D-DAWG

I chose to write the first of the Yogition blogs, which will be mainly about yoga postures and philosophy as well as nutrition, about Downward facing dog pose, in my opinion the bread and butter of yoga.

Downward dog, or Adho Mukha Svanasana (AH-doh-MOO-kah shvah-NAHS-anna) is my favourite posture because it works so many muscles and one can see a great improvement in shoulder, arm and wrist strength, as well as a stretch for everyone's tightest muscles, the hamstrings. In this posture we are working and lengthening our arms, legs and spine. The motion of d-dog is up and back. In this posture we work to have our bum pointed up into the air as high as we can, while at the same time pushing back and down into our heels. This is what makes the posture so difficult but rewarding. The gaze or drishti here is ideally at the navel and the posture can be held from anywhere between five breaths and five minutes.

Muscles working:

Triceps, deltoid, serratus anterior, latissimus dorsi, gluteus maximus , rectus femorous, hamstrings, gastrocnemius.

Today's Gita verse:

The Bhagavad Gita is an ancient Hindu scripture used by Yogis as a timeless, practical manual for daily living.The date and authorship of the Gita is unknown but the general scholarly opinion is that the scriptures date back to between the 5th and 2nd century BCE.
The Gita is a conversation between a manifestation of God, Krishna, and a man, Arjuna. Arjuna is on the battle field in a war against his cousins and is having an ethical dilemma about fighting. Krishna comes down to help Arjuna learn very valuable life lessons, and it is these teachings about living a positive, good life that make it one of my favourite and most valuable possessions. In each entry I will incorporate an important lesson from the Gita to enrich your practice and your existence.

Since we started with my favourite posture, perhaps we should include my favourite Gita verse as well. It is chapter 2 verse 23-25.

Sri Krishna says:

The Self can not be pierced by weapons or burned by fire; water can not wet if, nor can the wind dry it. The self can not be pierced or burned, made wet or dry. It is everlasting and infinite, standing on the motionless foundations of eternity. The Self is unmanifested, beyond all thought, beyond all change. Knowing this you should not grieve.

The reason this is my favourite verse is becasue it spoke to me and I had a deep understanding of it's meaning to me. Every verse is interpreted differently by each individual, I believe that it is meant to be that way. For me, this verse became fundamental in my grieving process. Luckily I have not had to deal with many deaths of loved ones, and for that I am fortunate. But when I have to deal with something like that I always revert back to this verse. Krishna is talking about the Self. In Hindu and Yogic philosophy the Self refers to that which is pure, free forever, unborn, undying and unchanging. This is the very essence of all living things. We are never born so we can never die. In western religious understanding one might equate this to the soul. The Gita stresses that that essence is the same for all of us, we are all that essence, that purity that is unchanging. So when someone dies it is their body that dies, not they themselves. The body is a temporary vessel for this existence. It is our temple to lead us to enlightenment. If enlightenment is not reached in this existence we are given another body to use and another life, but our essence remains the same for all eternity.

Namaste