Blog – Karin Heller

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Samkhya

What is Sāṃkhya? Samkhya is one of the oldest schools of Indian philosophy. It’s dualistic, meaning it says reality has two fundamentally different ingredients:

1. Purusha (pure consciousness), the silent witness, that is passive, unchanging, aware. It is not the body, not the mind, just the observer

2. Prakriti (nature / matter), everything that is subject to change, everything that is material, including our body, mind, emotions, and thoughts. Samkhya list 25 attributes through which Prakriti, or mother nature operates. This whole structure explains how the intellect (buddhi) and ego (ahamkara) arise, what the world is made of (elements), and how experience happens (senses + mind).

In Samkhya, even your mind emanates from Prakriti. First, your Buddhi (intellect), your ability to understand, judge, decide, (“this is good,” “this is true”), and from that develops Ahaṃkāra (ego), the feeling of “I am this” (“I am tired” “I am smart”)

Sāṃkhya says suffering is caused by a mistaken identity, by believing for instance that “I am tired” (Ahamkara, Ego, Prakriti) instead of “I am that” (Purusha, Pure Consciousness), in other terms, mistaking the observer (Purusha) for the mind-body system (Prakriti).

According to Sāṃkhya, Liberation happens when you realise that you are not your body nor your mind, but you are the pure observer, separate from everything else. In Samkhya, you are like a person watching a movie, while your thoughts, emotions, and life events are the film on the screen. Suffering happens when you forget you’re the viewer and start believing you are the character, getting completely caught in the drama…

Samadhi

There is a word in meditation traditions called samadhi. It describes a state where concentration becomes effortless, the mind grows quiet, and awareness flows smoothly without strain. In modern psychology we often call this state flow. In flow there is no inner struggle. Just presence and a peaceful sense of being fully immersed in what is happening. Although I’ve been lucky to explore this state through movement many times, I’ve also caught myself entering flow while painting… or even while cleaning the house.

Maybe samadhi isn’t always somewhere far away in meditation. Sometimes it quietly appears in ordinary moments when we are so present with what we’re doing that the mind simply rests there… What was your last time you experienced flow?

#samadhi #meditation #flow #effortless

Tips for wheel pose

Can’t do wheel pose? (Urdhva Dhanurasana)

We all love the flow and ease of a gentle vinyasa flow sequence that relaxes our mind and energizes our whole being from top to toe, and so do I. However, at some point in my practice, I had to realize that my practice was not complete since my flows did not include many hatha yoga asanas.

One day I thought to try wheel pose, a pose that I still did with ease in my 20’s. To my amazement, I could not keep myself lifted. I felt a terrible pain in my scapulae and shoulders when I tried to straighten my elbows. I was terrified.

I’ve had bad shoulder and scapulae pain for several years now lifting and carrying my children around on my left hip, but somehow it took me longer to work on this issue.

Sit on a large/middle-sized gym (swiss) ball and slowly roll your hips forward so your middle back will rest on the ball. Have your bed behind you, reach your hands above your head, and reach for the bed frame. To deepen your stretch roll back to rest your lower back on the ball and reach your arms down straight towards the floor.
You can also use a chair to open your chest and shoulders, stretch your abdominal area. Sit with your legs through the back of the chair and place your feet on the ground. Place two big cushions on the chair. Gently lie down on your back so that your scapulae are placed on the front edge of the seat supported with a cushion. Stretch out the arms above your head and breathe deeply.

I wish you a joyful practice, wheels up!