"Perfect concentration on the heart, reveals the contents of the mind." ~ PYS 3.34
hirdaye chitta samvit
Lesson Plan and Resources for May 2018 at Sun and Moon Yoga Studio, Arlington, VA
Friday Night : Letting the Heart Breathe
6:30 to 8:30pm
The breath and the heart are intimate. Together we will locate the heart, begin to investigate her relationship with breath and practice Loving-kindness.
Please allow yourself some time to investigate your heart here.
Please allow yourself some time to investigate your breath here.
These are some of the teachings we will reference in our time together:
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras (PYS) 1.1 thru 1.4
PYS 1.33 and The Four Immeasurables
PYS 2.1 thru 2.14, especially the The Kleshas
Saturday Afternoon: What Does the Heart Want?
12:30 to 3:00pm
We will continue the investigation of the breath and heart, increasing our sensitivity in our hands and touch the practice of Compassion.
We will likely reference the Bhagavad Gita, particularly Sloka 2.48:
Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.
SaturDay Late Afternoon: Connecting the Heart
3:30 to 6:00pm
We will explore samyama through tuning our skills of dharana (steady attention), dhyana (wide open awareness) and samadhi (absorption) through refinement of our instruments of perception.
We will explore how listening changes everything.
Sunday Morning: The Heart's Commitment
Building on our skills from this weekend, we will continue our study of the breath to stay connected to our own heart's desires.
Other Resources:
If during our time together some maps and models of the subtle realm would help, here they are.
If helpful after our time together, use the free lessons in Season 1 of Heartful to assist with practice of the Loving-kindness technique.
If helpful after our time together, let Season 2 of Heartful assist with the Compassion Meditations.
If you want to practice Tonglen after our time together, these videos might help.
If you have become curious about the roots of these heart practices read Atisha's Lojong Root Verses for Training the Mind. You can read a brief description of the history of them here. Each one links to a short blog post describing the verse in greater detail as shared by my teacher, Jetsumna Tenzin Palmo.
If you would like, please consider getting to know my dharma teacher, Jetsumna Tenzin Palmo. From her page, you can link to audio and video recordings.
If interested in exploring the topic of morality and how normal it is for us to lie to others and ourselves, dive into some of the resources here.
If we get into the study of habit, you can find resources here.