Ben Vincent, One Yoga Teacher

Instructor for the upcoming
Winter Weekend Immersion- The Yoga of Desire: Harnessing the Soul’s Power to Shape Our Destiny,
Jan 26-29 

We are approaching the latter part of January, and with it, the fading of many half-hearted new years’ resolutions. From the yogic perspective, both the longing to realize our fullest potential, and the patterns of thought and behavior that keep us stuck, are based in desire. According to the yoga tradition, “Our life is the product of our deepest driving desires.” As such, it is essential to have a clear vision of how desire influences our lives. There is a misconception among many in the yoga world that the ideal of yoga is “being desire-less” or “letting go of all desires”. While this is true in regard to the deeper mystical experiences of yoga, trying to get rid of desire is not necessarily conducive to “living yogic-ly” in our day to day lives. In fact, it often leads to repression of our intuitive knowing and the calling of the highest Self. A more skillful way of working with desires is to:

1)  Cultivate awareness of what we really desire and need
2)  Explore how desires are influenced by the ego and the higher self
3)  Make clear choices and work toward realization of our calling

In the yogic tradition, there are four desires considered essential to a life of balance and fulfillment. While these desires manifest themselves uniquely in each of us, they are said to be universal- shared by all of us, and innate qualities of the universe itself. These desires are collectively known as the “Purusharthas.” To understand the intention of this teaching, it is helpful to understand the two sanskrit root words which form purush(a)rtha. Purusha is usually translated as “soul/ pure consciousness”. It refers to our true nature or highest Self, which transcends the cycles of life, death and rebirth. “Artha” is often translated as means or prosperity. Essentially, the purusharthas refer to the desires that enable the realization of the True Self.

The four purusharthas are: Dharma (purpose), Artha (means), Kama (pleasure) and moksha (freedom).

Dharma is one of the most important words in the yogic tradition. Often translated as duty, purpose and order, it literally means to establish or create structure, that which gives life order. Dharma refers to the laws that govern the entire cosmos (para or universal dharma) and our lives (sva or individual dharma). It also refers to the teachings of how to live our lives in accordance with what is ultimately real. On an individual level, we have many dharmas: the duties of being children, parents, partners in relationship and friendship, and contributors to our community and the world. We also have the dharma of what we do for gainful employment (our profession) and our life’s work. For many, life’s purpose is revealed through the experience of suffering , and our process of transcending it. For some, knowing our dharma comes naturally, while for others, it is not revealed without great endeavor. Contemplate and journal about the following questions. They will guide you in exploring, discovering and fulfilling your dharma.

• What is my role in the world? How do I want to invest time and energy?
• What are my responsibilities? Which ones feel right?
• When I am serving the highest good, what am I doing?

Artha, often translated as means, prosperity or abundance, refers to that which enables and supports us in fulfilling our dharma. While Dharma can seem esoteric, artha is very tangible. What do you need to fulfill your responsibilities, both materially and non-materially? A place to live, food and water, a job and resources necessary to cover your expenses are part of artha. So is your health, spiritual practice and supportive relationships. Finding the right balance of artha is a practice of the middle path. Focusig too much or too little for material support can make it very difficult to explore dharma. If you spend all our time trying to make money, the desire for artha can devolve into greed and materialism. On the other hand, if we don’t know where you will sleep or how you will eat tomorrow, you spend all our resources just trying to meet our basic needs, with little left for purpose, pleasure and freedom. Use the following questions to explore artha:

• What do I need to fulfill my dharma, materially and non-materially?
• Am I afraid of not having enough or afraid of having more?
• What does wealth mean to me?

Kama, meaning pleasure or joy, is usually what gives desire a bad name. We are in many ways a society addicted to pleasure. But are we happy? Most of us have searched the outer world to find happiness. We may have tried material comforts, money, food, drugs & alcohol, religious practice, and sexual & platonic relationships to name a few. While these may bring temporary enjoyment, they are ultimately part of a changing world and cannot bring lasting happiness without inner work. Continual craving of pleasant experiences can devolve into greed, addiction, sloth, and unhealthy sexuality. It is the unsatisfactory nature of passing pleasures that forces us to look inward. From the yogic perspective, Kama is the ability to be present with beauty at any moment in life, without being attached to its form. It is the pleasure that allows us to transcend the ego.. These pleasures may nature, music & art, intimate relationship, selfless service, self-expression and mystical experience to name a few. When exploring a healthy relationship to pleasure, use the following questions:

• What inspires me? What am I passionate about? What brings me joy?
• Am I happy, enjoying life?
• Are my pleasures supporting or undermining my dharma?

Moksha, meaning freedom or liberation, is the innate longing of humans to be free. It refers to both the “freedom from” and the “freedom to”. It is this calling to be “free from” which inspires all forms of spiritual practice, all movements for peace and justice in the world, and seeks an end to suffering in the world. Merely being “free from” is not the entirety of this teaching. Being “free to” implies the ability to pursue dharma, artha and kama, to cultivate families and communities, and to generally influence the course of our lives. Thus freedom is not to be misunderstood as a lack of responsibility. According to this teaching, we are only truly free when we are fulfilling our dharma- our soul’s purpose in this lifetime. Ultimately, it is the realization that we are always free, and appear bound only by our own misperceptions, that is the essence of moksha. Practices that support the realization of Moksha in one’s life include: Yoga, mediation, chanting, prayer, retreat, spending time in nature, and being with children and elders to name a few.

• What can I influence and Control?
• what must I let go of trying to control?
• In my life, what fulfills a sense of both Dharma & Moksha?

It could be said that the entire body of wisdom teachings known as Yoga, could be boiled down to the purusharthas. The human search for meaning, prosperity, joy and freedom motivates all human endeavors. It is important to remember that the map of the purusharthas, is not the territory. Simply having desire is not enough. We must explore both our deepest aspirations and also the subversive desires or fears which keep us from realizing them. Until we do so, we are at best surviving in this life. According to the dharmic traditions, a human birth is very fortunate. It is a rare opportunity to work toward self-realization.

I will be teaching a special weekend intensive on The Purusharthas Jan 26-29. This profound and transformative process will use yoga practice (postures, breathing and meditation and chanting), teachings about the pursharthas, and journaling and self-reflective exercises to explore how the map of these teachings, relates to the inner terrain of our soul. Join us for this special weekend…What are you waiting for?

May this new year inspire you to explore and work selflessly in realizing your potential and supporting the well being of the world.

Be well,

Ben

an environment in which everyone can respectfully express their true selves.

rich in the welcoming spirit of inclusion & the open-hearted embrace of diversity. Community creates belonging and freedom. Community is the space within which to be challenged and thrive. Community cultivates respect & deep listening.

a value that is realized when we gather in harmony. It may involve simply being present to one another or sharing food or sharing ideas. A strong community is like a ship that goes through troubled waters and through calm seas. There are struggles on the seas and struggles within but friendship and shared values holds the community together. It is different from a family because we are not related by blood but by a shared hope or dream or vision or goal. Some communities exist only for an hour and others have a life time membership. A community can be as small as three persons or as large as thousands.

real people willing to work with kids who have been in trouble and the collaborative effort to show kids another way to understand their health and wellness.

warmth, safety and acceptance, wherever you may find it.

understanding the relationship between all things and helping to make the connections.

being part of something larger than yourself, where you are accepted for who you are and supported in your highs and in your lows.

a group of individuals coming together to share, support, respect and nourish each other’s personal growth and a peaceful planet Earth for all beings.

Community is connectedness- however one describes it. As a community, we have a responsibility to one another, knowing that the health and well-being of any individual is dependent on the health and well-being of all. Each of us has something to offer and to receive.

How do you define community? What are the ways you connect to others and create community in your life?

“What is wrong with seeking the pleasant and shirking the unpleasant? Between the banks of pleasure and pain, the river of life flows. It is only when the mind refuses to flow with life, and gets stuck at the banks, that it becomes a problem. By flowing with life I mean acceptance– letting come what comes, and go what goes.”

To view the full chapter from which this is excerpted, click on this link,  I Am That, and scroll down to “The Living Present”.

Sound familiar? Not to the employees at Second Harvest Heartland. Thanks to their wellness committee and One Yoga’s outreach program, nonprofit workplaces are able to offer affordable, weekly, on-site yoga classes for employees!  Angela Vincent currently teaches for a similar partnership at Project for Pride in Living, which offers yoga as a health benefit to their employees and volunteers.

 “I have a lot of problems with my neck,” says Lisa, a Second Harvest Heartland employee, “and I have found that the stretching that we do in yoga really helps, and my neck feels much better after the class.” In addition to physical benefits, several studies show the cognitive benefits of yoga and meditation in the workplace. In a 2010 study of mindfulness-based meditation, psychologists noted that participants who had trained in meditation for less than a week for only 20 minutes a day demonstrated a significant improvement in their cognitive skills (including their ability to concentrate) and performed better than the participants who did not receive training. A 2009 pilot study at Ohio State University also suggests that even in small amounts workplace meditation and yoga can reduce feelings of stress and increase sleep quality in office workers.

Each week, One Yoga instructor Shira Charis and twenty staff members at Second Harvest Heartland transform their conference room, pull out mats and dim the lights to set up the space for on-site yoga. Classes take place during the employees’ lunch break so that it requires no extra time commitment. For staff, the space is a welcome breather from the hectic work week.

As Patricia, a Second Harvest Heartland yoga student, explains, “At first I wasn’t sure how I would feel about changing my clothes and then changing back again, but the hour of relaxation and escape is totally worth it. It is so nice to have a lunch period that provides an escape like that.”

Jealous? You can have it, too! Talk to your supervisor, human resources department, or wellness committee and request yoga at your workplace. As an added bonus, revenue from One Yoga’s workplace yoga classes help to support our community outreach fund, making yoga accessible to even more people!

Spring is upon us…at least theoretically. While it certainly has not sprung, all of the harbingers are here: patches of green grass, crocuses, tulips and daffodils piercing the surface of the soil, buds on the branches, and the perennial robin. Spring marks the death of winter, revealing what was not tended to before the snow fell, and what we used to make it through the dark and cold. There is something about the rebirth of spring that awakens within us a deep need to clean. It feels atavistic. We clean our homes. We clean our gardens and yards. We cut our hair. We clean and tune-up our bicycles and cars.

Yet how many of us actually clean our inner world of body, mind and heart? Why not take stock of all we have accumulated internally and non-materially, so that we can care for that which serves our well being, and let go of what does not? It is out of this very need to cleanse that Yoga evolved.

Cleansing practices were almost ubiquitous in pre-modern cultures and spiritual traditions, including Greece, Egypt, Native Americans (North, Central and South), and the modern day lands of China and India. Across cultures and lands, these cleansing techniques included some combination of:

• dietary restriction and/or fasting
• ritual offerings
• solitude for prayer, meditation and contemplation.

So it should come as no surprise that cleansing has always been a part of the yogic tradition. Two of the niyamas (fundamental self-observances) of yoga are Sauca (cleanliness, clarity) and Tapas (self-discipline, purifying heat).

The absence of cleansing, ritual, spirituality and solitude in our modern lives, has contributed largely to the popularity of yoga. The Hatha Yoga tradition, so well known for its asanas (postures), is intended to be a system of purification as preparation for deeper meditation. The Yogic way of living – a healthy diet, nourishing relationships, Asanas for bodily health, Pranayama (breathwork) to balance the nervous system, and meditation to clarify the mind – goes a long way toward maintaining optimal well-being. Even with a regular yoga practice, the ritual of cleansing and taking retreat is extremely important.

Simply by virtue of the world we live in, we are constantly “taking in”. We intake food and beverage. We intake environmental toxins. We intake information and nearly constant sensory stimuli. We intake thoughts, emotions and energy from those around us. All of these leave deep impressions on us. It is no wonder that when we sit to “meditate”, we often find the mind replaying past experiences, or needing to purge itself of over stimulation. With that same meditative awareness, we see that what we eat and drink for physical sustenance is often based in habitual coping patterns for unmet needs and desires, rather than a skillful approach to in-taking nourishment.

It is very difficult to see your own shadow. Particularly when those shadows manifest themselves as deeply engrained mental, emotional and behavioral patterns. Like a traveler who learns about their homeland while being away, cleansing and retreat are an opportunity to gain insight into ourselves, outside of the pressures of daily life. Likewise, by giving something up -even temporarily- we often see how and why we are attached to it. On all whole foods cleanse, it may become clear how we use caffeine, alcohol or processed foods to regulate our moods, and avoid actually feeling our deeper need for rest or release. By taking a break from multi-media, we can see how we often use the internet, movies & TV, and phones to pass idle time, or as a means of distraction or escape.

Here are a few ideas for cleansing & retreat:

1) Whole Foods Cleanse: For a minimum of one week, remove all caffeine, alcohol, dairy and processed foods from you diet. See how you feel, what crave and when. This will take planning and preparation and is best done under the supervision of a health professional with cleansing experience.

2) Multimedia Retreat: For a minimum of one week, remove all non-essential use of computers, TV’s, phones, music, magazines, newspapers and books. Explore which of these actually bring true pleasure, and which are simply used to pass the time.

3) Intentional Solitude or Silence: This can be done for as little as a day, but will have a deeper effect if given more time. Quietness and time alone, particularly in nature, is a wonderful means to reflect on our relationships and our life- and what we want to invest ourselves in.

There is nothing inherently wrong with all of the things we intake. The goal of cleansing is not necessarily to rid our lives of them. It is to see clearly how they affect us and why we choose them, so we can make choices that feed our aliveness. If a cleanse is done skillfully, it will almost certainly leave you feeling more alive and empowered. The practice of being without, is a powerful means to cultivate sauca (clarity) and tapas (willpower). With clarity, willpower and little bit of grace, there is not much standing between us and the life we really want.

Be Well,
Ben

You can email Ben at bvrocksteady@gmail.com with questions or comments.

How was your winter? Are you feeling the residual effects from intense cold, excess dark, and the natural introspection that the winter months lure us into? Do you feel like you could use a jump-start to get all systems running up to speed again? Are there things in your life you want to let go of? Does your body need to lighten-up?

This winter was long! In fact we had snow on the ground for a total of six months! Can you believe it? As I’m writing this I can see out my kitchen window and I have to say, I am truly elated that my view no longer includes the six-foot tall snow banks that framed my driveway. I can actually back out knowing “I’m in the clear”. What a relief! I’m sure you can relate.

While I am an avid walker all year round and make a point to get plenty of sunshine and fresh air daily, I was impacted quite significantly by the last six months. In the beginning of February I found myself experiencing insomnia, anxiety, and depression. Many of you might think that yoga teachers are immune to these kinds of disorders, that we are the epitome of health and wellness. While I do admit that I know a lot about living a holistic lifestyle, I’m fairly tuned-in to myself, and always seek the sacred in every moment, I am human like anyone else and experience imbalance from time to time. Actually, transformation may be a better-suited word for what I went through this winter as the experience has left me feeling more whole, alive, and grateful today. And, it is these inner transformations and life struggles that most inspire the work I do and what I share in all of my classes and workshops.

Jessica and I have been co-teaching the Total Detox curriculum for over a year now. We are super excited to collaborate once again at the end of this month. We’ve revised the student packets and feel extra compelled to support anyone desiring transformation this spring during our week together. Past participants have joined us who desire weight-loss, emotional resolve, self-care support, a change in their diet and/or exercise routine, and for many, a shift in their way of life that promotes greater health and balance on all levels.

Although the name of our week intensive is “Total Detox”, which implies “releasing” or “getting rid of what no longer serves you” there is so much for you to gain as well. Learning to open the flood-gates to receive is just as important as being able to let go. We emphasize both of these practices in Total Detox.

Whether you plan on joining us on April 30th or not, know that you are supported on your journey. Take time for yourself this spring to consciously consider what you want to let go of and what you want to welcome into your life. Maximize this growth-filled time of year and be fruitful!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Spring is naturally a time of growth. If you’d like to join Jessica and myself for Total Detox, you can find more information here.

“Andrea”* was a teenager when she became pregnant. The stress of becoming a mother at a young age was tremendous. “I need more relaxation in my life and not so much stress,” she says.

According to the Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention and Parenting (MOAPPP), teen mothers are more likely to leave school without graduating and to become single parents living in poverty. Furthermore, children of teenage parents are at an increased risk of challenges to physical health as well as cognitive and psychosocial development.

Luckily South High School, where Andrea is a Junior, offers resources and support through their Teenage Pregnancy and Parenting Program (TAPPP). Offered at Minneapolis public high schools, TAPPP provide a series of courses focusing on parenting as a teenager. This year One Yoga began providing weekly yoga instruction as part of the TAPPP curriculum at South and Roosevelt high schools. These classes introduce mothers and their children to yoga movement, breathing and infant massage.

Each week One Yoga instructor Nissa Valdez guides students through exercises to increase both mental and physical strength, confidence and flexibility. They learn to connect mind, body and breath and to practice self-care, a skill which not only aids them in the present but can also be passed on to future generations. The young moms have said that yoga helps them to “feel more relaxed” and that they “leave class feeling clear.”

According to Nissa, “Yoga and infant massage are wonderful ways to create togetherness and build a trusting relationship between mother and baby.” This relationship can be a strong foundation for future life experiences.

Kirstin Johnson-Nixon, TAPPP Coordinator at South High School, has already seen a change in the girls’ energy and attitudes. “Students report that they feel their bodies becoming more limber and strong. They also expressed that they feel more energetic and relaxed in the rest of their classes! It is my hope that they will see this experience will aid them as a good source of self- care in a world that often can be unkind. Yoga allows young mothers to connect who they really are with who they want to be in the future.”

*Student’s name has been changed

For a complete list of current and past community partnerships, click here.

JOIN OUR MISSION: MAKING YOGA ACCESSIBLE!

One Yoga started as a community coming together to make the benefits of a regular yoga practice accessible to all. Throughout the years, One Yoga has drawn in more and more people who are inspired by and committed to this shared vision. It truly takes every one of us to make our community outreach work possible.

Here are a few ways to become an active part of the One Yoga mission:

Contribute to our Outreach Fund. This work would not be possible without the generosity of our donors. You can contribute to the general One Yoga Outreach Fund or flag your donation for a specific partnership that speaks to you. Large contributions are needed to meet our goal, but any amount will help sustain and develop existing and future community partnerships.

Participate in studio classes, workshops, and One Yoga events. All “profit” from the studio supports our Outreach work in the community.

Connect us with interested partners. Advocate for the One Yoga mission in the community and in the studio. Let people know about the reputation and mission of One Yoga so we can gain more visibility in the community and increase interest in our unique programming.

We hope you will join us because we- all of us together- are One Yoga.

David Swenson is one of the premiere Ashtanga teachers in the U.S. Click the title above to view a short clip in which he reminds us that everything is better in moderation–even yoga.

Enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.