Between a Rock and a Soft Place

"Rock fever" is a term used in Bermuda when one has to go, split, disappear aka "get off the frigging rock!!" It can happen when the bookends of life in a community that is too small, too inquisitive, too proud and too unforgiving close in on us. So we (Bermudians) leave, on a jet plane, just for the hell of it; just to get off rock island.

To call "time out" when rock fever hits, is a very okay thing to do in Bermuda. Most Bermudians, even young adults and teens, understand the need to "go" when all is sizzling hot in this sultry climate environment. And we (most of us) do, more often than not. In an island community as small as Bermuda (65,000 residents) it is amazing how well traveled residents of this 22 square mile Rock in The Sun,really are. But what if we could not travel, what if we could not just up and leave? What if we had to stay and duke it out? How would we manage the rock fever then!!!

Learning to stay is not an easy thing to do in Bermuda or anywhere else. Of course, it is not that we stay that matters most, but how we stay, that makes all the difference. In yoga, trying to navigate oneself through a difficult place, requires that we learn how to stay but remembering that our approach is what makes all the difference. Practicing yoga, like working through the ups and downs of life, requires one of many important rules... learning how to balance between "Sthira" and "Sukha",how to maneuver our way between, not a rock and a rock, but between a rock and a soft place!

In the yogic tradition "sthira" means steadiness or firmess/rootedness or strength and "sukha" means softness or comfort/ pliability or flexibility. So when we talk about maintaining sthira and sukha we refer to the balance between strength and flexibility, between too hard and too soft or between giving too little and giving too much. In Patanjali's yoga sutras Book II SADHANA PADA #46 (The Yoga Sutras of Patanjalii by Sri Swami Satchidananda), Swaniji writes, "STHIRA SUKHAM ASANAM Asana is a steady, comfortable posture." He goes on to say, "Asana means the posture that brings comfort and steadiness. Any posture that brings this comfort and steadiness is an asana."

In The Essence of Yoga - Reflections of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, by Bernard Bouanchaud, the writer describes Book II Sutra #46 as, The posture is firm and soft. He goes on to write,

"...Firmness is the opposite of physical agitation(angamejayatva,1.31) and ease is the opposite of suffering (duhka, 131). Both, firmness and softness are physical and mental. They form a whole that corresponds to the state of equilibrium (sattva), without agitation (rajas) or apathy (tamas). No yoga posture is real unless these two qualities are present together-they are constituents of the posture."

In any given day in class, I am reminding students of this fine yoga principle. If a student is relying too much on their flexibility, I remind them to use or develop their strength, if a student is too stark, too strong in their body and mind, I remind them to surrender, let go, lean into their softer self. Not just in yoga, also dance, gymnastics, ice hokey, track,actually all sports or activity, I would argue, sthira and sukha is required. In the popular T.V. show, So You Think You Can Dance which I love to watch from time to time simply for this very same reason, they are constantly informing the participants, 'you have a nice style but you need to develop your technique, or you have great technique but you are not feeling the music, becoming the dance'...is this not Sthira and Sukha?

Yoga, as we know, is not something just practiced on the mat (although it may begin there). Taken off the mat and applied in the every day living, it is a way one becomes aware of his or her personality type and general modus operandi . When approaching a pose then carrying that knowledge outside and recalling it, through life's activities, one learns something about him or herself. Learning to cope, learning to balance oneself in life requires a similar balancing act, where all is not too hard, and not too soft but just right! Even Goldilocks knew about stikra and sukha!!

In this tiny little rock island in the sun Bermudians, back in the day, knew about this balance; or, when they lost it, they knew how to get it back. Today we are a different community. We are stronger (of sorts) and have gone from strength to strength, as they say; but we have lost our softness, our sweetness, our balance, hence our desperate need to flee the Rock every so often, just to let go, just to get back to balance. As a community we need to return to the drawing board and reexamine our wellness and health, and that of our neighbours. As individuals we need to return to the mat, or come to the mat and learn about sthira and sukha and finding that sweet spot, that fine balance between a rock and a soft place.

Sunshine, Blue Skies and Beaches…Why Yoga?

Bermuda is known for its sunny disposition, faultless blue skies and squeaky clean beaches, untouched by the oil spill in the Gulf, as we know it (right now). What Bermuda is not known for, is its stress.

“Bermuda is stressy!” say young folks, (usually under the age of 25) like my two girls.

Many visitors to our Island in The Sun always say, “Why do you need yoga with such sunny blue skies, such lovely beaches?” An obvious answer might be, “Why not?” And, the not so obvious one? Bermuda is hard work! Behind the well-put-together lady in pink, there is a lot of angst on the Rock, that will take more than a long visual drink of God’s lovely creation to dissolve.

As a vacation destination, it takes money to rendezvous in Bermuda; but also, it takes money to “live” here as well. There are no cheap meal tickets! People work hard (two or three or four jobs – or a four-rolled-into-one job) just to stay afloat. There is little time for the sun, less time for the beach; and blue skies are covered by cool air conditioned roofs, if we’re lucky, and if not, there’s a fan, but a roof overhead nonetheless! Despite what popular tourism ads may say, there is never enough time to “just be” outside or elsewhere, for too many locals (as we are called), too often.

So how do Bermudians and those fortunate enough to live and work on our Rock Island “paradise” relieve stress? Well, “Bermudians like to drink..” and eat, but mostly drink. And, sometimes we run, or walk or cruise along the island shores in boats (on weekends and holidays); and sometimes we do yoga.

Amid the stress of the decline in jobs, increase in cost of living, enhanced frustration and anger from the same old going on at the same time, for too long; and, growing violence and fear ( of what is and what undoubtedly will be for us in the future – if we keep on the same path); Bermudians who back in the day would smile, saunter and ease into their day and about their business, now jostle, kick or stamp to maneuver and take control from one day to the next. More so than ever before, many living in Bermuda are mentally stressed to the hilt, which too easily is transformed into a stiff (beyond the upper lip), painfully tight bodily posture and an overly defensive, over-charged mental attitude. As a consequence more and more people today, at least at our yoga studio, are taking to the floor on their mats, to work out their stuff, aka STRESS!!

Hatha Yoga Illustrated, by Martin Kirk, Brooke Boom and Daniel DiTuro says “Hatha Yoga can calm the mind, provide a gentle workout, or make you sweat. It can reduce your heart rate when you are stressed or elevate it by providing a vigorous workout. “

But hatha yoga, the physical aspect of yoga, according to classical yoga tradition, is more than just a workout. According to A.B. Mohan in Yoga for Body and Breath and Mind, it is about Personal Reintegration. Mohan says, “True personal reintegration encompasses all elements of our lives. Accordingly, the yogic approach is an integrated one, in which all aspects of one’s being will be touched…..These aspects include the body, breath, mind, food, the behavior of the senses, habits, society, and environment of the individual.”

Hatha Yoga, in its truest sense, can relieve the stress of pain and angst held in and pushed down and imbedded in our bones. The kind of stress, that Ronald Rolheiser intimates, does not go away when we go on vacation. In article Getting Down to Essentials, 2010 06-27, Rolheiser says “ The most tired and stressed part of us ‘does not’ get to go on vacation, ‘does not’ get to let go and relax, and ‘does not’ find itself warmed by wine and friends.” He ultimately prescribes “forgiveness” which is a whole other posting, but hatha yoga, also does help in getting to this bone deep stress.

In Yoga, the Body, Breath and Mind, Mohan also says, “The Broadest goal of your yoga practice is to reintegrate and clarify your vision…….In aiming to bring about personal reintegration, yoga is also about the pursuit of real freedom.”

Sunshine and lovely beaches can’t do that….they can only give us something to focus on, once the balance of what really matters, is already set.