Titans of Yoga
Documentary film- 70 minutes
Titans of Yoga highlights interviews of 25 yoga and meditation master teachers of many different backgrounds. They offer stories of how they found yoga and answer questions about the deeper meanings of yoga.
Clear - Informational- Inspirational- Accessible
- Themes- the film is divided into sections: Move Consciously, Breathe Deeply, Feel Freely, React Calmly, Discover Purposefully, Live Adventurously, Love Unconditionally
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notes:
- All different ways of finding yoga: because of illness in self or family, feelings of not wanting to go on, suffering from addictions, felt no purpose, 'something was missing'... someone tells them to try yoga or learns from a family member; starting with whatever was available; for some it was hard at first- physically, mentally and some didn't have support from others
- How it improves life: helps body feel better, look better- from a deeper place, builds inner strength and freedom, is a natural high, something never felt before, helps
- Quotes on meaning:
"Every culture has its yoga. Everybody on the planet has their yoga. Meaning yoga is any form, any practice, any state of being that cultivates a unified consciousness"
"It's the ability to dance with life and not get knocked off your center"- Shiva Rea
"The technique to bring us into this moment"- Saul David Raye
Move Consciously:
- The point of alignment isn't to get the perfect pose, but to achieve the stillness that comes from the one-pointed focus of the mind as its working towards achieving the pose
- The mind is fragmented by society, advertising, etc. and the poses and focused breathing helps to send energy to blocked parts of the body
- The quality of mind behind the action is what's most powerful
Breathe Deeply:
- Breathing can balance the brain, muscles and nervous system
- Bringing awareness to breath calms the mind and can bring awareness to when we're holding our breath or not paying attention to it, and therefore not being present
- The tendency of the mind is to fluctuate and breathing helps still the fluctuations
- Reference to a study that found that 80-90% of thoughts are the same as ones you had day before
- When in the present, everything that ever happened is no longer there...it melts away and you're free of the history that's full of the limitations that seem to be binding us
Feel Freely:
- Maybe the mind has forgotten, but the body remembers. With yoga, you can release it all out of your body so it doesn't stay in your body and turn to disease
- Yoga introduces you to every little part of your body. That's why there's so many poses- they are creative ways to get you in touch with all the different parts
- Feelings come up in yoga- it can feel panicky, sometimes with crying or yelling- the idea is for them to be released.
- Bringing sadness up isn't easy. No one wants to feel these feelings- that's why most people try to numb themselves through medication, drugs, alcohol, eating. We don't want to feel what has been depressing us for so long
React Calmly:
- We don't have much control of external circumstances. The only things we can control is our reactions
- Whatever's happening, you have the option of being stressed by those things or not. It doesn't end the stress in your life, but allows you to control reactions better
- Learn how to not identify with the things you have and things that happen to you- your possessions, self-image. Who you truly are isn't how you think of yourself or others think of you.
- The yoga mat is a safe place to experiment with how to cope
Discover Purposefully:
- We can't all have everything we want in life, but yoga can help you get to where you're going, helps you go in a certain direction
- Yoga practice helps to align ourselves with our true purpose; to connect with natural desires, gifts
- How do you start to find it?- Experiment
- Helps you embrace who you are and helps you channel it and become more of it
- It doesn't matter what you do, but do it with quality of attention, desire of skill and with everything in your life
Live Adventurously:
- Can look at is as traveling- start somewhere and move to a better place
- Most of what we're taught is to present yourself as if you know everything, have all the answers- nothing will affect our growth more
- You don't construct your future, you discover it
- People can point you in the right direction, but you have to do the work yourself
Love Unconditionally:
- Change the perception of 'others'- Ask self, how can my life be lived so it can enhance the world? The person next door?
- We're part of something larger that connects us all
- The more we can heal ourselves, the more we can empathize with others and reach when others would withdraw
- If you can recognize yourself in others, the concept of 'others' will disappear and then there will be only love. That's the realization yoga is aiming for.
- Realize you don't have to go out to get connected. We already are, but it's an illusion that we're separate from others
- Your only job is to learn to love yourself for you truly are right now. Not at some point in the future if or when something happens or you are different
'Yoga is not for people who are interested in staying the same. If you're interested in change...if you have one grain of unhappiness inside that's pulling you down, consider it'- David Life
Questions & Ideas:
- What are your assumptions and biases about yoga? What have you heard about it? Do you have any fears about it?
- Reflect on the themes- What do they mean to you?
- Look into the people you connected with most in the video. Watch youtube videos of their teachings or practices and see if you want to explore further
- How can you react more calmly? What gets in the way of reacting calmly to stressful situations? Are there people or things that are greater triggers? Why?
- How can you love more unconditionally? What makes it hard to? Why is it hard to be compassionate towards someone who doesn't like you or isn't showing you respect?
- What are your gifts? If you don't know, explore ways of finding out!
- Ana Forrest mentions that the thing you're most passionate about might not be something that others agree with as being important. Is this an obstacle for you? Is there anyone's voice you have in your head telling you that you can't explore your passions?
- What holds you back from exploring new ways of learning and growing?
- Do you have 'one shred of unhappiness'? What is it? What would it feel like not to have it?
- What does it feel like when intense feelings come up? What ways do you use to avoid them? What positive ways do you use to express your feelings? What new ways can you explore?
- Do you feel like you have to know everything? Are there people or situations you feel like you need to be like that when you're around? Why? How can you change the way you react in the situation?
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