DINI YOGA 

It is not impermanence that makes us suffer. What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent when they are not.

-Thich Nhat Nanh

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The wise see suffering in all experience, whether from the anguish of impermanence or from latent impressions laden with suffering or from incessant conflict as the fundamental qualities of nature vie for ascendancy.

-Sutra 2.15 (As translated by Chip Hartranft)

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I love my morning coffee. Undoubtedly, it is the first thing I look for when I got up from bed. Without coffee, I know I will feel sluggish and not awake. Or I may think that I know that is how I feel, or maybe that is just my attachment of Coffee that reflects how I feel if I did not feed it. Would I actually feel sluggish and lethargy if I did not start my coffee in the morning? Am I fully attached to coffee to where I am actually create those feeling? And I fear that if I did not have my coffee in the morning I will be cranky and everything wouldn’t feel right. I certainly dislike to have that problem of being cranky if I missed my morning coffee.

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Attachment is a result of pleasurable experience.

-Sutra 2.7

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What coffee does to make my body attached to it; the smell, the flavor, and what it feels after you drink it?It’s all the above. It is something pleasurable that I experience from it that I become attached to it.

Attachment is one of the Affliction (Klesha), aside from Ego, Illusion, Aversion and Fear (Sutra 2.3). All is associated with other and one is interdependently connected to another. And all of these create sufferings mentally and physically (Sutra 2.2). Suffering came from habits that are form over experiences that makes us feel good. Thus this feeling good is what we are attached to, but not necessarily make us happy. And when we don’t feel good, then we suffer. We create our own sufferings. Not others. Our attachment is something that is impermanent. 

When we’re attached to something, sometimes we want it to be permanent . We want to constantly feel the same thing each time we visit the experience (Ego). And once it was not something that of the ordinary then we become angry, disappointed, or hurt (Aversion). Now we’re attached to that too. We developed something in our mind that is now we call ‘Fear’ that next time it would happen again, then we would feel disappointed with it. So we created barrier in our experience (Fear) that we did not want to have this experience happening again. Then we become worry every time we repeat the experience, that we wouldn’t have the same experience as it used to. This is our mind (illusion) play trick in our mind, resonating from last experience, which happens only once. From this, we create patterns in our mind from the experience, over and over again.  With certain experience and the pleasurable feelings we have about it, we want it to be permanent. Overtime, this will turn into sufferings. When we're holding patterns of thoughts and emotions permanently, we're holding tensions within our body. Such when we have our worries, the body starts to create barrier to hold that tension of disappoinment and worries altogether. It starts to affect your nervous system, especially your breath which later on developing into anxiety to where now it is a full suffering.

Suffering is avoidable when we break the pattern and not make it into a habit. To find the ability to avoid suffering itself is hard. First, we need to break a habit by not making it a habit, such that we do not get attached to certain feeling or experience itself. Then, having the ability to let go any thoughts and feelings that attached to the habit. Sitting in meditation, often helps to allow your mind to settle the thoughts by allowing the mind to flow until you completely disperse. Listening to soothing music or any favorite music and be in tune with the melody or lyric is another type of meditation to shift your mind away from the pattern of habits and thoughts. Take a five minutes yoga stretches or any small movement to allow the body to take over the mind and loosen yourself in a way that shifts your mind away from it. If you think developing a new habit will take away old habit will change the pattern, you are only kidding yourself.  Try not to make any new habit and just live in the moment to enjoy each and every minute of it with contentment. Learning to take control of the pattern and coordinate mind and body to where you are able to let go of attachement / tension by taking step forward. Afterall, this is what Patanjali is trying to establish in his scripture is by letting ourself go to every moment of your life, so you can be free and not be attached to each moment.

Back to my coffee attachment story. One time, there was no coffee in the house, not even a scoop. So, I went to work without any coffee (I didn’t even stop by at any coffee shop). I taught a class without any coffee and it went just fine. My students didn’t notice or say if there’s anything wrong with me at all despite that I didn’t have coffee that morning. My body did not even notice if it didn’t have any coffee in the system throughout the day. Until I realized something went missing later on that early evening. I saw the coffee machine and immediately remembered that I didn’t have any this morning. Then, I opened the kitchen cupboard where the coffee was and there it was, an empty coffee can. Alas! It was great experience to have missed the morning coffee, until I opened the kitchen cupboard.

Birds of Paradise or Svarga Dvidasana in Sanskrit is a deep hip opening that requires balance, flexibility and strength altogether. Svarga means Paradise and Dvida translates twice born. Now physically this pose is not close to any bird at all, in fact it is a pose that resembles of a plant that is called Bird of Paradise. Through literal translation which means Twice born in Paradise, a bird itself is one of the animal that is born twice; first in the shape of an egg, and as it hatches, second born to a chic. When you look at the two different beings that is being compare here, an animal and a plant, the resemblance of it is that the name itself. The plant is a flower that is originated in South Africa. The flower itself has the true shape of a bird’s head. To compare with this, imagine Woody the woodpecker. However, the plant itself is also comparable to a bird species that is also called Bird-of-Paradise, which is originated in the eastern Indonesia (my birth country), Papua New Guinea and Australia. When we compare the shape of the flower of Bird of Paradise and the asana itself, it carries the resemblance of the way the flower blooms. One balancing leg is the stem of the flower, while the flower itself is parts of the other leg bound with our body. Hence, the shape of the pose embodies plants, where the stem holds the strand of petals. The plants itself takes time to grow. It wasn’t something that grows over seasons or months. The least time it takes to grow is two years. They will thrive in rich sandy soil, especially when they get plenty of water throughout the year.

Take it back into Asana, the same thing with the growth of our physical practice. To be able to reach the peak, a practitioner must cultivate patience and discipline to be able to grow and take the full pose. That is why this pose is not suitable for those who just started the journey of yoga asana. However, there are poses that take the shape of Birds of Paradise, which helps build the strength and flexibility. Triangle or Trikonasa is one of the basic pose that builds up strength of the legs as well as the flexibility of the adductors. Standing Hand to Toe Balance or Uthita Hasta Padaghustasana, is another one that helps to create strength and balance, as well as flexibility.  It is literally Triangle on one leg. To get a full bind of the arms over the leg, Side angle Pose or Parsvakonasana is an easier approach before the Bound Triangle. Bound Triangle itself, is an intermediate approach to Birds Of Paradise with both feet down. Now if you tip the Bound triangle and stand with one leg, then you have Birds of Paradise.

Practice Trikonasana (Triangle), Parsvakonasana (Side Angle) and Uthita Hasta Padaghustasana (Standing Hand to Toe Balance) as often as you can to be able to grow into your Birds of Paradise. Plant the seeds of patience and discipline, such that you can bloom into a beautiful Paradise flower.

Visvamitrasana, is a pose that requires arm strength, hip opening and lateral spinal flexibility. The body requires a lot of time to warm up and be ready for it. However, prior to get into this pose, through all the warm up poses, the body has already taken the shape of Visvamitrasana. The goal is to take the shape of the pose and embeded it in our mental capacity to bring the awareness of the existing poses by taking parts of it and put them all at once in the end. It is like putting puzzle pieces together. It’s a full process of mind body awareness to allow yourself to open to all posibilities without getting intimidated by the look of the pose, but the embodiment of pose itself on the preparatory poses. ⠀


Here are some of the poses that take the shape of Visvamitrasana:

VIRABHADRASANA 2 - WARRIOR 2

A basic hip strengthener and opening to prepare the adductor muscle to help open the hip.⠀Start with right leg in front of the mat, align your left foot with the right heel. Bend the front knee about 90 degree angle. Spread the legs through the inner thigh, and spread the arm open to the side but soften the shoulder. Engage the glutes to help the adductor muscles to stretch more in the stand.

PARSVAKONASANA - SIDE ANGLE POSE

A side body stretch accompanied with hip strengthening and opening to help take shape further. If you look at it, you are already in Visvamitrasana without a bind and straight leg. The side bends help the extension of the arm later on to find grip of the extended leg.

From Warrior 2, lengthen the body towards the front leg and land hand either on the inside or outside.  Turn the top ribs up to keep the side body opens and lengthens. The extended arms over the head, reaches further to stretch the lats.

BADHA PARSVAKONASANA - BOUND SIDE ANGLE 

The binds allow the shoulder to open and helps with the upper body rotation, as well as deepening the hip. This shape help the arm to carry the leg and support it. From Side angle, wrap the shoulder closer  towards the inner thigh and knee. Draw Scapula together to help bind the arm, but soften through the Traps. Lean the spine towards the inner thigh to help deepen the hip opening.

TRIKONASANA - TRIANGLE POSE

Helps to open the hamstrings as well as stretching the abductors and QL to help stabilize the hip that will help to bring that awareness in Visvamitrasana. From Warrior 2, extend the front leg, hinging the hip back to lengthen side bodies. Land the arm on shin bone or floor, and reach the other arm up to the sky-aligning the arms with shoulders. Press with back leg to help lengthen the chest to the front leg.

VASHISTASANA - SIDE PLANK

This pose strengthens the arm to help support the leg in the final expression of Visvamitrasana . Start from plank then lean to right side, stacking shoulders, hip, legs and feet. Work on pressing the lower palms down to the floor to help lift the hip. Legs are active by squeezing the thigh together. The abdomen helps to stabilize the hip and spine. Top arm reaches up high to lessen the weight on the bottom hand.