Editors' Pick
JILL SATTERFIELD realized the
power of practicing asana and Buddhist
Meditation together many years ago; she
had been suffering from a chronic illness
and, through asana and deep
concentration, was able to eventually heal
herself. Since then, the New York - based
teacher has developed Vajra Yoga, a
practice influenced by the Vajrayana and
Therevadan traditions of Buddhism. Vajra
Yoga, says Satterfield, is about seeing the
body as a vehicle for reflection.
"A lot of Vajra Yoga is visualizing,
" she says. " Visualizing is a way to
start seeing where you live in your
body and where you don't... yet."
Satterfield's classes all begin with a body
scan, and she uses different ones to speak
to different students. The most
straightforward start from the feet and
move up and inside, drawing awareness to
each organ and gland. Others are more
metaphoric.
"One body scan I use is to picture
that your body is your house," she says.
"Where's the brightest part? Where do
your parents' live? Where do you go to
feel safe? Where's the darkest area that
you know exists but you never go to? |
Where would you bring a handyman, and
what would you ask him to do?"
" I also use a stream or a river as a
metaphor for the central channel: Where is
it clogged up? Where is it wide and where
is it narrow? Where do the beavers get in
to make a little dam? I'm always trying to
come up with new ways so that eventually
everybody has some sort of idea of
what it's like inside."
Vajra Yoga also focuses on slow
and deliberate movement, alignment, and
breath. Satterfield contends that, for
meditation practitioners, the body can
ground a practice so that it isn't all
conceptual.
"When you're always in your
mind, you can forget what goes on down
below the neck," she says. "The Vajra
Yoga practice is basically to bring your
mind into the body. Understand your
body, understand your mind because the
two are reflective. Then, all sorts of
healing can happen."
August 2, 2005
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