Image / moonbloom



Don't forget love;

It will bring all the madness you need

to unfurl yourself across

the universe.


- Mira



Dana Wyss Healing Arts
Breathe deeply, practice often, be well.
http://www.danawyss.com/

Image / Tim Hester


The vulnerability of one who has entered any path aimed at deep change is undeniable. Whether the path is one of meditation, psychotherapy, yoga, religious study and/or conversion, or the deep academic study of a range of subjects, transformational work has as its foundation the goal of eradicating our stale ideas, false beliefs, and the unskillful habit patterns which have thus far guided our lives. For any of us, some of these bits are useful or innocuous in their influence upon our lives, while others are entirely false and have certainly restricted our growth. From the inside, with our inherently limited vision, we cannot always tell the difference. Because of this dilemma - the desire to change on deep levels and the inability to do so alone, due to our own incomplete perception and understanding - we need teachers and guides. 

One role of a teacher/guide is to aid us in dismantling that which is false within us. Beliefs about ourselves, about the world, and about others which distort our clarity must be removed in order for our understanding to blossom, in order that wisdom may root within us. This is not generally a pleasant process. Our ego resists it. Our minds resist it. Our lived experience screams "but I know I'm right about this!" in argument to the expanded notions our teacher will present to us along the way. Inwardly, outwardly, or both, we're likely to fight this change even as we seek it. 

In these places of dismantling, these fields of controlled burns followed by quiet repair and the ultimate arrival of fertile and seeded soil, we are largely without our previous personal defense systems. They burned with the chaff to make room for our new ways of understanding and relating to ourselves and the larger world. In the meantime, we rely on the new teachings and our teacher to guide us through the situations and decisions that naturally arise in our daily lives, which haven't stopped to wait for our mastery of the new order.

The teacher/guide/therapist/professor-student relationship has extraordinary intimacy embedded within it. It is, in all cases, unlike other relationships we cultivate in our personal lives. There is a power dynamic inherent in these relationships that precludes the kind of equitable exchange we can expect to develop in our peer connections, friendships and intimate romantic relationships. As living beings, of course we're all equal. But when it comes to the terrain of deep psychological and spiritual work, ignoring the truth of the teacher-student dynamic reduces clarity within a working space that's already bursting with challenge, adaptation, evolution and the tender vulnerability those create.

It is a sacred role of the teacher/therapist/guide/professor to create a safe container to hold the transformation of their students, and to maintain it wisely with boundaries that allow students to reach their fully rooted place without sustaining new wounds. Without lighting un-prescribed fires, without initiating an uncontrolled burn. When that cannot be done for whatever reason, the duty is then to clearly and cleanly end the therapeutic or teaching relationship. No teacher is right for every student.

The history of the church, the history of psychotherapy, the history of yogic leaders across time all show this to be one of the greatest challenges for a human teacher to master. The fact that this sacred role is rarely played to it's full capacity by human leaders is not reason to abandon our expectation that it can be and should be, nor reason to despair and abandon our efforts at deep change within ourselves. It is reason to choose wisely, to cultivate discernment and discretion, to apply the wisdom and compassion that we do already possess, and appreciate the opportunities to further cultivate those as we move forward on our path. The path is not always entirely clear, and yet worthy of our continued seeking.   



Dana Wyss Healing Arts
Breathe deeply, practice often, be well.
http://www.danawyss.com/ 

Image / sonjachnyj 



How did I not know that?

How is it possible to get ___ years into a life before understanding this?

I wish I'd known this a decade ago! Or two! Or five!

What would my life be like if I'd known this sooner?


As we walk through life, occasionally big chunks of understanding fall into place in our minds and hearts. Mysteries that gnawed at us for years become solved. Moments that had us feeling like an alien outsider, like a bumbling buffoon...suddenly make sense. We get it.

We then explode outrageously into this moment of clarity, wholly unlike any other moment we've experienced before. Aha! Exuberance follows, as we celebrate the wonder of our newfound freedom. It's amazing! Incredible! Miraculous, even!
And then...

And then, often, the mind wanders right into a dense unforgiving forest. Into a bramble bush we go, piercing ourselves within a spiny thicket of lack. Oh, how we have suffered! We see how much we missed by not knowing this sooner. Woe! We see how naive, or foolish, or uninformed we were. And for how long! And on and on it goes, crimping away at our recent expansion, stealing all our fun, furrowing our brow.

We are where we are. We know what we know. And while the past cannot be changed, enhanced, or rewritten, we can certainly squeeze every nourishing drop of joy from our present. We can certainly decide not to lose another decade, year, month, or moment to the misunderstandings or perceived lack of our past.

Now we know. Now we understand. Now we have something we've needed. Now is the perfect time to let ourselves enjoy what we've found, appreciate it, and step forward into our lives a little wiser. Right now.
Go on.



Dana Wyss Healing Arts
Breathe deeply, practice often, be well.
http://www.danawyss.com/

Image / Romolo Tavani 



The connections which infuse our lives with joy, meaning, opportunity and growth are themselves living and changing things. When alive, no relationship will remain static and frozen. All of our relationships shift, end, morph, or reconfigure over time. Because we do.

If we're attached to experiencing a specific dynamic with someone in our lives, we're less likely to see the natural shifts when they happen at their most subtle level. Ignoring the reality of change, and ignoring the need for changes in behavior on our part, will begin to cause friction. Discomfort will arise, initially in soft form. The more it's ignored, the more it grows, and the less subtle the signals will become. The discomfort will grow a hard edge.

We have some choice in how long we wait to listen to reality, and sometimes we wait until pain makes the need for change very clear to us. Pain is a signal that something needs to change. This is true of pain in the body, mind, and heart. Our pain (which we can see as a spectrum ranging from minor discomfort to extreme agony) is a message that says "this needs your attention!".

When pain arises, we can react mindlessly - often we throw our pain back onto the other or onto others in the greater world. But we have other options, and they're more likely to help us move out of pain by addressing what genuinely needs our attention. When we feel discomfort in our connection with another, we can pause, reflect, and offer attention to needs:

How is the other showing up in this relationship, and what are their real needs?
How are we showing up in this relationship, and what are our real needs?
Is there equity in the dynamic, or is one person consistently giving too much?
Have we taken advantage of another? Is there something we need to address, apologize for, or take responsibility for, in order to establish trust, goodwill, and open communication?
Have we allowed ourselves to be taken advantage of in some way? If so, why? What did we trade in our attempts to get our needs met from inappropriate sources?
What specific needs of ours are not being met within this relationship in it's current form?
Is there a better place for us to meet those needs, or to seek that kind of support?
Is this a relationship that has run its course? Does discomfort stem from trying to force the past onto the present?
Is this a relationship that simply needs to allow a natural shift in it's dynamic? Do we simply need new rules of play?

Taking time to sit with these and similar questions honestly can give us insight into the discomfort we're experiencing. And once we're clear, we can make changes. Perhaps we simply need to change our behavior quietly, and allow those changes to inform the direction this relationship can grow, change or dissolve. Perhaps we need to have a direct conversation with the other, from our place of calm clarity about our needs and desires. The form of this relationship, it's history, it's level of intimacy, and our intuition can guide us on which approach is most beneficial in this regard.

In either case, this act of offering of kindness and reflection and clarity to ourselves creates the foundation from which we move toward another, or not. That's work they cannot do for us, and asking them to manage or care for feelings which we're unwilling to work with in ourselves is a sure way to create further imbalance in our connection. So we look, and we listen, and we let ourselves feel and see what is true. And we wait until that happens before we speak. And when we do speak, we speak honestly, allowing the outcome to be what it will be. The payoff? Well, it's in having a life full of relationships that are alive, breathing, honest, growing and growth-producing. What a gift.


Dana Wyss Healing Arts
Breathe deeply, practice often, be well.
http://www.danawyss.com/

Image / Branislav Ostojic 


A key concept in yoga is that the shape or position of the physical body creates an effect in our psyche, energy and mood. Changes in the shape of the body (or changes of intention and focus within a given shape) create different effects in the body/mind/psyche. Mudras are gestures of the hands, face or body which are consciously used to evoke psychological and spiritual attitudes, or specific energetic states. The word mudra is a combination of two root words: mud, meaning "pleasure," "delight," or "enchantment," and rati, meaning "to bring forth." Employing mudras, we may gently bring forth our own delight, pleasure, and well-being.

The exploration of mudras in this blog stem from studies begun in my first yoga teacher training program. In that program, I chose mudras as the subject for a months-long self-study project, which then never truly ended. I did complete the project and that certification, of course, but simply became fascinated with mudras, and kept them as part of my daily practice. I've continued exploring the mudras ever since. I find them to be subtle yet powerful tools for use in seated meditation as well as throughout the day, when needed. Hand gestures can be employed quietly and without fanfare, so one can even practice mudras while in public or while engaging with others. No special space or equipment is required, making mudras easily accessible to any practitioner.

In my studies, I spent some of my daily meditation time with a particular mudra repeatedly over several days, and recorded my observations regarding how the gesture shifted my physical, emotional and energetic states. My basic approach in getting to really "know" a mudra has been to spend 4-7 days working with it before moving on to another.

My explorations have been inspired and guided by the beautiful text Mudras for Healing and Transformation, written by Joseph and Lilian Le Page. While the book offers a trove of information on each gesture, my intention was always to see for myself what shifts occurred. To do this, I'd select a mudra, practice with it for a week or so and take notes, and only then go back and read all about it in the book. After working with these subtle gestures for a few years, I would encourage anyone interested in incorporating mudras into their practice to approach it in the following way:

First, spend a few moments in quiet meditation, noticing as clearly as possible your initial emotional state and any physical and subtle energetic sensations you're aware of. Notice also the state of your breath, and any areas of the body that are expanded by your breathing.

Next, take the mudra you've chosen, and spend several breaths noticing any shifts you're aware of as you hold the gesture. Begin by holding a mudra for 5-10 breaths, or just until you have a sense of how it effects you in subtle and physical ways. From there, you may gradually increase the time you spend holding each gesture up to five minutes, three times a day.

Finally, you may benefit from taking your own notes, so that you'll know exactly how this gesture works for you, and when and how you may want to employ it in the future.

To explore different gestures using this blog, simply select the Mudras category on the right and peruse what I've shared. And if you find that you enjoy incorporating this into your practice, I highly recommend purchasing the book for yourself - there's so much to explore! This practice has been both a delight and a great gift to me, and I hope that your explorations of mudras are similarly interesting and beneficial to you. They offer an accessible way to focus deeply on your experience in the moment, and so many wonderful things can open to you from there. Practice, and all is coming!



Dana Wyss Healing Arts
Breathe deeply, practice often, be well.
http://www.danawyss.com/