Do the Right Thing Meditation
Dhyana

Step by Step

First, seek guidance. Begin by checking in with the wisdom, “the sacred texts,” of your tradition. Examples are the yamas and niyamas of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra (nonviolence, nonstealing, contentment, truthfulness, and the rest); the Buddha’s eightfold path (right speech, right livelihood, and so on); some of the precepts of Taoism (to create without owning, to give without expecting, to fulfill without claiming); Christ’s Beatitudes; the Bhagavad Gita; and instructions from teachers.

Next, look around for good examples. This second yardstick for right action invites us to channel the discernment we’ve received, often unconsciously, from observing people who consistently make elevated moral and ethical choices. This is the basic “What would Martin Luther King do?” question. You could also look to your grandmother, the teacher who spent her after-school hours helping failing kids, or a friend who always “gets it right.”

The third step is to see what feels right for you. You might know what the books say is the right thing to do. You might long to make the decision that Jesus or the Buddha or one of your more saintly friends would have made. But if something feels wrong for you personally, then it probably is not your dharma, and that means that you probably shouldn’t do it.

The fourth criterion, do what’s best for all, cuts to the heart of personal dharma. Doing what’s best for all involves a wholesome resolve, or an unselfish motivation. It involves the desire to help others, to serve the situation, and to accept responsibility for creating positive change.

Finally, all these methods for following the thread of dharma really work only when we’re in touch with our spiritual core, the authentic, essential Self we experience when we enter deep into our own being. Different traditions call that essential Self by different names-the heart, the inner Self, the Tao, pure Awareness, Presence, or basic emptiness-but one thing all agree on: When we’re in touch with it, we are in touch with our highest dharma.

Feathered Peacock Pose
Pincha Mayurasana

(pin-cha my-your-AHS-anna) piñca = feather
mayura = peacock

Step by Step

Perform a modified Adho Muhka Svanasana at your yoga wall, with your palms and forearms on the floor. Your fingertips should be right at the base of the wall, and your forearms parallel to each other at shoulder width. This pose isn’t quite as scary as Adho Mukha Vrksasana; it has a firmer base of support, and the head isn’t as far away from the floor. But it can still be somewhat intimidating. To ready yourself for and secure yourself in this inversion, firm your shoulder blades against your back torso and pull them toward your tailbone. Then rotate your upper arms outward, to keep the shoulder blades broad, and hug your forearms inward. Finally spread your palms and press your inner wrists firmly against the floor.

Now bend one knee and step the foot in, closer to the wall (let’s say the left leg), but keep the other (i.e. right) leg active by extending through the heel. Then take a few practice hops before you try to launch yourself upside down. Sweep your right leg through a wide arc toward the wall and kick your left foot off the floor, immediately pushing through the heel to straighten the leg. Hop up and down like this several times, each time pushing off the floor a little higher. Exhale deeply each time you hop.

Hopping up and down like this may be all you can manage for now. Regularly practice your strength poses, like Adho Mukha Svanasana (or the modified version that’s the beginning position here), Plank Pose, and Chaturanga Dandasana. Eventually you’ll be able to kick all the way into the pose. At first your heels may crash into the wall, but again with more practice you’ll be able to swing your heels up lightly to the wall.

If your armpits and groins are tight, your lower back may be deeply arched. To lengthen it, draw your front ribs into your torso, reach your tailbone toward your heels, and slide your heels higher up the wall. Draw the navel toward the spine. Squeeze the outer legs together and roll the thighs in. In Pincha Mayurasana your head should be off the floor; hang it from a spot between your shoulder blades and gaze out into the center of the room.

Stay in the pose 10 to 15 seconds. Gradually work your way up to 1 minute. When you come down, be sure not to sink onto the shoulders. Keep your shoulder blades lifted and broad, and take one foot down at a time with an exhalation. Lift into Adho Mukha Svanasana for 30 seconds to a minute. We tend to kick up with the same leg all the time: be sure to alternate your kicking leg, one day right, next day left.