January 26th, 2005

Contents

1. Introduction
    a. Intentions
2. Why Yoga?
    a. Fitness
    b. Transcendence
3. What Yoga?
    a. Practice
    b. Body
    c. Breath
    d. Mind
    e. Unity
4. When Yoga?
    a. Class
    b. Life
5. Who Yoga?
    a. Teachers
    b. Students
6. Challenges
    a. World
    b. Self
7. Appendix
    a. Autobiography

Introduction

Thank you dear reader.

Intentions

    Honest evaluation of my self is something I find a constant challenge. I wonder if I am even capable of it! How would one know? So many influences affect us, from within and without, noticed and unnoticed.

    It has been many years since I have composed my thoughts on paper for anything other than business purposes. Though until recently my path has taken me away from it, philosophy, by which I mean the love and pursuit of wisdom, is at my core.

    I wish now to turn to that core and use this opportunity to reflect upon a new practice which has led me back to topics I essentially abandoned after my university studies. That practice is yoga, and those topics involve the fundamental questions surrounding our existence.

Why Yoga?

    It may seem odd that I would address the question 'why yoga?' before I would address 'what yoga?', but my experience has been that my need for yoga is prior to my understanding of it. The reasons why I began and have maintained my practice are clearer to me than what my practice actually consists of and where it is going!

Fitness

    Physical fitness is probably the most obvious reason why people begin and maintain a yoga practice. In combination with an attentive teacher, systematic asana practice provides a very thorough and safe full body workout. Strength, stamina, and flexibility throughout your body stand to make gains through asana practice.

    However, the fitness yoga creates in us goes beyond the body. Our minds are made more fit by the focus and concentration our practice requires, and our spirits are made more fit by the calm, encouraging, and meditative environment. Though our teachers may guide us more quickly to these discoveries, in time we learn implicitly through asana practice about these other aspects of fitness.

    It seems also that there is a way of life which follows from our yoga practice. The qualities we seek in our practice are qualities which should be manifest throughout our lives. Steadiness and lightness, control and discipline, focus and concentration, peace, harmony, and love are some of the qualities which are encouraged and nurtured in our yoga practice.

    What sense would it make to leave those qualities on our yoga mat? We should remind ourselves of them in all our thoughts and actions. If we understand yoga as more than mere asana practice, if we understand it as all that such practice leads us to, then we should be practicing yoga at all times. Even if we are not in a place to be stretching and bending and twisting, when are we not in a place to be breathing, concentrating, harmonizing, and loving?

    By practicing our asanas in class, and the qualities developed through asanas outside of class, yoga will ultimately lead us beyond the obvious physical effects. We will become not only fit in our body, but in our mind, and in our spirit. We become more fit for life in general.

Transcendence

    Many philosophies speak of transcendence, that is, some level of being that is beyond the common, perhaps where the Truth about Reality becomes apparent, or where the nature of one's self becomes clear, or where one attains heaven. The little yogic philosophy I've read seems to maintain that a similar goal is attainable through dedicated yoga practice.

    Though these various descriptions of, and paths to transcendence seem to diverge at points, and though I readily admit that understanding of them is currently beyond me, I sense generally, that no matter the flavor, pursuit of transcendence is pursuit of wisdom.

    It may be difficult to swallow an entire system of belief and pursue it by faith alone, but perhaps it is allowable to pick and choose from various systems and make one's path unique. This is where I find myself, on a journey to wisdom, with vague hopes of a possible transcendence.

    So, for some of us, notions of wisdom or transcendence may be a motivation for yoga practice. That destination may seem distant and obscured at the onset of our practice, and probably still years into it, but we sense the wisdom of our actions even early in our discovery of yoga, and trust that with dedication and openness the qualities nurtured in our practice will sink continually deeper into our lives and ultimately merge with it completely so that they are one and the same.

What Yoga?

    Yoga must be many things to many people. This, of course, would explain the variety of schools on the subject. There is probably wisdom to be found in all these schools, but some paths may be more suited to a person than others. This is why I appreciate the wisdom of what I've read in Desikachar's writing that states that one's path in yoga ought to be personal and constructed in such a fashion that it is uniquely suited to that person.

    A personal relationship with one's teachers, I believe, is therefore an invaluable resource to help the student discover what yoga is to him. Over time, as the teachers gain familiarity with your body, mind, spirit, and life, their perception and experience enables them to guide your practice according to your needs, reaching your boundaries, and then slowly and safely beyond. So though I will discuss some generalizations below, yoga is a personal thing, and its nature is only truly discovered through experience practicing it with your teachers.

Practice

    Regardless of the flavor, perhaps we can agree that yoga is a practice. It is something we work at, perhaps with a goal in mind, but I think ultimately the goals become less meaningful than the practice itself. As I've experienced it, the practice typically consists of a set of exercises for the body, breath, and mind, and I will explore these a little later, but at the moment I wish to ponder a broader definition of yoga suggested to me in some of my reading.

    Desikachar seems to understand yoga generally as the practice of focus and concentration. He states that whenever we are behaving in a clear and focused manner, whether through action or thought, we are doing yoga. The particulars of our practice then (asanas, pranayama, meditation, etc), are the traditional yogic means by which we can become more clear and focused, but themselves are not really yoga.

    This idea appeals to me in how it opens yoga to be a thing that is practiced by many people (perhaps all people from time to time) whether they know it by the term 'yoga' or not. Yoga is then understood as a universal way of life, accessible to everyone by any number of paths even aside from asana and other traditionally yogic practices.

    For instance, during the recent Olympics, I was struck by the idea that these athletes could all be considered quite experienced yogis. The level of focus, concentration, dedication, and practice required to reach the levels of performance they have attained is amazing, and certainly involves the unity of body, breath, mind, and spirit that the traditional yogic practices develop in us.

    So, though many of us may appreciate the specific qualities of traditional yoga practice, I find it comforting to think that we are not alone in our practice, isolated from those who don't know or don't practice as we do, but instead, in our traditional practice we are joined by all those who work towards a clear, concentrated, and healthy mind and body.

Body

    Though I believe yoga will ultimately prove itself to be part of all aspects of our lives, it seems that the body is where yoga begins to manifest itself. Our practice is very physically oriented, and instruction from some teachers can be quite detailed as to how to correctly approach the asanas.

    On a superficial level, we are generating heat in our bodies, strengthening and stretching muscles and ligaments. However, we find that there is a certain way to go about these things in yoga. The asanas are very specific and competent teachers encourage detailed attention to subtle aspects of our postures. So beyond the endurance and strength training, there is perhaps something deeper we're studying.

    It is suggested by Desikachar that each asana has a specific therapeutic purpose, their forms intended as treatments of some kind. Perhaps what he means is as simple as a forward bend is designed to treat the lower back increasing its flexibility. But what of more complex and difficult asanas like deep twists, arm balances, and inversions? Though I find satisfaction in the challenge these asanas present to me physically, and the results I see in my body, I wonder what is their origin? Why are we practicing them in exactly the way we are?

    I think the wisdom of physical fitness is self-evident, so is that all the asanas are? The yogic means by which we cause our body to be fit? That would be fine, as it follows that from a fit body we will be more able to practice a fit mind and spirit, but is there something underlying these asanas that somehow opens us in a way that other exercises wouldn't?

Breath

    The breath is central to our yoga practice. Desikachar seems to equate breath with our life force, or 'prana'. It is through our breath that we control our vitality. We work to maintain smooth, steady breathing throughout our physical practice and when we meditate. It is desirable to breathe through the nose steadily and avoid huffing and puffing. As we go deeper into our yoga practice, we might discover pranayama, which is described as exercises for the breath and lungs much like asanas are exercises for the body.

    I wonder about this reverence for the breath. Clearly breath is tied closely to life, for if we stop breathing we stop living. The breath is also tied closely to our endurance, and therefore our overall fitness. Our breath brings oxygen into our bodies which through the lungs is distributed throughout. But all of this, science can tell us, Desikachar seems to imply there is more to the qualities and effects of breath.

Mind

    Though in our common yoga classes asanas and to a lesser degree pranayama are the focus, these are but two of many other branches of yoga. These other branches I believe involve more the control of our mind. Asanas and pranayama start us off on the path to the discipline, fitness, and control we need to delve further into our practice and realize similar qualities in our mind.

    As mentioned above, Desikachar understands yoga as the practice of focus and concentration in general. By meditating on and practicing the yamas, niyamas, and other mental aspects of yoga, we will achieve a state of mind that is capable of focusing on an object and clearly perceiving it. It is this clear perception of the objects of our attention, that is a primary goal along our path to yoga.

Unity

    This clear perception is not achieved through any singular means mentioned above, but instead is achieved through the unity and integration of the entire prescription of yoga. That is, we must keep fit our bodies through rigorous and well balanced exercise, we must keep fit our lungs and concentrate our breath through breathing exercises, and we must manifest the mental qualities described in yogic writings and implied in our physical practices.

    It is the unity of these practices that develops in us the balance we require to perceive the world without prejudices, and ideally with clear and comprehensive understanding.

When Yoga?

Class

Life

Who Yoga?

Teachers

Students

Challenges

World

Self

Appendix

Autobiography

    I hope my reader will indulge this bit of personal exposition here. I provide this for purposes of context, to open myself, laying the foundation for our mutual understanding.

    I was born Gabriel Lee Richards at Kaiser Hospital in Harbor City December 21st, 1977. I am the only child of my very loving and devoted parents Fred and Diana who both came to the Los Angeles area by way of Puerto Rico and New York.

    I have grown up almost entirely in and around the South Bay, my years spent between Lawndale, Gardena, Carson, and Torrance, with a 3 year detour in Irvine where I completed my university studies.

    Until high school, I attended St. Anthony of Padua parochial school in Gardena where I developed a foundation in Catholic theology. This experience undoubtedly was the beginning of my questioning into the nature of our existence. As I matured, I had difficulty accepting what I had been taught about God, humanity, and our relationship to the World. I sought proof and reason.

    Though most of my friends continued on to parochial high schools, I opted for public school and attended North High in Torrance. Here I severed my ties with the Catholic church and began more secular philosophical examinations. I studied texts from famous atheists like Bertrand Russell, and began communicating my thoughts with a variety of people on the networks and bulletin boards that were the precursors to today's Internet.

    After a bit more than a year of aggressive atheism in which I would debate almost daily amongst Christian and other interested friends I met online, a series of circumstances led me to the opposite extreme. A computer guru friend of mine died at 17 in a car accident that occurred while racing another mutual friend of ours, a practicing Christian.

    At the funeral, glancing over his lifeless body, I was struck with emotion and faced with my mortality. Seeking something beyond that which atheism offered, I began attending non-denominational Christian services and devouring various Christian texts. Shortly after, I met a young woman who impressed me and I began a relationship with her that cemented my participation in a Christian church for nearly 2 years.

    I became as aggressively Christian as I had been aggressively atheist, debating on the networks, and even evangelizing on Hollywood Blvd. However, as my emotions died down, my skepticism crept back in, and towards the end of my stint as a born-again Christian, I found my church leaders had no more satisfactory answers to my basic challenges than did my Catholic teachers.

    Other high school pressures were sinking in at this time as I prepared for university and met the woman to whom I am now engaged. Philosophy and religion as I had practiced it took a back seat to grades, test scores, football, and Racquel. With regards to God and Truth about Reality, I took the position of an agnostic, a position which I have essentially maintained now for 8 years.

    I entered the University of California, Irvine, as a philosophy major in 1996 and graduated after 3 years and 1 quarter. Although the university experience as a whole provided me many means by which I gained useful insight, education, and practical experience, I was generally disappointed and discouraged by my philosophy studies.

    Philosophy at UCI did not deal with the metaphysical and ethical issues I was mostly concerned with. Questions concerning the nature of our existence (i.e. Why are we here? Who are we? What should we do?) were disregarded, literally, as "BS" by some of my professors because they could not be answered definitively. The courses were heavy on logic and analysis, but light on wisdom and personal guidance.

    So I left serious philosophical inquiry behind with my university studies, plugged into my computer abilities, and determined to prove myself in business, relinquishing to the idea that pursuit of such ultimate questions would lead nowhere.

    For the past four years I have devoted myself almost entirely to the establishment of my company, Ender Technology Corporation. Though rewarding in its own way, it has been an unbalancing path, as the sacrifice required to build this small business from nothing left time for little more than endless work and stress at my desk and in my mind.

    It has been just the last 8 months or so that the pressure has been relieving. Towards the end of 2003, the business grew to the point where I could hire full-time help and support a mortgage payment. After nearly 3 years of living in the office and sleeping at my parents' home, I was finally able to maintain a moderate working schedule and purchase a retreat of my own.

    With more time and a place to go other than the office, I have found opportunity to be concerned again with things outside of work. I have remembered my tendency towards diversity, my desire to become a modern day renaissance man. My music, my fitness, and my philosophy are returning to me, joining the science and art of my business.

    Yoga has been the primary catalyst for these changes. After discovering the practice at LA Fitness in April of this year, I have been practicing almost daily now for 5 months. Through yoga I have dramatically increased my energy levels, becoming more physically fit and tending more towards internal reflection. A world of thought has opened to me, reminding me of my prior philosophical cravings.

    I stand today reflecting on the first few steps I have taken on a path towards deeper understanding of myself and the world around me. I hope my journey leads me to the wisdom that I seek.

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Yoga Available at the Westchester Family YMCA - Westchester YMCA
April 26th, 2005

The Westchester Family YMCA agrees that yoga is a great way to increase flexibility, supplement a fitness program, and de-stress. Yoga classes are offered 7 days a week at the Westchester Y. For information on yoga classes and membership rates, call (310) 670-4316.

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Philosophy...etc. - Evie
May 31st, 2006

Umberto Eco wrote, "I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth." This is your Titi Eve speaking. The underlying truth, as I see it, is us. We make the difference in our lives. It is much like quantum mathematics. Your thinking alters your environment. Your father is my favorite brother. I have missed him all my life. He is the nicest person I know and the most loving of men that I know. I hope you are like him. However, I have found you very distant and have never been able to see who you are. I am glad you wrote this piece on yourself. It gives me some insight. I really have been afraid to know you. Something about you makes me think you are dangerous. Can this be so or is it just my imagination? We are all enigmas of a sort. You are beautiful and you are a benefit to our existance. I am pleased about that. All these years you have been special to me. You may wonder if I mean that. Do you have red towels? Do you have a red afghan? Did you get a telescope from me and a remote race car that your dad busted? I had those big brown eyes of yours to remember from when you were a toddler. You were so cute! You will see the wonder of your existance when you have a child. That is why we are all here. We populate the world. We replace ourselves. Live well. Love well. Have a good life. I love you.