Friendliness
Many of us
live in a big city surrounded by so many other human beings. However, if we pause and reflect, we may
notice that the majority of the time we don’t truly see the others. It’s kind of normal, since we don’t truly see
ourselves either.
We are all
on a path of enlightenment, a path of awakening – even if some don’t recognise it as such. Through the practice of
yoga, we are slowly awakening the body, breath and mind. We feel more connected to our body; are able
to listen to its subtle communications and desire for clean, healthy
nourishment, correct movement and restful sleep. We begin to recognise the patterns of our
breath during different activities and use our breath to bring our body and
mind together and in calm. With practice
we begin to notice the tendencies of the mind.
It’s clever way of avoiding what it wishes not to see, of justifying the
unskillfulness it can’t help seeing in itself, or it’s unending ability to
blame others for things it does not like or cannot accept.
Learning to
‘see’ is imperative to live in joyfulness.
This can be called Joyful Awareness.
So how does
all this relate to friendliness? I
believe that to cultivate friendliness, we need to practice ‘seeing’ – not with
an air of judgment or comparison. Just
seeing. We pass dozens of people on the
street and rarely see a single person.
We sit in a restaurant, order from the waiter without looking at them,
receive our food while continuing our conversation with our friend as if the
food just arrives magically without the help of a real person. We rate businesses, services, people through social
media often without really ‘seeing’ the humanness behind the screen. And, many
businesses treat us like numbers in their machine, forgetting the person behind
the number. The inter-connectedness of
this phenomenon is clear. The unskillful
way to deal with it is to blame ‘big business’, blame ‘social media’, blame the
people in cars – in short, blame ‘others’.
No one is
to blame. We are one and we all contribute
to the one. If we wish to make some
change we must be brave, develop mindfulness and practice seeing.
I believe
that if we can see others, really see them, it will aid us on our path. It’ll make the path more joyful and friendly
– which makes the path THE practice THE way – not worrying about getting
somewhere simply BEING somewhere – here and now!
Suggested
Practices:
Friendliness
with Oneself
Look in the
mirror, at your face, try to see who’s there.
Who is that there, looking back?
Can you truly see? Just see –
without a discourse about the attributes you like or dislike. See that right there, looking back, there is
a miracle! A living, breathing
being. And looking deeper, you perceive
the miracle of consciousness. That
being, that YOU, that consciousness has the right to feel good, has the right
to friendliness and is totally lovable!
Cultivate this daily!
Smile for
yourself – it sends a message to the brain that everything is OK.
Friendliness
with Others
Cultivating
friendliness with others is similar to the above. Try looking around and seeing others. Again, not with a discourse of likes and
dislikes. See their face, the
consciousness that is exactly like yours.
The living being that is also a miracle.
That they experience triumphs and failures, happiness and sadness, peace
and torment, love and loss, just like you!
When we truly see others, we feel the inter-connectedness of our
community, our city, our country, our continent, our world!
Practicing
Friendliness at the Yoga Studio
Ashtanga
Yoga Paris is a sanctuary, a place to go to practice yoga, mindfulness and
friendliness in the safety of a caring community. We can cultivate friendships with others,
like us, who are looking for well-being and ways to feel more peaceful.
If you are
new to the yoga studio, don’t hesitate to ask those who are more familiar for
advice. Where are the yoga mats? Which classes are good when I feel more
tired? Have you ever tried Mysore
practice? …
If you are
a familiar face at AYP, it’s so lovely if you can help the newbies feel
welcome, at home, in our community.
Offer a friendly smile. Share
your yoga stories – how it helps you in your life. Give them a little tour of the studio.
In the yoga
rooms, be gracious, considerate and friendly with your community in sharing the
space, moving your yoga mat to allow room for another, folding blankets
beautifully and putting props away nicely so the others feel they are entering
a clean, neat space that encourages peacefulness and mindfulness.
Like geese
who fly together in formation, it makes it easier because they create an
updraft. Breathing together in the yoga room makes it easier for us all to find
the motivation to do something good for ourselves!
Yoga is a
practice of union. Joining to breath
together and support one another in growth.
It’s so much easier to walk the path as a group. Feeding on Friendliness opens our peaceful,
loving heart!
SMILE
😇