The Yoga Sutras: My search for meaning on a Saturday afternoon

It was a beautiful Saturday and the beach was calling me.

It takes a lot to keep me away from the beach on weekends. It is my angst release. My meditation.  My chance to try to get ride of all the stress that I have absorbed during the week.  A way to escape all of the drama.  And even if it’s only for a few minutes, a walk by the water is healthier than anything else I can imagine doing. 

But today the beach would have to wait. I had something else in mind.

Joyful Yoga and Spa in Bonita Springs had scored a major accomplishment and was hosting Dr. Pandit Rajamani Tigunait, the spiritual head of the Himalayan Institute for a two-hour discussion of his book, The Secret of the Yoga Sutra. This location was only one of 71 stops on his tour.  He is a big deal. And I had signed up weeks ago. Hoping for some answers.

It has been a year since I walked into Joyful Yoga and happily made a commitment to a yoga practice. For many years I had been a complete exercise fanatic and it paid off with a healthy, strong body. But after endless boot camp classes, high impact cardio and a yoga class here and there, all I had to show for it at the end of the day was knowing that I had to start over again the next day. It had become a drag. I wanted more.

And at Joyful Yoga I found more. As co-owner and longtime yogi, Emily Chiodo, puts it:

"Here in the west, we are so obsessed with the physical aspect of the yoga system that many people are unaware of the larger scope. The physical and mental benefits experienced with a hatha yoga practice is valuable in and of itself.  While the effects of your first few yoga classes may last a few hours or even days, it is merely a temporary freedom. Then, with continued practice, you begin to short circuit patterns in the brain that create anxiety as you simultaneously strengthen muscles, establish flexibility, refine physiological responses, and stave off disease and deterioration, but there is still more to be derived from a yoga practice."

Imagine being able to short circuit patterns in the brain that create anxiety. Sign me up.

I wanted to learn more. And I wanted to understand the sutras.  I know these more than 2,000 year-old sutras help us to “understand the mind, turn it inward and achieve life’s  purpose.”

Joyful Yoga and Spa in Bonita Springs

So, having given up my day at the beach for some deeper understanding of the Yoga Sutras, I walked into Joyful Yoga and knew that I was in the right place.

The studio looked beautiful with bright sun and blue skies setting the backdrop through the huge wall of windows facing north. The water-filled fountain in the garden area was sparkling. Magical.

As Emily introduced this modern-day master who has touched lives as a teacher and spiritual leader, I made a decision. I would learn what I learned. No stress or angst. No pressure.

And he talked and I listened as he focused on some of the sutras.

Despite the fact that prosperity everywhere in the U.S., what we have is not enough. We are just not completely happy. And he spoke about attachment: We want the world to comply with our whims. We see it revolving around us. And over and over, he spoke of “cleansing the mind.”

We know those moments of stress when we have the power to reverse them or slow them down. But most days, we just let them carry us along. Without trying to stop them.  

And despite all of his beautiful words and calm explanations, the sutras are still difficult for me to understand.

And then it happened...

At the end of his presentation, just before his guided meditation, Dr. Pandit Rajamani Tigunait said that we cannot be effective if we run around like we are crazy and agitated. We must “let the mind exercise its mastery over the body.”  We must get the mind into a state of balance.  We must take a break from our frantic lives. Clear the mind through meditation and breathing. It is the only way. A conscious, cleansing meditation. The key word here is conscious. And balance.

A reboot, as I see it. When you are in the middle of the storm of anxiety. And this, I completely get. Especially on those days when it's impossible to make it to a beach.

Thanks, Joyful Yoga, for guiding me in my yoga practice...on and off the mat.

Mendocino: Forgotten in time

It‘s a steamy, hot day in southwest Florida and my thoughts have turned to my recent adventure to cool and blissful Mendocino. 

The haunting beauty of that area of the California coast is breathtaking and stays with you long after you leave.

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The most amazing quality of Mendocino is the peaceful and stunning quiet of the area. The first few times I was here, I thought that time had forgotten about Mendocino. But during this stay, I realized that the magic of the place is that it has forgotten time. And therein lies its rare, uncomplicated beauty.

You can walk the blustery Headlands State Park (always reminds me of the Cliffs of Dover in England). Pick up colorful bits of this and that in nearby Glass Beach. Find some courage and go cave kayaking in the Pacific. Have a drink in front of the fireplace at the old Mendocino Hotel, a historic landmark, and let time transport you back to the 1850’s when the town was a booming port for logging trade. You can pick up beautiful pieces of driftwood on the beach or as I like to do, sit on a bench and take it all in. That is the pure joy of Mendocino, taking it all in.

Since for me, it is always about the houses, I love to walk the streets and explore the Victorian and saltbox homes. Some have been forgotten and are overgrown with beautiful flowers. The rolling meadows and redwood trees and just the quiet of the village of Mendocino, make me think of the movies shot there, East of Eden with James Dean and Summer of 42. 

But mostly I love the fact that what happens in the rest of the world really doesn’t matter here. You can leave some cash in a jar after hours for the artist who leaves a few of her pieces for those who might visit after her studio closes. Or take a break and sit for a while on a mosaic sofa that nature has taken over.

And one night I was taking a walk on the Headlands and stumbled into the playhouse where the Mendocino Theatre Company was presenting Master Class.  I asked at the box office and they told me the show started in 10 minutes and since I did not have my purse with me, I could come back and leave my money in the mail box the next day. I did. I think life should always be this way but it only seems to happen in the quaint town that forgot about time. 

And there is my favorite bookstore, Gallery Bookshop, where you have a view of the Pacific and peruse all kinds of great books. And it is fun to stop in The Birdhouse(a studio that was converted from a water tower) where artist  Monika Maluche makes her beautiful little ceramic birds. You can pick one up for $20.

But my best find in Mendocino this visit was free. My husband, in the early morning hours, found a gorgeous intact, abalone shell that washed on the beach. Perfect to hold jewelry on my dressing table, it brings back all the perfect memories every day.

I'll be back soon. It would be impossible for me to stay away.