Playtime has changed...but it ain't all bad!

Class: 4:00-5:45pm, "Cosmic Play", Rachel.

I am sad to say, that dearest Edward is no longer teaching Cosmic Play.

Please allow me a moment while I let out a tremulous sigh.

*Siiiiiiigh*

We know how much I love Edward, love love love Edward, yes we do. I only hope his schedule has changed for some kind of fabulous reason, (like movie-making), as he will be sorely and surely missed.

I skipped last week's cosmic play. I was in Puerto Rico, so I have a good excuse, but this week was my first play-time sans Edward, and I was prepared to be disappointed.

But, no need! No need! Rachel is amazing!

Yes, Rachel, Raaaaaachel. We love Rachel, yes we do. We love her, too.

Rachel is a spritely yogi. An angelic yogi. A long-limbed, reed-voiced yogi. Rachel floats up into arm balances so high and graceful it makes me want to weep. She's got one of those practices, those oh sigh will I ever look that pretty while I practice practices, and also, she is HARD-CORE.

I'm talkin', she and Ariel could have a who-could-kill-you-more-swiftly with deadly yoga moves ass-kicking contest, and I think it might be a draw!

Along with being a graceful ass-kicker, Rachel is a from the heart kind of teacher...she is soft-voiced and soft-handed (she also does Shiatsu) and you can just smell grounded inspiration all over her. (Note to self: If I ever market a yoga perfume, I'm calling it, grounded inspiration.)

So, needless to say, I was not not not disappointed.

Rachel spoke today about the Gunas. For your reference, I will include a quick-and-dirty explanation of what the Gunas are (thank you cyberspace) below:

A Guna is a state of mind--an attitude. Attitudes are basically qualities or tones of vibration and are found in everything, especially in the human. There are three Gunas, or attitudes, from which all the more subtle attitudes are derived. The three Gunas bind your spirit to the body, keeps it here. A Guna is an earthly quality. The three Gunas are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.

As far as I can figure, Tamas is intertia, Rajas is desire (not the pleasant kind), and Sattva is goodness, and, like all things yogic, all of these gunas are at play in different frequencies at all times, and all of them can get a little out of hand if not tended to properly.

Rachel's big theme regarding the Gunas, had to do with the idea (which has been on my mind A LOT) that there is a possibility, when working with emotions and states of being, for one to be fully-present without being either indifferent or attached to what he or she is feeling. This is a big tenet of any spiritual practice (by my calculation), and it is also EXTREEEEMELY DIFFICULT. My god, has anyone ever tried this and lived to tell the tale?! I have tried, many times, and almost always I lose this battle and end up locked into a french kiss with my prevailing emotional state. A dirty, uncomfortable french kiss...

I do believe that it is possible! and vital! and by god, I am determined to get a handle on it.

For those of you who aren't sure exactly what I'm talking about here, imagine this: suffering, say, is a wild whirlpool, and most of us, most often, choose to either:

a. stand to the side and proffer "what whirlpool?" when someone asks what that loud sucking noise is, or

b. get sucked down it. quickly. with bruises.

What is being proposed here, is that there is actually an opportunity, when that whirlpool appears, to STAND IN THE MIDDLE OF IT, without either getting slurped down to the recesses or pretending that you are whirlpool free. Of course, the idea is not just that one can do or should do this with negative emotions, but with ALL emotions, good and bad.

So, okay, the Gunas are in play, all the time, and when one is out of whack it kind of takes over, and our challenge, as yooooogis, is to stand in our Gunastic whirlpool and feel it all, maaaan. (I have to make a full disclosure here and say that I spent most of today (leading up to class) lying on my bed, crying and watching Netflix. Just so no one thinks that I am numbering myself among those who are good at this particular practice). My afternoon, in hindsight, may have been a deadly combination of unfulfilled Rajas and hardcore pre-menstrual Tamas....

So, needless to say, I felt that today's lesson was particularly attuned to my, ahem, needs, so I really went for it in class. 1. I needed the exertion to whick off the toxins that had accumulated from my cry-fest, 2. I read recently that if you can really push yourself to the edge while doing any kind of physical activity, the spiritual rewards are great, and 3. I hadn't taken a class in 3 days and my body was screaming in revolt! And, I am happy to report that after nearly two-hours of upside-downness and twisty-twistyness, and one amazing mini-massage from Rachel during class, I felt a small flicker of possibility...that maybe next time (after having forgiven myself for an afternoon of indulgence) I might be able to stand in the whirlpool and enjoy the sucking sensation a little longer (before I am long-gone down the drain).


-Yogalia