Niagara Falls

This past weekend my wife Sara, my 8 year old son Jimmy and I drove up to Buffalo for a family reunion for Sara’s side of the family—we were also to celebrate Sara’s Grandmother’s 95th birthday. Before things got going Saturday morning we went to see Niagara Falls. I had not been there since I was in college. I stood by the falls and was overtaken by the energy of the water. Sara commented that it felt like it pulls you in. I felt the same way. The metaphors of water are a big yogic concept. The falls are very powerful!

Later that morning we went to the nursing home. Sara’s grandmother worked until she was 89. The last time I saw her was at her 90th birthday and she was sharp and alert. She moved a lot and lived on her own. Shortly after my visit she broke her hip and things have gone down hill since. It was wonderful to see her yet hard not to notice the correlation between movement and life energy within the body. She was very sleepy and not very alert and her body has withered. After we left the nursing home there was not much talk about her grandmother. We headed off to the family reunion.

The next morning we went back to the nursing home and her grandmother was more alert. Although she is nearly blind her eyes were wide open and she was much more coherent. We had lunch and I could not help but look around and contemplate what I was seeing. Most of the people in the home where confined to wheel chairs and not very alert. Many showed signs of mentally not being there. What went first - movement or the mind’s alertness or movement of body?

I cannot help but correlate movement with brain function. When I take my arms overhead for a prolonged period of time or hold a yoga posture I am extending my range of motion strengthening the muscles and connective tissue while strengthening and opening up the joint capsule. When I release the posture I pause to feel the gush of blood flow into the body like Niagara Falls water rushing. If you have ever practiced yoga postures you know what I am talking about. If I don’t practice yoga for several days, which doesn’t happen often, I feel the energy of the body has slowed down—stagnation has set in. It is like water that is left in a glass—it starts forming mold and other yucky stuff. This is what happens inside of us when we stop moving.

Our bodies and minds are 70% water. They are ever changing and the mind and body requires continuous flow and movement. Replenishing the body throughout the day with water insures we don’t become dehydrated and brittle. Performing movement that allows us to maintain the range of motion in the joints is critical. I don’t think I can escape old age, disease or death yet I know how to do it gracefully. The nursing home was a beautiful place. A reminder that I too will grow old and eventually die—there is nothing that comes from this realization. Death comes to all of us and life is here and now. The question that I continually contemplate is, “What am I doing with this moment?” Am I using this body and mind to its fullest? A worthy contemplation on the path to Being Empowered.

Bruce Lee

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times” - Bruce Lee

When I first started practicing yoga, I practiced the Bikram sequence with Joel Pier in Philadelphia. Bikram is a series of postures practiced in a heated room. I remember after several classes I noticed the sequence was always the same. So I asked Joel if the sequence ever changed. Joel tilted his head down, looked over his glasses and poetically stated, “So much confusion outside of the Yoga room. Please don't bring it here.” I will never forget his words and the profundity stills rings true today. 

A mindset that is predicated by having to change the sequence of postures falls in line with the adage of a mile wide and an inch deep. I also like the analogy of digging lots of holes or focusing on digging one hole deep enough to strike water. The mind and body are programmed through repetition. Introduce a stimulus repeated and an imprint is left. In essence, you become the stimulus. 

I have heard movement experts say it takes anywhere from 160 to as much as 500 repetitions before you create a new pattern within your mind-body connection. The number of times is not important as much as the power of repetition. I have applied this science within the movements we teach at Empowered Yoga with incredible results. Although my body has benefited incredibly, I believe the true benefactor has been my mind. 

Repetition for many can create boredom. I know for me this was the case at the beginning of my yoga practice. I got sick of Bikram and moved onto another style and then another style, continuing to search. It was not until I learned the principles of mindfulness and discovered the ultimate goal of yoga—Beginner’s Mind. I will never forget standing in front of a mirror several years ago, looking at myself and it hit me. I am searching in the wrong places. I am looking outside of myself for something that is right here. This moment is new! As I paid attention to that moment, everything seemed to magnify and brighten. It was a bit of an awakening experience and one you can have right now for yourself. Just sit still and pay attention. Look around the room. Notice the paint color, the trim, the ceiling. I mean really look. I bet you will see and feel something you never have before. 

Beginner’s Mind is to see each moment as it is—new! Today is July 14, 2008. It is 5:26am and I have never lived at this time. Can I be awake and alert for what this moment presents? Many times our minds are aimlessly wandering from thought to thought – waiting for something to happen before we can begin living. I will be happy when I get the promotion, when I get the new car, when my kid gets out of diapers, etc. This makes the mind dull. Our attention is continuously on thought and the future instead of what we are experiencing right now. We develop a hardened concept around life in general and it develops by placing too much attention on thinking and not enough of experiencing what is happening right now. 

The day that I realized this, standing in front of my mirror, changed my life. I started to pay attention to my mind and body while I went through the yoga practice that day. I felt things in postures I had never felt before. I will never forget that day but somehow, I do forget that day a thousand times a day. I get lost in thought, judgment, or analyzing. Then I remember to stop and pay attention and my mind comes back to the here and now. Life brightens up and gratitude grows. 

Bruce Lee taught the power of Beginner’s Mind and the importance of mindfully repeating tasks in the pursuit of developing a mind and body that is sharp and awake. A lesson I need reminding of every second of my life. I am alive and this moment is new. Can I be present to receive it?