I Am Passionate

Mantra: I Am Passionate
Exercise: Single Object Focus

In the steam room at the gym tonight five women discussed the hot topic of Tiger Woods and his supposed extramarital affairs that continue to headline our news. With all the play by play commentaries on his chip in the bunker, I pondered the relationship between athleticism and sexuality.

As a Yoga instructor, I have taught many professional athletes. There is no doubt that increased physical fitness and body awareness tends to increase one's sexual appetite. Our sexuality is a very powerful and very healthy component of being human. It is essentially the driving force to creation, but sexuality is not limited solely to sex. Whether passion is used romantically with another person or whether it is used philanthropically for a specific social cause, for example - it is still the same force.

The energy around the sport of golf is very meditative and energetic. The focus and detailed accuracy required by the game is magnetic. All of these qualities are very attractive and very sensual. You know the saying, "Still waters run deep". Tiger consistently played at a heightened level of mental and physical control that oozes power. If I may suggest, I believe that he simply lacked the consciousness of how to use this energy off of the course in alignment with the roles which he represented.

Even though I can imagine that Tiger was overwhelmed with the power that he stumbled upon as a result of his sport, I am in no way condoning the suggested choices and behaviors that he may have made. I am a believer in honesty, commitment and integrity, and it does not seem that he adhered to these principles. When we live a lie, the illusion will eventually crumble, as our innate truth is always looking to be revealed. It takes a lot of energy and effort to maintain a lie, and eventually one will tire of it.

What I am driving at here is conscious power. Attention creates energy. Energy creates force. Force creates power. Power needs an outlet. How impressive that Tiger was able to focus, practice and master such physical and mental skill that he displayed in his game. It seems a pity that he used this accumulated energetic wealth so frivolously and destructively off the green. I would have loved to have seen the results of him having extended his drive into his marriage, family and personal purpose.

In the world of Yoga, Patanjali (the Grandfather of Yoga) formulated Eight Limbs, or practices, for Yoga to comprise of. The sixth limb is called Dharana. Dharana may be translated as "holding", "holding steady", "concentration" or "single focus". Dharana is the initial step of deep concentrative meditation, where the object being focused upon is held in the mind without consciousness wavering from it.

Your exercise for today is two-fold:

#1. Please sit in meditative stillness focusing on one object for at least twenty minutes. Your object of focus could be on the tip of your nose, a Hanukah candle, a Christmas light, etc. Do your best to not let your attention drift from the object. Basically I would like you to witness the accumulated energy and sensuality that results of this practice. This is money in your piggy bank, so to speak.

#2. So as not to stagnate your energy system, please use this accumulated energy in a positive, conscious and creative manner. Your options are endless - finishing a work project, a creative project at home, creative expression/communication, spending quality time with your family/children, making love to your partner/spouse, donating to your favorite social cause, or even re-channeling the energy back into your personal health and healing. Please do not feed a covert addiction or practice that does not align with your personal integrity.

An equal flow of such accumulation and expenditure combined with conscious intention will initiate passion. It will also allow you to access your innate power and to use it to create a positive, healthy and conscious life.

"Life is a sum of all your choices." ~ Albert Camus

Have a passionate day...

Alanna

 

 

 

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Comments

[Bob Weisenberg]

02:16 PM on 12/15/2009

This is a masterful melding of ancient Yoga teachings with personal developmen­t and current events.

Very well done, so much so that I uncharacte­ristically have no further comment!

Thank you.

Bob Weisenberg
http://Yog­aDemystifi­ed.com

[Alanna Zabel]

03:10 PM on 12/15/2009

wow, thank you Bob!

I think I'm speechless now as well ;)

xo

[maduce]

12:17 PM on 12/15/2009

Alanna - Very nice post. Your calm, reasoned thoughts about Tiger Woods are a welcome change from the ranting and often self righteous posting and reporting from most of the media. I always thought that Tiger Woods success in golf was, at least, partially due to his mother's Thai (buddhist) heritage. I believed that he had the ability to induce calmness and focus at times when most pro golfers were raging with competitiv­e aggressive­ness or consumed with self-doubt at the very moment when their thoughts should be the most calm. I have never been a good meditator, but I understand the benefits and your post re-illumin­ated these for everyone. I think that TW probably got into this mess because he could. At some point he must have realized that the complex network of lies and coverups was certain to break down and yet he went ahead anyway, so maybe his induced calmness got the best of him by allowing him to ignore the threat to his future of his own creation. Anyway, it is very difficult to judge anyone's lifestyle and personal decisions even when one knows that person. To do so from accounts in the media and sound bites is really impossible­.

[Alanna Zabel]

12:47 PM on 12/15/2009

Spot on...that is great insight as well as far as his mother's influence.­...childre­n who inherit money tend to struggle with what to do with it versus those who earn their wealth on their own.... I agree with you that he may very well have "erred" here, but he has imposed his own punishment as far as the damage to his family and career, and we don't need to inflict any more on him - nor does the media... Have an amazing day of non-judgme­nt wherever you go today.... xo

[Alanna Zabel]

12:52 PM on 12/15/2009

Spot on. That is great insight regarding his mother's potential influence.­...childre­n who inherit wealth tend to struggle more with how to use it versus children who cultivate their own wealth.... I agree with you also in that Tiger has inflicted his own punishment from his actions in that he potentiall­y destroyed his family and career - we do not need to throw stones, nor does the media.... Thank you for your words - I hope that you enjoy a clear day free of judgments! xo

[Alanna Zabel]

02:36 PM on 12/15/2009

oops - sorry for the double reply - i didn't think that my first comment posted. :) it never hurts to repeat i suppose...

[curiousasheck]

12:11 PM on 12/15/2009

You'll get into explaining how even the #2 options your suggesting are even "distracti­ons" from our ultimate purpose at a later time?

[Alanna Zabel]

12:41 PM on 12/15/2009

GREAT comment! Most can't fathom empty stillness and the mere suggestion of such tends to be a deterrent from what you and I understand to be true Samadhi, but in time I believe that naturally unfolds from the practice. Our human addiction to the positive is yes, still a distractio­n - as is any doing - but it can be a wonderful practice to cultivate awareness of one's power... and certainly a healthy alternativ­e from something potentiall­y destructiv­e.... Thank you for such a great comment! xo