Yoga Lifestyle

Meditation

Over the years, I’ve tried a few different styles of meditation. Vipassana meditation seems to work best for me. At the start of the pandemic, I joined a group of meditators with my friend and fellow yoga teacher Yun-Kyung at the lead. She studies with the Korean Buddhist monk Venerable Pomnyun Sunim, the founder and Dharma teacher of Jungto Society, and formed a group where we meditate with him on YouTube and then discuss. If you’d like to join, get in touch with me - everyone is welcome. Note: this is buddhist philosophy, not religion. If you’d like a definition of vipassana (insight) meditation, see the answer to the question, “What is insight meditation?” on the Insight Meditation Society’s website.

How to Meditate

• Find a seat. If you’re able, sit cross legged, in Half Lotus or Lotus, or in Virasana. Make sure that you can remain in the position for the time you plan to meditate. To do this, I must sit up on 2 folded blankets. If you aren’t able to sit on the floor, sit in a chair. If you aren’t able to sit, lie down. Sit if you can, so you have less chance of falling asleep.

• Close your eyes. If you’re uncomfortable or fearful with closed eyes, find a soft focus on an object in front of you. You can use a candle or object of affection, or a flower or leaf.

• Observe your breath at the tip of your nose. There is much chatter in the mind; and it will race around. Try to move these thoughts to the background as you keep your breath at the tip of your nose in the foreground. This is simple, but not at all easy. It takes practice. Just as you wouldn’t hit a homer at your first at bat, you won’t still your thoughts in one sitting. I’ve been meditating for years. It’s gotten much easier - or perhaps I’ve gotten used to the thoughts racing - but I never still my thoughts completely. The idea is to practice, not to get it.

Resources

Copper Beech Institute is a non-profit organization that offers meditation and mindfulness programs. Among their offerings are Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) trainings, Intro to Meditation workshops, and virtual and in-person meditation retreats. Copper Beech hosts teachers from a wide variety of practices and backgrounds. There are programs focusing on mindfulness in the workplace, social justice, LGBTQ+, self-care, parenting, and on and on.

Insight Meditation Society is a retreat center in Massachusetts run by meditation teachers, who pass on the dharma from the Buddha’s teachings.

Ayurvedic practices

Neti

One of the things I love about yoga is its knack for presenting you with reality. I battled sinus infections in my adult years. I eventually found a great doctor who helped me with a plan and medications for when I felt an infection coming on. In 2009, I woke up to the fact that I needed to practice preventative techniques for this issue. I reduced sugar in my diet and started drinking more water. I became less mucousy. But that wasn’t enough. So I took the deep dive. I started practicing neti daily. Most of you have heard of or used a neti pot, where you pour salted water into one nostril and let it drip out the other. It’s not a pleasant experience, especially if you have clogged sinuses. But practicing neti, even when I’m healthy, keeps my sinuses clear. I practice it every morning between tooth brushing and face washing. Once you get in the swing of it (which does take some time), it becomes a necessary way to start the day. Why go through the day with clogged sinuses when I can breathe free? In time, I came off Claritin and stopped using the meds. This isn’t to say I never get infections, but I went from at least twice a year to once every few years.

How to Neti

• Purchase a neti pot. Himalayan Institute makes an affordable and comfortable one that can go in the dishwasher. It’s available here + at many natural food stores + maybe even CVS + Walgreens. See a video demonstration here. I’ve also heard the Rhino Horn pot is good (available on Amazon), but I’ve never tried it. You can see photos demonstrating its use here.

• Purchase non-iodized salt. Table salt is iodized. You can use natural sea salt or Himalayan institute sells a special neti pot salt.

• Use distilled water or filtered water. You can use tap water in a pinch, but distilled water does feel better going through the nostrils.

• Add approximately 1/4 teaspoon salt to 8 oz. water. I estimate with a few sprinkles into the neti pot and then fill water to the top.

• Tilt your head to the left. Place the tip of the neti pot in your right nostril. It feels hard to breathe here. Open your mouth and breathe through your mouth. This takes a little getting used to.

• Let the water fill your right nostril. If you’re not too clogged, it’ll pour out the left nostril. Let it pour until empty (or you can estimate half the neti pot per side). Move neti pot away from nostril and blow your nose into the sink (bring your face close into the sink so you don’t spray all over the bathroom). Then blow your nose with a handkerchief/tissue.

• Repeat on the other side. I need to take a little break and drink of water between sides to let the mucus run down. There’s a lot of spitting here. But best to take care of this in one shot in private rather than deal with clogged sinuses all day!

• Once you feel like you don’t have to blow your nose anymore, i.e. you got it all out, use your pinky to swash a little bit of oil into each nostril. I know this is weird, but it keeps the nasal passages hydrated so you’re not itchy. Some say the oil also acts as a barrier to germs and dust. You can use any oil - sesame, olive, avocado, canola, almond…

Abhyanga

Abhyanga is oil massage. In Ayurveda, this practice is used to warm the body, improve circulation, nourish the whole self and moisturize the skin. It’s a daily part of my morning routine that I. just. love. There’s nothing like giving yourself a little self love in the morning. I do this just before I jump in the shower. Here’s how to do it:

• Pour a little oil in your hands and rub them together. Starting at one ankle, use your two hands to massage the oil from the ankle to the hip. Use circular motions at the joints. Use long swipes at the long bones. Repeat on the other leg.

• Continue with one arm then the other. Then the abdomen up to the chest. Then the bum and lower back and as far up the back as you can reach. Then the neck and neck/shoulder junction.

• Don’t do the bottoms of the feet. If you do, you’ll slip in the shower.

The Ayurveda practitioners/teachers I know say they don’t need to moisturize after showering - that the body’s pulling in of the oil in the heat of the shower is enough to keep the skin healthy. I have very dry skin and I need to moisturize post shower. I use a regular moisturizer all over after the shower, then moisturize my feet as I put on socks, so that I don’t slip.

Which oil should you use? That depends on your dosha. Your dosha is your constitution. There are three dosas - vata (air), pitta (fire) and kapha (earth). Most of us have one dominant dosha and one less dominant. You can take a dosha quiz online to find out your main and secondary dosha. Once you do that, use this simple chart to decide on which oil to use. You can buy these oils in the cooking section of your market. Yes, really. You use the same oil on your body that you’d use for cooking.

I’ve described a less intense version of abhyanga than would be done by an Ayurvedic practitioner. You can have an abhyanga treatment that includes pouring warmed oil over the head, a massage, coverage of the feet and time to absorb the oil while lying down.

There are many, many aspects to Ayurveda, including dosha-specific dietary guidelines. An Ayurvedic practitioner can introduce you to the whole wide world of this system.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a term referring to being aware of what you’re doing when you’re doing it. As Thich That Hanh says, when you’re brushing your teeth, brush your teeth; when you’re washing the dishes, wash the dishes. Basically, stay present. Oftentimes when we’re washing the dishes, we’re thinking of what’s next - in the next moment, tomorrow, next year. There’s a Zen meal chant that includes:

“What is most essential is the practice of mindfulness, which helps us to transcend greed, anger and delusion.”

This is my experience with mindfulness, especially when it comes to delusion. When I’m not mindful, my mental mind (as opposed to my wisdom mind) makes up stories - about what someone thinks about me, about what kind of person someone is, about what is happening or going to happen. Letting go of my assumptions, I see what is clear + true. I see how much I have, rather than how little I have (transcending greed). I am not so hurried to produce, to meet my perceptions of others’ desires, or to respond to their complaints (transcending anger).