Fortunately a few simple movements can go a long way to relieve stresses and help in a transition from stillness to movement. Two postures are all it takes to stretch the arms & legs, bend the back and gradually and safely restore movement. It takes at most a minute or two and is a great gift to the body.

Clicking on an image/animation will lead to more details and guidance on each of the postures.

If you can make the time for it you may wish to explore an extended version of this sequence, your body will be grateful for it.

The beginning is strongly anchored in the mind, which depends on the senses, which are anchored outside. Stimulation from the outside are observed and are often translated into action – we see and we do.

A delicate first change is a small break in the immediate link between observation and action. Yoga postures are new to most beginners so they require a bit more attention – there isn’t yet an automated routine to handle them.

This small gap in reaction to stimuli presents an opportunity for even more refined attention. There are potentially limitless variation and details to explore in postures – this exploration takes time and extends our stay in contemplation and observation. Conscious & expanded breathing linked to movement give us time to and space to explore.

With the skills of opening a gap and staying attentive at hand, a teacher can now guide us into more subtle aspects of practice. This leads us to the heart. As with the mind, visiting the heart is done gradually. Initially the visits will be short – they bring about a subtle quality of care.

As our capacities for attention, breath, movement and emotions expand the heart gets more involved. This is a phase where clear instructions are replaced by subtle queues, metaphors, meditative focuses, etc. It is usually an extensive period of continuous practice.

This has the potential for a very subtle but major shift in experience – it is approached slowly and gradually, but arrives suddenly. When you get it, it feels like you’ve know it forever. The point of origin is no longer on the outside – you find it is now within you – your intentions. Another subtle change is that the loop is no longer open ended, things seem more connected, there are subtle relationships that draw a bigger picture than the mind was able to comprehend on its own.

I think this is where the “beyond” part begins to really kick in. You may find that you can both sense the world and act on it directly from your heart. Enough said!

When that gate has opened … well .. the heart emerges as “the seat of knowledge” and … well… enough said!

Engaging the world with heart and care can lead to a new perspective -  differences observed by mind are replaced by commonalities known in the heart.

Eventually we may even come to the conclusion that what we have in common is what dominates our lives. That the seat of knowledge is one.

The Hebrew word “Shabat” can be translated as a break or recess. From what I know about Judaism, there are many subtle manifestation of this idea – for example: time is allocated for prayer three times a day, time is allocated for short prayer around meals. I believe it requires a caring and attentive practice to create a balanced application of this wonderful and simple idea of taking a break from the daily flow of life to rest and observe (and pray, if that is your inclination). The duality of rest and work flows through our life on many levels:

• We rest & shower after intense activity.
• We are active during the day and sleep during the night.
• We travel out in summer and stay in during winter.
• We are playful in childhood (when life begins), contained in adult life and meditative as we near an end of life.

This morning as I was preparing coffee and looking out the window at the silent house next-door, meditation came to mind. It feels to me as if their house and family are in a meditative space. It also feels to me like an extreme shift – from a violent week to a peaceful weekend. It’s reminds me of people who come to Yoga classes, they claim to experience peace and integration but before they’ve left the studio they are already on their phones in agitated conversation (I wonder what these people are like when they get behind a steering wheel after a Yoga practice!).

We need to find a healthy combination of meditative practice & involved life. There can be no single formula to do this  – it is unique to our individual cycles of life. When a meditative quality is missing from our living-cycles there can be a sense of emptiness – as if something is missing. From that perspective we look at meditation as if it were some kind of sacred or elevated practice – we expect it to carry us into the light. This is an illusion caused by it’s absence. Meditation is a quality, a meditative practice is intended to introduce that quality into our lives. An effective meditation practice can cast a new light on all of our actions. It can change the way we view ourselves and communicate with others. It can change the way we move and breathe. It can change the way we sense and perceive. It can change meditation itself and our outlook on life.

Being meditative is not how long you can sit, how many words you know in Sanskrit or your philosophical knowledge.  It is about your capacity to love and your ability to communicate with your loved ones.

After thought: Sabbath carries a mathematical property – it is one-seventh of the week. Maybe this is a hint about a healthy meditative balance? Maybe it carries a prescription that one-seventh of our time should be allocated to meditation? Is your practice like this?

The process of meditations is a gradual movement from distraction toward containment. You can experience this on a gross level in a short meditation and you can experience this on a more subtle level over years of meditation.

When you start off meditating (assuming you are not in a monastery or a retreat) the mind is occupied with everything and anything, this is the nature of mind.

Then gradually ( = waiting patiently & softly, without expectation, without judgment) the mind settles a bit and releases some of its preoccupations. The first thoughts to go are the “easier” ones, those that stay are more immanent and can take a bit more waiting.

When the mind is settled it is able to start focusing on one object. At first the mind may still dance around and the relationship with the object comes and goes.

With some practice the mind is able to hold an object steadily and for a longer period of time.

Eventually subject-object duality ceases to cloud perception.

Practice tips:

• asana and pranayama practice shorten the time it takes to make this journey.
• a simple and supportive object to place your attention is on your seated position.
• a caring teacher can give you a supportive meditation focus, choosing a focus for yourself indulges your mind (like a kid will go for candy).
• one effective meditation practice will carry you through years of practice, don’t change it like you change socks.

• You should have a strong and stable base – no wobbling around – legs fixed on the floor.
• You should be able to keep your spine straight and shoulders relaxed.
• You should be able to relax your stomach muscles (if you are using them to hold the posture – the posture is not relevant for you).
• You should be able to sit comfortably for a duration of 10 to 20 minutes (as a starting point).

One of the key obstacles to choosing a seated posture is a stubborn ego. I’ve seen too many people insist on sitting in postures they cannot hold because they are too stubborn to relax their conceptions of what sitting should be. As a result:

• They sit in postures that are beyond their capabilities
• They place unhealthy strain on the spine
• They are so busy maintaining the  seated posture that they can barely pay attention to the breathing or meditation practice. Choose wisely.
• Their sitting doesn’t improve

Choose your posture wisely!

The classic sitting pose is called Padmasana – the Lotus pose.  For most beginning practitioners (and many advanced practitioners) this pose is not accessible. If you want to you (though not everybody) can train intensively to make it accessible. People tend to work the ankles and knees when actually the pose is strongly affected by the hip joints.

The next variation includes using a support accessory – sitting blocks. There are sitting blocks made of all kinds of materials and sizes. First make sure that the block is wide enough for you to site comfortably. Then you may find it useful to get two relatively short blocks which you can stack one on top of the other – so you have an option for two positions – one block high and two blocks high.

By choosing a sitting option that is relevant for you, your are creating a positive and spreading affect on your practice. Your breathing and meditation practices will improve and in turn affect your physical-asana practice. This in turn may affect your spine, hips, legs, knees and other muscles – which in time may improve your sitting further.

This morning after only 2 days of programming I sat down for a short meditation and in it I experienced what a profound affect this has on me. One word that really stuck in my mind was flat. I felt flat, my sensations were flat – kind of like listening to a wonderful high fidelity sound system, but from another room with a door closed and some people talking in the background.

A prominent sensation is that my thoughts are traveling fast between many ideas and lingering longer on each idea. This is different from “regular meditation noise” – where my thoughts will wander aimlessly and cling to fears & petty issues. When I am programming I have many ideas in my head, features, ideas, technical challenges, design, etc. My mind is actively engaged in them even when I am away from the computer. Sure I know how to “turn it off”, but as long as I am in the programming “period” there is a different quality to mind.

Then there came to me the sensations of hearing and my own voice. My hearing seems to be … well flat… tones are less rounded, the sound is more mechanic, less embracing. When I did some chanting my voice seemed to have similar qualities – only this time it wasn’t just the sound. I felt as if the sound was coming from a shallow source instead of a deeper sensation I am used to. The resonance of the sounds inside me was also thinner and has much less body.

So I took action. I spent the first few hours of the day in the garden. I collected leaves we use for brewing tea from the plants around the house, collected them into bundles and hung them to dry. Some grounding to complement the abstract programming work that lies ahead.

A part of me is still very mindful, so sometimes when I approach a plant, I am flooded by reasoning. Pick the leaves that are already starting to dry, pick another one that is not enough, don’t pick too much (umm… so we have enough to dry and last the winter)… loads and loads of mind chatter. It all happens so fast that just watching it flow by is awesome.

Then comes the fun part. First waiting for the noise to settle. Then looking at the plant, just watching and waiting. Then magic – I know what leaves to pick. Sometimes it takes an instant, sometimes it takes a bit longer, but there is always a clear answer. No reason – just an answer. Certain leaves are there for me to pick. Sometimes they are out in the open – and my attention is called to them. Other times I need to run my hands through the plant and look deeper inside until I find the leaves that are looking for me.