“A feeling of aversion or attachment toward something is your clue that there’s work to be done.” – Ram Dass
Weekly Focus: Dvesha (aversion)
Dvesha is one of the five kleshas as outlined in the Yoga Sutras and refers to aversion or resistance towards discomfort and unpleasant experiences. Yoga reminds us to find more flow and adaptability so that we might move through discomfort with more ease rather than allowing it to determine our inner experience.
Within the Yoga Sutras, the five kleshas are said to be the cause of all suffering. Dvesha or aversion is to actively avoid discomfort and struggle in life. The more that we avoid discomfort, the greater power it holds over us. Avoidance can create feelings of anxiety, disturbance, stress, anticipation, and keep us from growing into our highest Self.
It is often a resistance to discomfort that keeps us trapped in patterns of worry and fear that stunt our personal growth. When reaching for higher potentials we may come across challenging blockades that we would rather not manage — a difficult conversation with a loved one or peer, honest self reflection on our actions and beliefs, or intimidating situations can be necessary stepping stones on the path ahead. If we redirect from these discomforts, we can never move forward through relational challenges, lifetime milestones or closed mindsets. When we practice managing our discomfort with grace and ease, we learn to lean into the challenges and to see opportunity on the other side. We free ourselves from strife and swirling thought patterns and often recognize that the mind creates the discomfort we were trying to avoid.
This week we practice breathing into discomfort in spaces of safety and support. This is a learned skill that takes time, effort and grace. How can you challenge yourself to embrace one discomfort this week, however small? What is a larger avoidance that you would like to take on with time? What practices and community do you have to support you in times of discomfort?
Passive Pose of the Week: Salamba Bhujangasana (sphinx pose)
Salamba Bhujangasana is a softer variation on cobra pose. This gentle backbend encourages us to look straight ahead and not shy away from discomfort.
- Begin lying on the floor on your belly.
- Lift up onto your forearms. Place the elbows underneath of or just in front of the shoulers. Let the palms press down into the floor.
- Widen the legs as much as you like to feel more spaciousness in the back.
- Look forward slightly, draw the shoulders apart and breathe deeply.
- Take 5 – 7 breaths and gently lower down.
Salamba Bhujangasana is a lightly activating pose that brings more sense of space through the shoulders and chest. To enhance this experience, see if you can find some gentle activation through the arms and shoulders. Press down lightly through the hands and forearms. Allow this press down to help you feel a sense of lifting through the chest. As you press down, then imagine dragging the hands back towards the body, tractioning the spine and perhaps creating a lengthening sense in the low spine. Release these actions, and then re-engage. How does your experience change?
Active Pose of the Week: Lightning Bolt Pose
Lightning Bolt Pose is a strong and structured pose that may challenge the practitioner. When fully engaged, this posture is one we may want to flee from. Can you encourage yourself to breathe and hold here rather than just quickly moving through the discomfort on to the next posture?
- Begin in a standing Mountain pose (tadasana).
- Step your left foot back about 3 – 4 ft for a standing lunge pose, like Crescent Warrior.
- Inhale and reach your arms overhead.
- Exhale and hinge forward from the hips slightly, creating a long diagonal line in the body from wrists to shoulders to hips to heels.
- Reach back actively through the left heel. Draw the shoulders down the back and extend our through the fingers. Brace your core and feel the toning of the entire body.
- Hold for 3 – 5 breaths and switch sides.
If this pose feels hard you are doing it correctly! If you want to get out of it immediately, focus on your breath. Try bringing a count to the breath bringing in for a count of four and exhaling for a count of four. Maybe even close the eyes. You aren’t escaping the pose, but helping yourself to breathe and manage the discomfort. Does this change your relationship to the pose?
Join us in class this week to practice your self-reflection and acknowledgment of Dvesha. See the full schedule HERE.
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