Welcome Fall, 2013 UVM Yoga & Mindfulness Students!
Here is the class syllabus — Mindfulness Syllabus, Fall 2013
Please come prepa
red to practice yoga on the first day…also, please bring a journal and pen to the first class (and all classes after that).
Look forward to seeing you in class! John
WEEKLY HOMEWORK:
Unless otherwise noted, each week I’d like you to do 5 minutes of meditation/day, and 1 yoga class a week (either at home or at a studio). Make a journal entry about the meditation and your yoga practice.
Week #13 (Nov 20-Nov 22)
This week’s class and homework is about gratitude..with Thanksgiving around the corner, I think it’s a good theme. There is more and more evidence about the positive effects of gratitude.
I recently saw a video, below, on a sweet practice of gratitude…basically about telling someone you care about how much they mean to you.
Here’s the video to watch:
(here’s the link, if video below has troubles)
HOMEWORK:
Over Thanksgiving break think of someone who has been influential in your life. Take a few minutes and write down why this person is important to you. Then, the person face to face, or call them, and read what you wrote about them (if that doesn’t work, send them what you wrote about them…calling/in-person is better, though).
Write in your journal how the experience went.
Week #12 (Nov 13-Nov 15)
This week I quoted Sutra II.33 (chapter 2, sutra #33) from the Sutras of Patanjali:
“When being harassed by negative thoughts, one should cultivate counteracting thoughts.”
Good advice.
HOMEWORK
IF YOU NEED EXTRA CREDIT YOU CAN EMAIL THIS ASSIGNMENT TO ME BEFORE THE NEXT CLASS…Practice counteracting negative thoughts with positive ones as soon as you can. Keep track in your journal about how it’s going — a sentence or two. Then summarize how it went – one or two paragraphs.
Legs Up The Wall Pose
Week #11 (Nov 6-Nov 8)
This week the class was about relaxation. I talked about a variety of techniques that help in creating a relaxing experience…they include:
• Gently rubbing your forehead
• Massaging your hands or feet
• Being in a calm, low-light environment
• Listening to gentle music
• Creating a longer exhale than inhale
• Slight weight on your closed eyes
HOMEWORK
For the homework please practice for 10 minutes/day the restorative “legs up the wall” posture we did in class. As a reminding, you place a back support at the wall. This can ben an combination block/books/blankets – whatever you have handy. You then roll your butt onto the support and extend your legs up the wall. Use any of the above techniques to create a very comfortable calming experience. Write each night in your journal about how it went.
Week #10 (Oct 30-Nov 1)
During class this week we focused on the idea that in any moment, during any activity, you can connect to your True, happy, calm, good self. One technique we did this week is to view thoughts as clouds passing in the sky. Like they have no connection to yourself, they are just passing by. Imagine if you saw clouds passing and somehow you had personal judgements – “That cloud is really dark, I’m a bad person.” That would just be bizarre. This exercise is similar. No matter the thought, practice not “feeding” it and just let it pass. Over time, the thoughts may become more distant; like clearing the sky of clouds..or not caring whether there are clouds or not.
HOMEWORK
Practice letting your mind be open and disconnect yourself from your thoughts. Do this as your 5 minute meditation, BUT..DO IT IN A PUBLIC PLACE, WHILE SITTING SILENTLY. Great places to practice this are at a bar, a party, during dinner, before a test. The practice is to recognize that at anytime, anywhere, it is possible to let go of the thoughts in your mind and let them pass. You will most likely still have thoughts, but just let them be, don’t give them any weight…like clouds passing in the sky.
Homework Assigned During Week #9 (Oct 23-25th)
This week I talked about the the Bhagavad Gita – a well-known poem from the yoga tradition. I mentioned a particular passage where Arjuna, the warrior, is getting advice from his friend Krishna…who as it turns out, is God. Arjuna is uncertain of being a warrior and going to war, and Krishna says:
Arjuna, with the sword of wisdom, sever the doubt in your heart. Be A Warrior!
Krishna is telling Arjuna to be his True Self and follow his unique, personal path…which is called Sva-Dharma. Sva means personal, dharma is path.
Along these lines we did a meditation this week where on the inhale we silently repeated a phrase about something we wanted to bring into our lives…for instance – “Bring Space.” On the exhale, we silently repeated a phrase of something we wanted to left to of…for instance – “Release Anxiety.”
HOMEWORK
Practice your mediation uses the repeated phrases you came up with – 5 minutes/day.
During the work really work on following your own sva-dharma, your personal path. Sometimes it can feel like a battle, but it’s worth the effort. So, small or big, do your best to take steps to be yourself and follow YOUR path. As the Bhagavad Gita says, “It is worse the follow someone else’s path perfectly, then to follow your own imperfectly.” Work on it each day and make a daily entry about your efforts in your journal.
Week #8 (Oct 16-18th)
*This assignment is to be emailed to me after you finish the last entry. So, I should be getting 8 entries – one for each day, and a final entry of reflection on the whole exercise.**
This week was about the Yamas — considered the ethical rules in yoga. These apply to all aspects of the Self; body, mind and heart. Here they are:
- Ahimsa (non-harming): non-violence, loving kindness, compassion.
- Satya (truthfulness): being genuine and authentic, having integrity, honesty, being honorable, not lying, not concealing the truth, not downplaying or exaggerating the truth.
- Asteya (non-stealing): not taking what is not yours or what is freely offered, not robbing people of their own experience or freedom, non-desire for another’s possessions, qualities, or status, not coveting.
- Brahmacharya (moderation): moderation on all levels concerning sex, food, and all aspects of daily life, no sexual misconduct, no overindulgence in senses.
- Aparigraha (non-possessivness): non-grasping, non-possessiveness, not accumulating things beyond what is necessary, non-attachment to possessions, no being greedy.
ASSIGNMENT: Contemplate these Yamas and decide on ONE that is difficult for you. (If you were in class you already have this!) Think about why it’s difficult for you, and each day take steps to work in a positive way with the yama. For instance, if you are working on Ahimsa and you find yourself feeling violent and argumentative, see if you can walk away from the situation. Write a paragraph in your journal each day about the yama and how it’s going. At the end of the week write a paragraph conclusion about how it all went.
*This assignment is to be emailed to me after you finish the last entry and before the next class. So, I should be getting 8 entries – one for each day, and a final entry of reflection on the whole exercise.**
Week #7 (Oct 9-11th)
I talked about how finding the space between things is used in yoga as a way to create more time, and a way to see the good in yourself. This includes space between one thing and another (like the space of walking from place to place), the space between notes in music, the space in a tree that let’s light through, the space in your breath between inhale/exhale and exhale/inhale.
HOMEWORK
During meditation this week, focus on the space in your breath. Think of this as a gateway to calm, a place you can find space and reconnect to your true self. Also, during the week as we fun exercise, see how the world is made up of space between things. Try to really appreciate the space in your life and in the world. Try to notice the extra time created by space in your life, and the artistic beauty space creates in the world. Each night write a short entry about the day in your journal.
Week #6 (Oct 2-4th)
This week I talked about a happiness video I saw on Ted by Shawn Achor. In it one of the things he talks about is the need for gratitude to be happy…hence the homework.
HOMEWORK
This homework counts as an extra credit assignment, if you turn it in.
Get a small pad you can carry around in your pocket. A small notebook or whatever you can find, or make. Doesn’t have to be fancy unless you want it to be. From now until the next class I want you to carry this around with you and write in it as often as possible things you are grateful for. You should easily get a dozen or more things a day – it could be 100s. When you come back from break please bring this to class so I can see it, and I’ll give it back by the end of class. Remember…THIS IS NOT YOUR JOURNAL…YOU NEED A UNIQUE NOTEPAD FOR THIS.
Week #5 (Sept 25-27th)
No homework.
Week #4 (Sept 18-20th)
This week’s assignment will need to be emailed to me before the start of next
Thursday’s class. You should email me a Word Document or have the homework
within the body of the email. What I want is for you to type of what you wrote in
your journal for this week’s assignment.
THIS WEEK’S HOMEWORK:
– In class we talked about how you can be in control of your life through awareness
and conscious action. Therefore…
– Keep track in your journal of EVERYTHING you put in your body each day (water,
food, drugs…everything)
– After you put something in your body ask yourself these questions to help be more
conscious about what you took into your body:
—“How did this effect my mind, body, heart?”
—“Was putting this in my body a positive or negative experience?”
– Each night summarize the experience of the day in your journal. Think about what
worked, and what didn’t…try to move toward what worked for the next day – so
each day you feel more in control of your body intake.
– At the end of the week summarize in your journal the whole experience and how it
went for you.
THIS IS WHAT I WANT YOU TO SEND ME:
– 7 days of entries with a complete list of all the body
intake you had each day along with a summary of your experience (one paragraph)
of each day.
– One entry with your view on the whole experience, any insights you had about it,
along with struggles and successes. One paragraph is fine.
Have fun with it…and see you next week!
Week #3 (Sept 11-13th class)
In class we worked on the meditation practice of brining awareness to the anapana spot (on the upper lip right below the nose), and listening to all the sounds around us. The idea is of being aware of yourself and your world at the same time.
I talked about acts of kindness being important, and you never really know the greater impact they will have.
HOMEWORK
Be an acts of kindness superstar. Offer people smiles, open doors for people, clean your apartment when not asked (well…that might be a lot). Anyway, just do your best to be a super nice person this week. Also, continue with the meditation and physical yoga practice homework.
Week #2 (Sept 4-6th class)
This week we took a walk around campus and focused on external awareness of the world that is outside of us.
HOMEWORK
(The homework this week acts as your daily meditation). Take a 10 minute walking meditation everyday and journal about it. In your journal write about how it was in general, and then pick out one thing that particularly stuck out for you. Do your best to make a special time for the walk, so there is no hurry…you’re just silently walking for the joy of it. If you want to have friends along, that’s cool…just make it silent.
Week #1 (Aug 28-30st class)
So wonderful to meet everybody – I’m really excited about the upcoming semester!
Please be sure to look at the syllabus – particularly about expectations and grading.
This week during class we focused on how the breath, mind, body and emotional/spiritual self are all connected. We did a meditation exercise of finding the breath in the belly, chest, and collarbones and noticing how that effected the other aspects of ourselves.
HOMEWORK
(along with meditation & asana practice) Please make one journal entry per day in regard to what is happening with your mind/body/breath/spirit in a particular situation. For instance, you are stuck and traffic and start to get stressed out — a perfect time to notice your breath/mind/body/spirit and then write the whole experience later. By next week you’ll have 7 different experiences. Pretty simple. 🙂