An Ordinary Life Transformed - posting about Gunas from Jenn C

Personal reflection from Chapter 14 of, ‘An Ordinary Life Transformed’.
‘In your own words, how is the process of meditation related to recognizing and understanding how the gunas influence your experience?’

“The gunas are the very essence of prakriti (nature) and it is they, not the Knower, who are responsible for all the changes arising in the field from moment to moment. Understanding the gunas helps us to see the origin of all action and to keep us from becoming entangled.” (page 173)

What a relief! The gunas, not me, are responsible for life’s ups and downs. That’s a load off! The constant cycle of good, bad and in between is, in general, beyond me. So what I can change instead is how I react to those things. Everybody is going to have good and bad days. Meditation is the tool that allows us to avoid the suffering associated with this cycle. I’m always reminded of the saying, ‘In life, we cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.’ Meditation is our course in sailing. We learn to direct our sails to make the most of the wind we have. We watch our thoughts in our meditation practice and start to learn that they don’t really belong to us. As our practice progresses, we gain experience observing our thoughts and their origins, and are capable of recognizing the patterns/habits we’ve developed. Through recognition of these cycles we are able to apply this to our daily life. By seeing the root of our actions we are able to choose whether we repeat the cycle, or rise above.

~Jenn 5/12/08

Pratyahara Blog from Beth

Pratyahara in practice
Extension and expansion always stay firmly rooted in one’s center. They originate in the core of one’s being. When most people stretch, they simply stretch to the point that they are trying to reach, but they forget to extend and expand from where they are. When you extend & expand, you are not only stretching to, you are also stretching from.
Overstretching occurs when one looses contact with one’s center. If the stretch extends from the core and the foundation of the asana, it creates space within the body and the stretch is even throughout the whole body, there is no strain at all. This does not mean that there is no exertion. There is exertion, but this exertion is exhilaration. When one stops straining the brain is passive.
When one ceases grasping outward with the mind, with the eyes and with the extremities, one cultivates a knowledge and awareness of the deeper parts of the body and the deeper parts of the consciousness. This becomes spiritual yoga.

Adapted from Light on Life, B.K.S. Iyengar