The poet Rumi puts into words the things that can’t be thought with the mind; the joy and beauty of an open heart and the experience of  emptiness and quietness that comes from dhyana (when the meditator is not conscious of the act of meditation, but is only aware that s/he exists).

Rumi was a thirteenth century Sufi poet and he writes of love and surrender in a way that touches my heart so deeply. I totally feel him! Sometimes after sitting I read a poem or two – his words have a way of dropping into the stillness and just landing perfectly in my heart.

I wanted to write about the turning point in my practice.  When I started to move beyond the body focused discipline of asana and gradually turned my attention inward. I wanted to write about the stillness. It’s really hard!

Pranayama (breath control) really helped to cultivate a calm and quiet mind. I practice Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing) daily because it’s really amazing for concentration.  It focuses and directs the attention internally, allowing awareness to settle on the breath, then I can move toward pratyhara (withdrawal of the senses) and letting go.

I practice insight meditation at the moment, contemplating the nature of things, whatever is arising in the moment – ‘choice-less awareness’. As my mind gets very quiet I begin to experience the stillness underneath the breath. I try and revisit this stillness everyday. 

Sometimes when it’s very quiet I experience the sound of silence.  The Buddhist teacher Ajahn Sumedho talks of “a high frequency sound, a ringing sound that’s always there… when you begin to hear that sound of silence, it’s a sign of emptiness – of silence of the mind”. So a lot of days this is my anchor. It’s a silence that I crave and that is always there.

That’s what yoga practice teaches me. That I have already arrived. I’m already home, I just need to wake up from that trance/dream that this is not so. Practice helps me to wake up and live fully.  It’s so beautiful.

Quietness 
Inside this new love, die.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into colour.
Do it now.
You’re covered with thick cloud.
Slide out the other side. Die,
And be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign
That you’ve died.
Your old life was a frantic running
From silence. 
The speechless full moon
Comes out now. 

Rumi 

Written by Davina Kruse, one of the Byron Yoga Centre Teachers

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While possibly most of our students come to yoga through the asanas (physical postures) my journey was a bit different. I came to asanas through meditation. Having studied meditation in different Buddhist Branches (Theravada and Zen) I was a very good “Sitter” but my body became stiff and rigid. Maybe that is comparable in Hatha Yoga to someone who is very strong and flexible in their practice but misses the inner yoga of being aware of the breath, of thought patterns and is instead overly concerned about the outer appearances of postures.

My meditation practice came to a halt when my lower back tensed in spasms and I lay on the floor unable to move or even run to the phone to call for help. You could say that was another one of those life-changing moments. I needed to look after my body and treat it as the temple it was, for my soul to manifest in this world.

So I started going to my first yoga class at the Byron Yoga Centre as a middle-aged man, tight and stiff and unable to move into very “basic” asanas. Of course I felt odd being next to young, beautiful and charming women who could put their feet behind their heads and were even asking for blocks to put behind the soles off their feet to stretch more in Paschimottasana.

Had it not been for the assurance from John Ogilvie (Founder of Byron Yoga Centre) to “only do what feels right and rest whenever I needed to” I probably would have walked out and felt even more embarrassed about my aging, inflexible body.

After practising for two years in Byron Yoga Centre John started the first teacher Training Course and I couldn’t believe it, I survived and became a yoga teacher myself. It was hard but I was proud of what I’d achieved through a dedicated practice in a relatively short space of time.

Now lets move seven years on and yes, I am even older, but I feel such a great aliveness in my body that I can honestly say I feel better now than I did 10 years ago. In going to regular classes I noticed that not only were the teachers giving me great gifts, but that I could also give them something in return, the gift of Mindfulness!  John asked me to become the Meditation Teacher on the yoga teacher trainings and I happily agreed.

I find in general that in yoga classes the emphasis is still very much on “doing” an asana, rather than “being” in the posture. Also that after the practice, Savasana is not a time to drift off but to integrate the benefits of the practice through mindfulness of the body AND the mind. Mr Iyengar rightly says that Savasana is one off the most difficult asanas and I agree.

In my next blog I will talk a bit more about how to expand your knowledge of Yoga and bringing in more Meditation and simple tools for living a more fulfilled life. Until then take a mindful breath and relax…

Written by Stephan Kahlert, Meditation and Philosophy Teacher, Byron Yoga Centre

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