Rob - My So Called Yoga Blog...

Hello Friends. Remember me? Yeah, it's me Rob - the guy who used to have a blog about yoga, meditation and the like.

It's been quite a while since last posted (almost 2 full months...AH!) and truth be told things have been kind of challenging. I really spread myself thin and forgot about important things like healthy eating and sleep - all while trying to do an overly zealous yoga practice and work three jobs! Well my body taught me a lesson on that one. Two illnesses later (including the beloved H1N1 or Swine Flu as it's affectionately known!) and after about a month of feeling quite like crap I think I'm ready to start treating myself right again!

So that's what's been going on with my body in general. On my spiritual front I've maintained an "adequate" yoga practice in the midst of all this, but it certainly hasn't been every day. Actually it's been pretty sparse. Maybe 2-3 times a week. Certainly not ideal.

I HAVE been quite consistent with my meditation, and that's where things got really interesting. So just a little background before I go a bit off the deep end, I've been reading a lot of Daniel Ingram lately. He's a REALLY hardcore Buddhist writer who talks really in depth about the stages of enlightenment and deep states of meditation. After reading his thoughts about the stages on insight (which BTW aren't his invention, they're based on the original Pali cannon of Theravada Buddhism) a lot of my mental process of late started to make more sense.

Without getting too esoteric, suffice it to say there was much Dukkha in my practice and life, which I think partially manifested in my two illnesses. Everyday tasks seemed almost impossible and I dreaded getting up to go to work. Even yoga seemed unenjoyable. I couldn't sit still for meditation. This finally culminated (after my 1st sickness) with the most intense body cramps in my neck and shoulders that appeared for no obvious reason. I could barely move. And amazingly, all of this is described perfectly in the stages of awakening. And I'll also add that all of this happened BEFORE I even read about it so it's not as if I was manifesting it after the fact. But after reading about this stage and his encouragement to keep just keep going, keep practicing, no matter how hard it is I was able to break on through and remember why I'm doing all this in the fist place. I recommitted to a serious sitting practice and have regained some sense of balance.

Well, with a little determination and evaluation of my lifestyle I think that I'm ready to move on. I've settled into a more calm part of the "Dark Night" (equanimity perhaps?) and am regaining my lust for life. I've rediscover the joys of healthy eating and remember how important it is to my yogic lifestyle! I still have a lot of work to do in my progress, but I think that with some patient determination I can learn to manage this phase and my practice, etc. without destroying my personal life and health.

More importantly to you guys I've also reevaluated how I want to use this blog. I still want to write about my process and commit to a year of solid and truly dedicated yoga practice. What I absolutely want to eliminate is the ideal of trying to practice each and every day and the counting of the number of days. I realized that my practice had gotten WAY too goal oriented and this is the exact opposite of Yoga! So from now on I will write several times a week in here, certainly about Yoga, but I really want to expand the scope a bit. I'm really tired of focusing on the physical "Oh my hamstrings were tight today." "Pose X was really easy". This is a: boring and b: kind of misses the point in my opinion.

Henceforth I'm going to use this blog as a general discussion on the whole of yogic life for me over the year. This will include talks on meditation, healthy eating (recipes, etc.!), philosophy and yes, even my asana practice. I think I'll have a lot more to talk about and this will keep things much more interesting. I'll be sure to keep it true to the original focus, but I think having a broader spectrum will encourage me to write more. I hope you agree!

It's great to be back guys. Much metta, etc. from me to you!