On January 30th, Jews celebrated the harvest festival called Tu B’Shevat. Set on the 15th of the month of Shevat in the Jewish calendar, Tu B’Shevat marks the “New Year for Trees”, when the earliest blooming trees in Israel begin a new fruit-bearing cycle. Traditionally, we commemorate the day and season by eating some of the fruit mentioned in the torah: pomegranates, figs, dates, grapes and olives. But we can look beyond the joy of literally bearing fruit to lessons learned through the grandiosity and longevity of the trees themselves.
The principles of Anusara yoga abound with tree-imagery. In fact, vrksasana (tree pose) and its components are so inspiring that we utilize the metaphor and asana in almost every class. Each time we are instructed to ‘root down’ into the earth beneath us or ‘grow our branches’ toward the sun, we are nourished. The tree, in its depth, height, beauty and resilience gives us pause and insight into our lives. Within the first principle of opening to grace, we establish our roots through the foundation. Here our roots hold our intention. The roots are our faith in the Universal, consciousness, Divine, grace….whatever name you give for that which connects us to something bigger than ourselves. Roots, though unseen, are critical to the sustenance of the tree. A beautiful tree with shallow roots will eventually collapse. A person with an amazing intellect and expensive wardrobe, but with little grace is shallow and may more easily falter under durress. And then there’s my grandmother. She had little money and very little formal education. Yet she was wise and possessed an open, optimistic heart. She connected with others from an authentic, internal place. It was her faith in goodness that nurtured her and helped her persevere even the most challenging periods.
The trunk, branches and leaves are our intellect and emotions. We strive to nurture them in such a way that they not only are sustainable, but grow, give forth and give back. The fruit is a gift, yes. But it’s more than that. The seed inside, like our attitude, is the fuel that drives our intention. And for it to be received well, it should be sweet and nourishing, like the meat of the fruit.
Each component of a tree is necessary to its survival and its reproduction. For us, we look beyond mere survival. As gregarious beings, we utilize our incredible composition to thrive in a world of connection. On this Tu B’Shevat, may we all take time to find shelter beneath a tree, recognize and nourish our gifts and talents; and give forth from a skilled, internal place. In that way, we will connect to something bigger than ourselves and help bring peace and joy to this world.
Aviva Black teaches a mixed level class on Thursdays from 12 – 1pm at YogaKula Berkeley.
Click here to register for Aviva’s class
The Sanskrit word Vinyasa means “movement synchronized with breath”. It is often used to describe a style of Yoga class which focuses heavily on postures that flow together coordinating with the inhale and exhale. Vinyasa is also commonly used to refer to the Plank-Chaturanga-Upward Facing Dog-Down Dog series that is relied upon as the athletic “chorus” between the “verses” of the standing postures. Although you may know that this little series of poses is a small portion of the traditional Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskar) series, most of us are never taught the meaning behind these ubiquitous postures.
Yoga forged the way for me to be a strong support for myself when others couldn’t meet that expectation. Thankfully, yoga also led me to a community who want nothing more than to support each other, and explore together. Yoga led me to integrated connection, deep within, that created the magnetic pull of those who were also connected in this way. Yoga allows me to honor and REALLY experience “symptoms” of life in every shape ~ joy and pain, sunshine and rain (here we go, here we go). Yoga helped me heal from a painful injury in my cervical spine, and deal with the fusion that couldn’t be healed. Yoga reminds me of the unbelievable significance and sanctity of my breath, which was the single realization six years ago that allowed me to be a smoker one day, and a non-smoker the next, seriously! Yoga was my impetus to leave a high paying, glamorous career in favor of financial struggles coupled with pure contentment and true abundance almost always. Yoga is a practice for me to perhaps soften that almost into an always, perhaps not. And that’s ok. Yoga provides me with the capacity, every single day, to align in every sense of the word – in my body, with myself, with others around me and with nature’s most basic rhythm. And to forgive myself on those days when I don’t step in.
