Teacher Spotlight:Daren Freisen, Moksha Yoga

Daren Freisen, owner of Moksha Yoga, who trained me to be a yoga teacher, is a master at making yoga classes deeply meaningful. He draws back his metaphorical bow and pierces every layer of the koshas of his students with his meticulously chosen words.

To do this, he often ignites his classes with a colorful story from the tales of Hinduism like the time that Shiva, the God of transformation, turned blue by holding the negative energy of the world in his throat in “suspended animation” or how Hanuman, the monkey God, leaped through the air to capture the sun, which he thought was a piece of fruit. With his opening story, Daren sets the stage for what is to come and weaves the theme throughout the class like a seamstress constructing a stunning gown. He uses the story to bring each of the koshas (body, breath, mind, spirit and soul) to life for the students as they practice.

For example, in the class where he used Shiva, during breath retention pranayamas at the beginning of class, he told students to hold what they no longer needed in “suspended animation”. In his Hanuman themed class, he took students into the splits and told them that they have more strength and power than they realize like Hanuman.

Daren’s passion for teaching yoga shines through in his classes. He understands more than any teacher who I know that yoga is a multidimensional practice teaming with life that has the power to awaken students to God Consciousness.

Bhakti Yoga: Hugging Amma

Amma, kindly referred to as the “Hugging Saint, is an avatar. She was born awake. At an early age, she began chanting hymns to Krishna. Without any formal spiritual education, she started to receive followers in her early twenties. Today she is recognized by people around the world as a living embodiment of the divine like Buddha, Jesus and others were. In my opinion, to hug Amma is to know that you are loved.

Every fourth of July weekend, Amma blesses the Chicago suburbs with her presence. Amma hugs until the wee hours of the mornings but there are still only so many hours in a day. Last year, I couldn’t get a hug because I arrived too late to get a “token” or a little piece of paper with a number and letter on it that gets you the magic embrace. My two year who tagged along thought I said we were going to see Elmo, so we were both disappointed.

So, this year I was bound and determined to receive Darshan for the first time, the divine energy that Amma transmits to you via the hug. But, surprisingly, it wasn’t the hug that made me cry with joy.

Unlike many devotees who were there before the doors opened, I arrived at the start time of 11:00 a.m. I participated in the opening meditation and made a beeline to the token line. I was placed in the O2 group. My friend Jodi said I would probably receive my hug around 2:00p.m. In reality, it was around 6:00 p.m and well worth the wait.

I spent the day with friends sitting as close as possible to Amma watching her give hug after hug after hug. The time was punctuated with trips to the snack shop for delicious Indian food, Mango Lassis and Chai tea and circles around the perimeter where Amma jewelry, clothes, dolls, incense, etc. were being sold. I couldn’t help but buy an anklet that Amma wore. (One of my yoga teachers later explained that if you only wear one anklet in Indian you are considered a “harlot.” Oops.)

When it was time to get in line for my hug, I felt like I was on a roller coaster ascending to the top of the very first drop off. Amma devotees ushered me through a line of two rows of chairs leading to Amma. People who are by themselves make their way up the left line while families are on the right. Each time I moved up one chair, I could hear the roller coaster car ticking. Tick, tick, tick as I got closer and closer to Amma.

Only a few feet away I could see that Amma was the calm in the storm of her handlers. The ushers were frantically helping people prepare and recover from their hugs while tending to Amma’s every need in delivering the perfect experience for each and every person. It was like a hugging storm that had to be tamed or it would spin out of control.

When I was only a couple of people away from my hug, someone to the right of me reached for my token. After holding onto it so tightly all day, I actually had to think a second before giving it away. Then, a woman to the left of me asked me what language I spoke. She told me to sit on the padded box she was holding exactly when she told me to. Then she pushed me to kneel in front of Amma and the next thing I knew I was hugging her.

She wrapped me up in her arms like a blanket of love. She chanted, “My daughter, my daughter, my daughter, my daughter,” over and over again in my ear. It felt like time had stopped. I realized in that moment that every single one of us is loved like crazy. Then, Amma put flower petals and a Hersey kiss in my hand, her handlers ushered me away and I burst into tears.

Hugging Amma was like falling into the arms of your perfect mother. It was an experience I will hold in my heart for as long as I live, and probably, beyond.

Heart Yoga

In mystic Andrew Harvey’s last session at Yoga Trek on Sacred Activism, he introduced us to the next wave of yoga. “Heart Yoga” is a deeply spiritual set of poses that bring to life in the student’s body the seven stages that lead to unity with God. Practicing Heart Yoga was an experience that I will never forget as long as I live.

The following list describes the movements and touches on the meaning behind each one.

Stage 1) Slowly circle arms to the heavens and gaze skyward with a sense of awe for the divine light.

Stage 2) Press hands together and draw them down the midline to the heart. Realize that all beings contain the same divine spark and that we are all one.

Stage 3) Bow down with surrender and humility to God’s grace into Child’s Pose.

Stage 4) Press forward into a downward facing Savasana and stretch arms out into a T. This pose represents death of the ego. Andrew mentioned Jesus dying on the cross. The darkness becomes light as the student visualizes a bright light rising from below.

Stage 5) Curl up in a fetal position and ask God for help.

Stage 6) Sit in lotus in complete and total peace envisioning that you are a diamond and shining happiness to all living beings.

Stage 7) Stand up in mountain pose and tell God that you are ready to be of service in whatever way is necessary.

Since I’m a yoga teacher, Andrew encouraged me to share the practice with others. I envision Heart Yoga being taught at Unity churches and activist groups around the world. I know that I will never be able to bring the same power to the practice that he radiates, but in the name of love and saving the world, I would like to try.

Yoga: What We Want or What we Need?

Are we drawn to the style of yoga that we want or to the style of yoga that we need? Or is it a combination of both? For my thesis project that will complete my yoga teacher training, I plan to answer this question while devising a system to help students determine what style of practice is right for them.

I think that the Ayurvedic principles of the Doshas that divide people into energies of Air (Vata), Fire (Pitta) and Earth (Kapha) based on their physical and mental constitutions can help. But since yoga can penetrate the spirit as well, I also think it’s important to consider a person’s spiritual path.

For example, cast in your mind the triple Vata. She is tall, thin, flexible and mentally flighty. Is she drawn to practice Ashtanga, a rigid style with a specific series of poses that is completed every day, to bring balance to her life or does she spend most of her time practicing Vinyasa because she likes not knowing what will happen next? Aside from what she wants, what does she need? What about her spiritual interests? Is her heart set on merging with God or does she just want to exercise?

To help me answer this riddle and guide students on their yogic paths, I plan to interview master teachers, develop a detailed questionnaire and engage students in a workshop setting. If you have ideas to contribute, please let me know.

10 Definitions of Yoga

At a workshop for yoga teachers on creating peace in the classroom at Moksha Yoga, Elesa Commerse, beloved meditation teacher, asked us to write a “pithy” definition of yoga. Following is a list of my ideas. How do you define yoga?

1. Uniting the body, breath and mind to enter the realm of the soul

2. An ancient technology and philosophy used to tap the power of the universe

3. An owner’s manual for the body, mind and spirit

4. Stregthening the body and quieting the mind to hear the oneness of the world

5. A method to merge with God

6. A path to peace from the inside out

7. A sacred journey to self-realization

8. A way of being that ends suffering

9. Syncing the self with the principles of truth, beauty and sacredness that comprise the universe

10. A vehicle to step into the majesty of the moment

Teacher Spotlight: Terri Smith, Yoga Trek

Terri Smith, certified to teach Ashtanga Yoga by the master of the system himself, Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois, is a gift to us from the Yoga Gods. Today, she presented me with a missing puzzle piece from the story of my life.

In a workshop at Yoga Trek on Ashtanga alignment principles, Terri told me that I am perfectly proportioned for Trikonasana or Triangle pose. My torso is longer than my arms so Triangle is easy for me. On the flipside, making myself into a ball is quite difficult. So, it’s not surprising that my diaphragm seizes in Kurmasana.

Terri couldn’t have realized that this piece of news would have meant so much to me. I am a tri-racial isolate, red, white and black from the Lumbee Indian tribe. I am also a tri-dosha. Ancient yogis believed that we have a certain balance of earth, air and fire. All of us have all three, but most of the time one or two is dominate. I am a mixture of all three, according to my teacher Daren Friesen. Therefore, I’m not surprised that Triangle is the pose for me.

Terri’s insight into my Anna Maya Kosha or physical body led to an even deeper discovery through my Mana Maya Kosha or mental body later in the day. The version of heart mudra where you push your first fingers and thumbs together to make a triangle and center it over your heart resonates with me deeply.

Overall, Terri focused her workshop today on stressing that we all have to work with the body that we have. With a humble heart, we rise up to meet the challenges provided by the practice that are unique to each of us. Typical of Terri’s self-effacing nature, she ended by repeating what her Guruji, Pattabhi Jois, told her. “Practice and all is coming.”

Andrew Harvey is on Fire for Sacred Activism

Andrew Harvey is ablaze with God’s love. A Rumi scholar, mystic and former Oxford professor who has written over 30 books, Harvey is channeling his wild and profound passion for the divine into Sacred Activism. In fact, he recently opened The Institute for Sacred Activism in Oak Park where he plans to try with all his magnanimous might to save the world.

On May 13 at Yoga Trek , Harvey laid out his vision for a progressive uprising. In the first of a four-part series, he explained that spirtual seekers and social activists need each other and God to protect the planet from humanity’s “deathwish”. He plans to use online and offline grass roots networking to organize and activate these two potent groups of people.

At the heart of his message is that mystics need to stop seeing suffering as an illusion and get involved. On the flipside, activists need to tap the well of divine love with spirtual practices so they don’t burn out. Harvey’s absolutely wild passion for his quest is contagious. Attendees were buzzing as he circled the room with his firey nature, told funny stories and heartbreaking tales of the world’s horrors.

More will be revealed in the three workshops to come at Yoga Trek and Harvey’s forthcoming book, Hope.

Mudras: Tarot Cards for Yogis

My yoga teacher who is training me to be a teacher, Daren Friesen, shared with us a number of mudras today. In Sanscrit, the ancient language that yogis spoke thousands of years ago, “Mu” means happiness and “Dru” means to draw forward, so as Daren explained, a mudra is a hand gesture that draws forward happiness.

As Daren had us practice each mudra he offered us, I started to feel like I was reading tarot cards, searching for the energic meaning in each one. Sometimes I felt powerful, othertimes peaceful. It was like being taken on a guided tour of the sacred qualities of the universe.

The mudra that resonated the most with me was Yoni mudra, which represents the merger of Shakti or form/material and Shiva or consciousness/awareness. I think of it as the union of heaven and earth.

My Dance with Shiva

It was Saturday night at Moksha Yoga. I was awaiting Laura Henke to begin her advanced Vinyasa class. I was sitting on my black mat when Shiva, the Hindu God of Destruction, caught my eye. I felt like he was beckoning me.

I charged forward and examined him from head to toe. I noticed details that I had never before like the fact that he was sitting on a tiger, wore skulls around his neck and had the sign of OM carved in his right palm. For some reason I asked him, “Am I you?” I asked again. He was silent. I smiled. I turned away towards the hall. I saw that girl I had met almost 2 years ago float by the door. I asked myself, should I go talk to her? Will she remember me?

The first and last time I saw Dawn we were waiting for a Forest yoga class to begin. I was drawn to her because she looked racially ambiguous like me. I apologized that I had to ask her “what she was”. I had been asked that question my whole life. But, she didn’t mind. She lit up when I asked and rattled off the list of races and places that she was associated with. I thought to myself that I was red, white and black and she made me look boring! I explained to her that I am a Lumbee Indian, otherwise known as a tri-racial isolate from southern North Carolina. We were like little girls looking at our reflections in a pool and giggling with wonder.

Class began to start and that was the last time I saw her until my encounter with Shiva that night at Moksha before the day’s last class, before the practice room would be filled with the unconditional love from the Kirtan.

My heart told me to run to her and I did. She hugged me. She remembered my name. She wanted to know how I was. Then she blew my mind.

She said she had been doing DNA testing and discovered that she is part Lumbee.

“It makes sense,” she said, “because my great grandmother lived in South Carolina.”

Shiva had answered my question. I am him. I am her. They are me. We are all one.

Teacher Spotlight: Kate Wester, Yoga Trek

Ashtanga Yoga is a rigorous practice. Many of the teachers I know also practice and teach a softer style to counterbalance the effects. One of Chicagoland’s top Ashtanga teachers, Kate Wester, Co-owner of Yoga Trek in Oak Park, is no exception to the rule.

With the freedom to be more creative with sequencing in her Vinyasa classes, Kate weaves in restorative styles like Qigong and Yin Yoga to create a fluid flow connected to the breath and dynamic movements to free the joints. Kate also employs imagery to help students feel their way through poses and to stay in the moment rather than to retreat into the mind. I love it when she says things like, “Imagine there is a benevolent hand on your crown, push up into it.”

Two years ago, Kate, along with Catherine Taylor Cappel, bought Yoga Trek from our former teachers, JoAnn and Ben Taylor. I am forever grateful that Kate and Catherine chose to continue the Yoga Trek tradition of offering authentic yoga in a nurturing environment.

In my search for the coexistence of peace and power, Kate has been a living example for me. That is why I call Yoga Trek home.