On Interconnectedness, and Dhara

A couple weeks ago, I joined perhaps the most eclectic yoga class ever. Well, this needs clarification. It isn't a yoga class. It isn't qi gong. It isn't meditation. It isn't a discussion group. It isn't a lecture. It isn't a wellness seminar. It isn't a group of people hanging out and eating fruit together in the late afternoon deep in the heart of Flatbush. It's all of those things. I stumbled upon a flier while trying out Third Root's free Wednesday morning meditation session (this is a place I spoke about with excitement in a past entry, and it certainly lived up to my own self-created hype), for a Young Adults Wellness Program. I am, just barely, within the age range, and, though I was worried I'd come face to face with a group of frenzied 14 year olds, I decided to drop my judgements and just be open to trying it. Turns out, most of the group is also composed of early twenties college age students, still making me a rare bird, a college graduate, but all the same, this is probably one the best experiences I've had so far in the city, and I'm sure I'll talk about it from many angles again in the future. The teacher, Jenna, has just returned from basically living alone in a cave in the middle of China for at least a year, and she is immediately engaging herself in non-profit endeavors (Her organization is called Dhara, and her website offers an introduction to one of the breathing techniques she uses. It's nice.) to put her learnings to work. In addition to a young adults program, she works with mentally ill students in a program called Six Weeks To Wellness (This program was featured in Time Magazine). She is such a calming presence, fully aware of how quirky and out of place she seems in this furiously active city, doing Tai Chi in Central Park, coming to class bearing Carribean fruits one week to celebrate the culture of Flatbush and apples and honey the next, explaining that in the Jewish tradition they eat this to symbolize the wish that "the fruits of your year be sweet." She's got a beautiful, magnetic soul, and her students follow her with total adoration. It's really bewildering; this young American woman with all the spirit of an old Chinese sage. Kind of turns your perceptions of culture and social standards on its head.

What is coming to mind at the moment about her class is that yesterday we practiced tree pose, first on our own, and then by standing in a circle together and touching palms. The pose was much easier to do with this subtle touch, and we all could feel the sway and struggle of everyone else in the group. Rather than creating a domino effect, it led to a gradual decrease in swaying, and near-total stillness. As one student put it in discussion afterwards, we felt both the strength of the person next to us and the responsibility of helping them stay stable by remaining stable ourselves. Jenna replied, "We're in our natural state in this way. Oneness. Interconnectedness. We just need to learn to feel like this all the time, out there in the world, because in reality, we effect each other just as much out there as we do right here."

What a concept. I won't even explain it, or attempt to explain it. Needless to say, there is, absolutely, a universal law of interconnectedness. Down to the atoms. I mean, really, what is keeping us apart? There is no break in the line of molecules leading from you to me. But you don't even have to go that deep. They say a butterfly flapping its wings causes a tsunami half way around the world. Could a peaceful stance, a loving attitude, somehow effect the day of all the someones inevitably connected to us in our urban everyday life, and bring peace to their family, to their work place, to their relatives and friends and organizations, bring perspective and balance and energy to their outlook, to their output, to the effect they have on this world?

Food for thought. Vital food for thought.

As for me, I kind of get caught in the awe of it, of that total interconnectedness, and maybe that's a good place to get stuck. In perfect, complete awe of this terrifyingly alive, terrificly interwoven city.

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Mary Oliver

On Loose Change Yoga

One of the outcomes of my recent trip to Dunebuggy came from looking at their awesome community board outside the cafe. I saw a sign for something called "Loose Change Yoga" and was thrilled to see it was right next door, at the preschool next door.

I loved Loose Change. Loved. I seek out gratitude based yoga studios as a rule because, well, I think they work just as well at raising the funds required, while leaving doors open to those who can't afford to give much and otherwise would be unable to go regularly to class. I used to go to Yoga To The People because of my appreciation for this kind of payment system. However, YTTP was crowded and felt a lot like a city street- people packed like sardines into a small space, not speaking to each other or making eye contact outside of their social circles. It wasn't exactly the best yoga atmosphere, even if they had great instructors, vinyasa-flow style instruction, and mood lighting. Too many people, not enough personal attention to each student.

So, when I showed up at Loose Change, I was shocked to see that class would be composed of three students. It's because the program is new, of course, but until it gains in popularity, it's a Brooklyn jewel: inexpensive vinyasa-flow yoga with nearly one-on-one instruction. But I'll still want to go if the studio gets more popular for a number of reasons. Our instructor was so kindhearted, really illuminated the way you would expect a seasoned yogi to be, and added so many compassionate touches to the routine, from asking us where we're from and getting to know us by name, to making us hot green tea during the meditation portion. While it lacked the singing bowl that I loved at YTTP, we got to create the zone ourselves, with a recitation of OM. And she ended with namaste, which I think is essentially the most beautiful way to end a session. Namaste is a phrase traditionally shared between yogis, which basically means, "The divine in me honors the divine in you."

What a great thing to say to one another. When do we express our respect for each other that deeply in the outside world? Not nearly enough.

As much as I'm soaking up the personal attention from this blossoming little studio, I would love to see it grow. Here is the philosophy they share on their website:

Loose Change Yoga is a donation-based yoga studio located in Brooklyn, New York. The studio was created in response to the current economic downturn and its negative effects on people’s bodies, minds and spirits. The primary goal of Loose Change Yoga is to make yoga as accessible and affordable as possible so that money, or the lack thereof, does not hold people back from connecting to their inner selves. The studio offers Vinyasa–based flow classes with an emphasis on mindful breathing, muscle strengthening, and increasing flexibility and balance. Sharing its space with a pre-school, Loose Change Yoga classes are inspired by the innocent and truthful world of children. Through thoughtful sequencing implemented in an open, judgment-free environment, our teachers encourage people to reconnect with their inner child and release irrational fears and psychological walls.

This description couldn't be more true. We were encouraged to have fun with the practice, play around with our bodies and challenge ourselves in a lighthearted manner, breaking the tensions in our muscles with just as much laughter as deep breathing. It was a beautiful change from what I'm used to, and I definitely think I'll be heading back for more very soon.

Loose Change is on 21 Lincoln Road, right off the Q-B stop on Prospect, next door to K-Dog and Dunebuggy in the Maple Street Preschool. Classes Tuesday at 7pm, Saturday at 11am, Sunday at 5pm.