Notes from How Yoga Works- Geshe Michael Roach

·Things cannot last Seem to us as if they will…II.5A

"It is talking about our lives. Our friends, our family, our work, our own bodies. When they are there, in front of us- when we can see them, and touch them- it seems as though they will always be there. But then they always leave us"

·And they realise thatThe body itself is a prison…III.39B

"In a way we are all in a prison, a prison from which only death can release us. These other prisons- well- then they are just a point of view"

·The poses bring a feeling of well-beingWhich stays with you…II.46

·Your practise must be steady

Without gaps…I.14B

·And the fifth of the obstacles

Is laziness…I.30E

·And if you wish to stop these obstacles,

There is one, and only one,

Crucial practise for doing so…I.32

·You must use compassion…I.33B

"We are too small. If we do something just to help ourselves, it will never work. You can never really put effort intoa thing if it's only for yourself. It has to be for something bigger. Think about helping some other people with what you learn. By skipping your practise you'd be hurting others."

Inner winds: joints and mucscles that have been freezing up slowly begin to relase, allowing the inner winds to get free and start to move in the body. These are the popping sounds

·Learn to keep your feelings in balance,

Whether something feels good,

Or whether it hurts…I.33D

"there are going to be days when you feel a little sore, and other days when you suddenly make a breakthrough, and it feels great. That's just the way it is, it's the way everything is. And you have to try not to get too discouraged, and not to get too excited."

·Your practise must be done correctly,

For then a firm foundation is laid…I.14C

·And there will come a time

When differences no longer harass you…II.48

"Differences in the sense of preferences. As you get further and further along with yoga, especially as the channels begin to open and the inner winds can flow better, then things begin to tend towards unity, and less towards difference."

"Don't give into preferences; don't create more differences in your life. It's the differences that harass us all day long, that make our days unhappy. I like this, I don't like that. I like her, I don't like him. I don't want to do this thing I have to do, I'd rather do that other thing I want to do"

·You must cultivate your practise,

Over an extended period of time…I.14A

"you cant rush it, slowly, steadily, patiently" (using stacks of papers in the officeJ)

Why yoga works for some and not for others? Do people really question that? Do they truly understand how yoga works??

Chapter 8

·Turn the combined effort

Upon the sun,

And you will understand

The earth…III.27

Sun: right side channel next to shusumna. What runs in this channel is thoughts about objects.

"the thoughts that run along this sun channel are the ones that concentrate on more concrete side of things. Things are more solid, like solid earth. That's why the master says you can understand earth if you understand this channel. He means you can understand how the thoughts that run in this channel see the objects in the world around us"

And where all nadis begin:

·Turn the same effort

Upon the centre at the navel,

And you will understand

The structure of the body…III.30

The channel called the sun has a twin, called the moon channel:

·You will understand

The arrangement of the stars

If you turn this same effort

Upon the moon…II.28

Moon: left side of shusumna…

"Thoughts about your own thoughts, thoughts about your own mind- about the fact that we can think or sense things at all. For example when you think about your bad back, that thought runs in sun channel; when you think about how it feels, the awareness of that pain, then that's a thought in the moon channel"

·Turn the effort

Upon the polestar,

And you will understand

Their movement…III.29

"The middle channel, running down the body as its core, as the axis from which all other channels branch out.So it is like the North Star- the polestar- sitting on top of that great invisible axis around which all the other stars turn, during the course of the night. It's only because of this immobile axis that we can see the motion of stars, and it's only because of this middle channel that we can undertsnad how the stars in our own body - our own thoughts and sparks of awareness- run within their channels. For this is the channel of understanding itself: the middle one is where the good thoughts flow- thoughts of purity, and goodness; thoughts of peace and wisdom."

What flows in the channels are winds and what rides the winds like a horseman riding a horse are our thoughts

·The mind flies off,

And with that come

Pain in the body;

Unhappy thoughts;

Shaking in the hands

And other parts of your body;

The breath falling out of rhythm

As it passes in and out…I.31

Lotus flower: They say that the most stunning flower of all- the lotus- grows in the filthiest part of the pond, feeds on filth to produce its beauty. Fertile ground is all we need in order to give.

·Keep a close watch

On the breath

Outside or inside

Stopped or being exchanged…II.50A"

Our breath is even more linked to the winds. And so if we breathe in a way that keeps the winds from causing stoppages in the channels, the poses become infinitely more effective. If on the other handwe breathe in fits and stops while going through poses, it can do more harm to the channels than good- causing tie-ups like the ones that can make your back hurt""

There is a tip to help breath from locking up, that is to have a half smile to relax the two side channels and not to frown which would choke the central channel."

More about the breath:

·Observe too

The place in the body,

The duration, and the count…II.50B

"Part of a teacher's job is to keep a student's mind as flexible as their joints"

·Long and fine…II50C Silk thread (John Scott)

"As well as working from outside in (poses), there is also a way to work from inside out (using the thoughts that ride the breath). You could purposely make contact with the kind of thoughts that would run through the middle channel, and feed them, and make them strong; and then they'd start to flow freely, dragging the inner winds along with them as they go."

We do the poses and work with the breath so we can meditate:

·They do so

Through a balance

Of effort and relaxation;

And through endless forms

Of balanced meditation…II.47

"silent sitting"

In meditation:

·Use kindness;

It makes the mind

Bright and clear

Like pure water…I.33A

We misunderstand our world:

·We misunderstand our world;

Things that are not themselves

Seem to us as if they were…II.5D

"In jail, could people inside not experience the freedom outside? And people outside not experience the torment inside?"