Trainers 8-Limbs Assignments

Teacher Training Yamas/Niyamas Reflections:

October/November 2009

Personal Experience with Santosa: Anna

It’s funny how life works sometimes.  Before I started teacher training, there was a lot of turmoil going on surrounding money in my household.  It had been ten months of relentless job searching, volunteering and interning on my behalf – essentially, a lot of good experience, but nothing that produced the vital funds necessary to live in this city.  My fiancé, who works in a union position, was holding down the fort financially – which has become more and more difficult as the hotel he works for has drastically reduced his number of shifts, not to mention the on-going union negotiations with the hotel.  Everything put together was really starting to stress the both of us out. 

Then I began teacher training.  It was scary, knowing that the last bit of savings I had was being spent on this and I was taking a giant leap of faith, but I knew it would be worth it.  My fiancé was really stressing that the training was not only draining our (limited) finances, but would take time away from me being able to find a job, in turn putting us in financial danger.  He kept freaking out about what was going to happen when the union voted last Thursday to strike or not.  We had had numerous conversations about the possibilities of a strike before the training started and each one ended with both of us near our wits’ end.  After starting the training, though, those conversations didn’t seem to stress me out as much.

I came home Thursday night to find out that the union members had indeed voted yes to a strike.  When my fiancé told me this, I just said, “Well, there’s no point in working ourselves into a frenzy when we don’t know when, or even if, the strike will actually happen.”  He gave me a blank look and said, “But that means we won’t have any source of income.”  I told him that all we could do is breath and see what happens.  I pointed out that we still have some savings, which will enable us to pay our rent at least until our lease is up.  He pointed out that those savings were supposed to pay for our wedding.  In the past, that would have hit home for me and I would have started to freak out, but instead, this time, I said, “So we put off having a formal wedding.  Maybe we’ll elope somewhere and just throw a party when we can afford it.”

I honestly couldn’t believe those words came out of my mouth.  I couldn’t believe how calm and collected I felt – how much it wasn’t bothering me that we would have to put off our wedding celebration; how content I was to just let life play out.  And then I started to imagine what would happen if the union went on strike – I pointed out to my fiancé that if he wasn’t working, he would be able to go on a bike ride up to Oregon or Washington, which he has been wanting to do for some time now, but hasn’t been able to because of work. 

It was then that I realized Santosa had really taken hold within me – I was content to just live and let whatever happens, happen.  So we might have to move out of our amazing apartment in our favorite part of the city.  So we might not have money for a wedding celebration.  So we might have to really squeeze down our budget.  So what?  Maybe that means the universe has something else in store for our next chapter.  Why waste my energy worrying when there’s nothing I can do to control any of it?  Why not just choose to be content with what is and see what happens next?  That’s what I’m looking forward to…

8 Limbs in Application: Tara 

Ahimsa has been a Yama that I’ve always been drawn to because it can be applied to all walks of life. In a broader sense, it fits my political and global views. And in a personal sense, it’s my mantra for how I like to treat myself and others.

Many times throughout the week, I will say to myself, “practice ahimsa.” It’s a conscious effort to be more compassionate to both others and myself. My mode of operation was always – “be the best.” Success, go after your goals be happy and make money. In the effort to achieve that success, I got busier, had less time for others, grew impatient and wasn’t as kind as I’d like to be. Now, I say it to myself all the time. When someone is driving poorly, when they’re taking an extremely long time at the grocery store or in the line at the airport, when they are being rude or selfish, I practice ahimsa. So often, you don’t know what someone is going through or how he or she has traveled to the place they’re in now. If you knew their background, you may see their actions differently.  By remembering that, you see people not as the way they dress, the car they drive, or their actions – but as people.

I also practice ahimsa more with myself now more than I have in the past. This goes hand in hand with the quieting of the self-critic. I try not to judge myself for things I’ve done that may have led to negative consequences. I’m kinder to my physical body by caring for it in a more gentle way and looking at it more positively. When I make mistakes, I do my best to learn from them and be kinder to the person that I am.

In my estimation, if everyone practiced ahimsa, the world would practice the statement “the light in me honors the light in you.” With that compassion, most of our problems would disappear.

In application: Casey

Yama: Asteya
In 2007, I traveled to Kiribati (pronounced Kiribis),  an archipelago nation in the Central Pacific.  The Micronesian culture there has been alive for literally thousands of years.  One of the aspects of this culture that is most striking to Westerners (though I had read about it and was looking forward to it) was this idea called bobouti (ba-bu-see).  To bobouti something from someone is to request it, and unless it was a gift to the owner, the owner cannot refuse your request.  It is important to realize that this concept is in place on very small islands–1500 people–who all live in very close proximity.  So it’s not like a person will never see that thing again (you can also bobouti it back). Rather, what the I-Kiribati (the people from there) did was establish a system in which everyone on the island has what they need, or at least is able to get what they need.  Need a bicycle? I’ve got one. Shampoo? Go ask Casey, she has some.  It was a truly unique experience to see people giving so freely.  Bobouti also reduced the incidence of stealing to basically zero. There was no need to steal when you could ask for anything and know that you wouldn’t be refused.

Niyama: Santosa
Santosa is something that I struggle with greatly and have only recently been able to manifest.  When I worked as a filmmaker, I would jump at the opportunity to travel without really thinking about how it might affect me in the long run.  This restlessness ultimately caused me much stress, medical problems, and sadness. I had the symptom of a five-year-old at a birthday party–rather than go to the bathroom and risk missing out on something, I’d pee my pants (metaphorically ).  I didn’t want to be left out, and I was greatly attracted to the idea of making it big. Now, I realize that there are amazing documentaries being produced all of the time that I’m not part of. And it’s ok.  I can be here, where I am (and wherever that may be) and be content.  XX