing about change in others is not trying to bring about change in the other but to completely accept the other as he or she is.

--There was a Zen master, he was watching somebody in a competition, archery, and a man was trying hard to win this competition, but he couldn't make it and then somebody asked the Zen master, "What's he doing wrong?" And the Zen master said, "His need to win drains him of power." And so his need to win in some future, he wants to have some future moment where he's going to be fulfilled.

--"Once you see and accept the transience of all things, and the inevitability of change, you can enjoy the pleasures of the world while they last without fear of loss or anxiety about the future."

--"If peace is really what you want, then you will choose peace. And if peace mattered to you more than anything else and if you truly knew yourself to be a spirit rather than a little me, you would remain nonreactive and absolutely alert when confronted with challenging people or situations."

There's more wisdom where that came from -- I've just listed a few of the thoughts that particularly resonated with me. When I'm on my yoga mat or simply sitting and taking conscious breaths, these ideas become very real for me.

One of my favorite stories from the book was the recounting of an old Sufi story. I first heard this from a Vipassana meditation teacher and it has stuck with me ever since. In fact I often repeat the words to myself daily -- it's like a mantra for me. The gist is that a ring with an inscription holds a truth that turns pain into peace and transforms people's lives. The inscription reads: "This too shall pass. This too shall pass." And he (being the giver of the ring) says, "Whatever situation arises in your life, before you call it good or bad, before you react, before you judge it, touch this ring and remember the inscription that you—and 'this too shall pass.”

I'll miss the weekly Webcasts, but I know that the learnings haven't ended. They'll continue for me and, I hope, for you as well. Keep being. Breathe and be.

Namaste!

Comments

[Diane Cesa]

Hi GreenTea! I'm glad that you came across my site as well! I know what you mean about being stuck in your thinking during your yoga practice. Matching breath to movement really takes you out of your head. It can be tough to not hold your breath when you're in a strenuous class through. I am training in the Krishnamacharya lineage and the whole focus is engaging body, breath, and mind while practicing. Try this simple thing -- inhale while raising your arms out in front of you and up to the sky. By the time your inhale ends, you're arms should be fully raised. On the exhale lower your arms making sure that your exhale ends when your hands reach your sides. Do this a number of times. Notice how focused your mind becomes. It's tough for your mind to wander when you're coordinating your movement to your breath. Enjoy!

[GreenTea]

Hi!

I'm so glad I came across your site! Eckhart's teachings have helped me to appreciate yoga so much more. Before I was usually still stuck in my stream of thinking even when doing poses...of course that still happens but I'm better at focusing on my breath and I feel like I'm getting more benefits when I practice now...

Also, your summary of the webclasses is great!