Alegria....Happiness

My teacher Arturo Garcia was in town this past weekend....and of many things touched, I'll just mention a couple....

VRKSASANA - Tree Pose, held until we slip out of it, other side, then seated

I stood for probably as long as I ever had...time only relative. The sun shone on the right side of my face....and the shadows of leaves and branches dancing and flittering constantly. Noises of cars passing and dogs and children running and playing....I noticed the weight shifting in my foot, the pressure of my other foot on the inside of my thigh, the rooting and then the swaying of my upper body. I giggled. Just when my mind settles, my giggles arise, amidst the activities of people in the city, in the park on a Saturday morning. I sat after changing sides, but that time the sun was shining on the left side of my face, warming me to the cool breeze. Focusing on senses...noticing, but not owning them, just observing them and letting them go. Noticing emotions, and letting them roll away. My physical sense was that of my left leg slightly overworked having held the posture more on the left than on the right.....and I tried not to notice, as I sat.....if it hadn't been for another session to commence, I probably could have sat until the night fall bringing me a whole new plethora of senses.

My word to meditate on during karma yoga was ALEGRIA...HAPPINESS. Upon opening the folded piece of paper, my first reaction was a huge smile...well this will be easy! With each fold of the yoga schedule for the studio, I repeated the word Alegria. After a time, the word started to fade and I tried to embrace it...recognizing what happiness means and how and when I feel it. I was stuck quite in the present moment and reflected on relationships with others. When we root ourselves in happiness, we are then able to extend that to others...of course there are moments when this feeling is not so ever present, but how can we learn to cultivate happiness? and how can we learn to share that? how do we plant that into our practice?

So this was my reflection for this morning's class. I started teaching early morning (early morning being 8am here in Mexico!) in the downtown area. We practiced the makasana (asana of the face)....SMILE....for 5 minutes. Have you ever done this? Putting a huge smile on your face, an intentional one, for 5 minutes?! Give it a try! See what happens! And let me know!