The Art Of Feeling Good unveils Ase Yoga, a self-healing practice that transcends our obstacles and transforms our lives. African American women in the United States and the Diaspora share a unique history, which has affected how we feel about ourselves. Something happen, yet we don't talk about it. But, even if we choose not to deal with the chaos of the past, the suffering of our foremothers will not fade away. Knowing the history is not enough. Healing from the "enslavement process" is crucial to connecting with our beauty and feeling good. In The Art of Feeling Good, Dr. Robbin Alston takes us on a journey to the balancing power of ase Yoga. As a guide, this book encourages African American women to begin embracing and re-claiming yoga as practice for healing. Using our ancient mystical systems, knowing who we are, reconnecting with a universal holistic spirit-mind-body energy practice, with ase Yoga, we begin to re-member, to re-discover our real identity. Dr. Alston introduces the balancing power of ase Yoga, a blend of personal energy, healing asanas, healthy lifestyles, breath connection, rhythmic movements and guided meditations designed to activate our vital energy centers, rebalance our life force and engender authentic relationships with self and others It's time to feel good. The Art of Feeling Good offers a path to wellness, right relationships and mindful choices. This book shares with you an empowering healing process that supports your journey toward self-realization and feeling good.

The Art of Feeling Good

The Power of Àse YogaBy Robbin Alston

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Dr. Robbin Alston
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-5877-5

Contents

Acknowledgments.................................................1My Initiation...................................................3Author's Reflection.............................................5The Awakening...................................................13The Simple Truth................................................21The Unveiling...................................................25Who Is Practicing Yoga?.........................................31If Not Yoga, Then What?.........................................33Who Are We?.....................................................39What Is Going On?...............................................43Embracing Right Knowledge.......................................53Personal Responsibility.........................................63The Power of Aset, an African Deity.............................65The Balancing Power of Àse Yoga............................71The Breaths of Liberation.......................................83Breath Connection...............................................85Meditation......................................................91Feeling Good: Chakra Tuning.....................................95Our Seven Major Energy Centers..................................99The Greatest Love of All Resides Inside You.....................107You've Got the Power............................................113It's Time for Love, So Let's Get Ready..........................117Express Yourself................................................121The Power of Knowing............................................125Beautiful Woman: Feel Good......................................129Appendix A......................................................133Appendix B......................................................137Bibliography....................................................139

Chapter One

The Awakening

The African Universe has an inherent life-force whichwe may conceive as underlying energy inherent ineverything and of which the Supreme Being is the source.—Chukwunyere Kamulu

After I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998,an intense feeling came over me. It was clear that Iwanted to heal. I set out to delve deeper into my life tounderstand the insecurities, unstable background, emotionalchallenges, and environmental factors that had led up to aradical mastectomy of the left breast. I asked myself, Wheredid four four-millimeter cancer cells come from? How didI get here?

Through extensive meditation and inner reflection theanswer was clear: I was clinging to the past, and the past wasclinging on to me. I wanted to live, so I set out to thoroughlychange how I had been living. I did the unthinkable. I quitmy job, focused on being healthy, and completed my studiesin psychology.

Cancer scared me into fighting to live. Suddenly cul-desacrelationships, sexiness, unfulfilling work, and "sweatingthe small stuff" no longer seemed important. Any anger Iharbored also slipped away. I began to ask myself: Who amI? Where am I right now? What am I supposed to do with mylife? However, I was unable to answer these questions.

I meditated on healing my body. What was revealed tome is that the body heals along with the mind and the spirit.Doctors can cut off a part of your body, but the ability to heallies within your own hands. Although cancer is a physicalmanifestation of dis-ease and imbalances, it ousted years ofconfused thinking. It also brought my harmful, unconsciousthoughts and behaviors to the surface.

Over the years, I'd grown accustomed to thinking a certainway. This thinking was likely a reaction to my upbringing.Seeds of low self-esteem, mis-education, inferiority, insecurity,and impoverishment had taken root and grown into a tangledweb of faulty thinking. As cancer cells invaded my body,this thinking obstructed my healing. I had adopted thoughtsabout the world and myself that were not healthy or true. Irealized that the same way I learned unhealthy behaviors Icould learn healthy behaviors. To do so, I entered a period ofdeep introspection, which led to me to yoga.

Intimidation set in the moment I entered the first yogastudio. I saw a flexible, white female going through motionsI had never seen before. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, shedidn't seem to see me. I felt invisible. As she moved throughthe postures, or asanas, with finesse and chilliness, I decidednot return. Isn't that how we typically respond when we facesomething uncomfortable? We usually give up. Yet often thevery obstacle that we run away from is, indeed, the one weneed to master. In this case, a rather persistent inner voiceurged me to return.

I returned to yoga, but this time, I detached myself fromthe instructor. Gradually, I stopped seeing the teacher'spersonality and started focusing on my own Journey of Ra(also known as the sun salutation). The teacher's technicalskills were masterful. I absorbed the skills and left the rest.It didn't matter whether she liked me or not. Once I detachedfrom her disposition, she seemed to smile more and announceda new teacher would take her place. However, her presenceno longer mattered. I needed to learn less about the asanasand more about listening to my inner voice.

They say that when a student is ready, the right teacherwill appear. Once again, another white, female yoga teacheradept taught the class. She was more approachable than theprevious teacher had been. At this point, I was studying,practicing, and feeling good. I increased my commitmentby joining a yoga community. Then something clicked:Yoga wasn't about the teacher; it was about my personalexperience. The new teacher encouraged me to go beyond theasanas. Once I did, I knew that remaining the same personwas no longer an option for me.

Despite all that I was learning and becoming, I still feltsomething was missing. Being the only African American inmy classes made me wonder where I, as a woman of Africandescent, a woman of color, fit into this discipline? Why werethere so few people of color in yoga? Did this spiritual practice,which felt so natural, exclude me? Could it be that African-Americanwomen felt intimidated by the asanas? Did yogaasanas bring up deep-rooted feelings about our bodies thatwe would rather hide? Did we understand what yoga coulddo for us? Or worse, did westernized yoga fail to address ourunique circumstances, history, and subjugation?

To some, these questions may seem unsettlingly becausetimes have changed. It is no longer the 16th century but21st. We live in a post-racial era. By placing yoga within thecontext of historical and personal experiences, I am, in manyways, violating a code of silence concerning the relationshipbetween our unique experiences and a culturally mindfulyogic practice. Regardless of our experiences, we have beentold to forget the past and live in the present. However, frommy perspective, the unparalleled experiences of African-Americanwomen during the enslavement process are, in part,the reasons behind our personal suffering, disproportionateincidences of disease, and quality-of-life issues.

Our traumas and the chaos they cause are rooted in thediscrimination, dehumanization, torture, and displacement ofmillions of African people. Our understanding of chaos mustbe at emotional level, not just an intellectual one. Chaos is anenduring and life-altering traumatic process. As with trauma,the question becomes, what do we do about chaos? Do wejust forget about it or act as if it never existed, particularlywhen our very existence is a reminder of it?

Forgetting about trauma and chaos is not acceptable.Even if we choose not to remember, the damage done andconsequences will not diminish. We can't wipe away thehorrific experiences of the past. We have inherited the seedsof our ancestors' traumatic experiences, and these seeds giverise to our choices and behaviors. Our foremothers endured,but they suffered quietly. We are a part of them, and oursuffering is naturally connected to their lives. Self-healing isthe missing process of their experiences and ours. This healingmust be channeled toward regaining wholeness and balance.Only then will we experience truth, justice, righteousness,and order.

A one-size-fits-all healing process will not work; we mustunderstand our personal and cultural experiences for truetransformation to occur. A generic psychology that embracesthe ancient Greeks as our founding fathers will not work.Whether we refer to modern-day Sigmund Freud, or modern-daypsychologist, we are neglecting African cosmology.

The theories, beliefs, and ideas of western psychology haveoften maligned the image of Africans. One example is thetheories posited by Arthur Jensen, William Shockley, RichardHerrnstein, and Charles Murray. These psychologists wrotethat blacks are genetically inferiority to whites based on IQtesting. As we explore western psychotherapy and psychology,with their sophisticated mental health classifications andaccompanying medications, we find that the system is notdesigned to facilitate healing; instead, it maintains a stateof disease and pathology. Western psychology's primaryintervention is to dispense medication. It's no wonder thatmany people prefer to opt out of the system. Psychology andpsychiatry do not offer effective treatments for the deep-seatedfragmentation, uprootedness, and distortion Africanshave experienced.

Based on my personal and clinical experience, yoga cancounteract those horrific experiences by bringing balance andwholeness into our lives. Yoga predates our traumatic period.It's as if the divine intellect—the universe, Ra, Brahman, theAll, Allah, God, Olodumare, Amun, and Nummo—gaveus yoga as the prescription for healing. The question is, arewe going to use yoga as an antidote so that we can reversethe effects of our experiences and return to our true selves?Many spiritual teachings tell us there's nothing we can doabout the past; it's over. But if your past continues to beyour present, then you must respond to the past. Some say,transcend the suffering. How do you transcend what youhave not acknowledged or understood? How do you forgetthe pain and hurt when your life is a constant reminder of thatpain and hurt? Have you ever experienced or knew someonewho has been molested? Have you lost your parents or a lovedone? Were your parents unfit or addicted to drugs? Have youever had an abusive teacher? Have you ever been physicallyabused? Has your heart ever been broken? Our experiencesbetween conception and birth shape our perceptions ofourselves and of the world.

As I learned later, our experiences define us either positivelyor negatively. When I was a child, I was beaten for walking onthe wrong side of the street. One day, I was called "nigger;"the Catholic nuns at my school told me to forget about it. Atwork one day, I was asked what day was "kill a nigger day"and told it was a joke. I was told I had to be better than goodif I wanted to keep my job. I didn't forget but I later foundout the past can serve as the source of our healing.

As I continued my journey, I had the opportunity toadvance my practice under a remarkable guru or spiritualteacher. This time, while I studied the yoga sacred texts I alsobegan to explore Kemetic yoga. I read a book by Dr. MuataAshby called Egyptian Yoga: Movements of the Gods andGoddesses (2005). As I read about the Egyptian yoga system,which had its own language, philosophy, and movements, Ifelt like I'd found a large sum of money. Words like Smai Tawi("Yoga") and Neter Metu ("Divine Speech") drew me to yogaas a healing process. As I reflected on my findings, I began tofeel good. For me, this ancient practice simply affirmed theconnection between modern-day yoga and ancient Africa.In my studies, I saw poses that were similar to the classicalyoga poses although the names were different. I researchedKemetic yoga and African cosmology but could find little onthe subject. I studied the poses, the process, and the purposeof Kemetic yoga. Each pose was connected to a deity andto a story of healing and transformation. I learned fromthe ancient Kemetic text that our ancestors practiced yogalong before it arrived in India. Why had I not been taughtthis information? I spent an inordinate of time researchingKemetic yoga and found more insights but not at the levelof Dr. Ashby's work. Meanwhile, I studied the yoga sutras;the classical yoga text, the Upanishads; a compilation ofphilosophical texts; the Bhagavad Gita; a 700–verse dharmicscripture; and Hatha Yoga which emphasizes a balanced,holistic yoga path. Ultimately, I felt most inspired by anancient style of yoga practiced in ancient Africa that connectsus to the gods and goddess by making us whole.

I discovered that the ancient Egyptians, who are thefathers and mothers of civilization, included yoga as a systemof holistic wellness. Evidence of the similarities betweenancient African practices and the yoga practices in ancientIndia has been documented by Edward Bruce Bynum (1999)and Muata Ashby (2001). However, despite the political andhistorical nature of how yoga arrived in the West, one simpletruth excited me: Our African ancestors practiced yoga. Yogaas a healing and transformative practice is our birthright, ourinheritance, and a divine gift that can awaken us.

I am awakened.

The Simple Truth

I write to keep in contact with our ancestorsand to spread truth to people.—Soni Sanchez

Traditional yoga is an ancient practice. Few peopleknow that it began in Africa more than two-millionyears ago. Long before other earlier civilizations ourAfrican ancestors practiced yoga, which included a dietaryregimen, self-study, meditation, and asanas. Proof of this canbe found on papyrus, temple walls, and statues. Accordingto Dr. Muata Abhaya Ashby and Dr. Karen Ashby in TheEgyptian Yoga: Movements of the Gods and Goddesses,yoga has been a discipline of self-awareness, self-knowledge,and self-actualization for human development since 300 BCEor earlier. As people from other regions became familiar withyoga's healing and transformative power, it spread to otherparts of the world, most notably to India.

After some time, our ancestors' knowledge became codifiedin diverse languages and faded from our consciousness.Meanwhile, our encounters with that unimaginable traumaundoubtedly left a scar. For some people, it's difficult toimagine that ancient Africa gave the world the spiritualpractice of yoga, which is seen as a blueprint for health,healing, and happiness today, but it did. Many of us havegrown up hearing Africa referred to as the "dark continent,"a place devoid of intellect, psychology, philosophy, art, orbeauty.

Far too many African Americans perceive Africa asworthless. It's easy to see why we shun the birthplace ofhumanity. Consider the hideous media and textbook imagesthat portray Africa as a continent of poor, starving people;illiteracy and poor educational systems; HIV/AIDS-ravagedbodies; and absolute suffering. Consider how little weknow about Africa's positive influence on the arts, science,astrology, mathematics, music, deep thought, philosophy,and religion.

The contributions of ancient Africa to the practice ofyoga must no longer be ignored. Mother Africa deliveredfrom her womb a symphony of natural laws and spiritualsystems that have been expressed under different guises andembedded in different cultures. Yoga students typically learnabout India's ancient deities, such as Shiva, Parvati, Vishnu,Shakti, and Ganesha, and the eight limbs of Patanjali, the yogasutras, the Upanishads, the Vedic texts, the Mahabharata,the Puranas, and the Bhagavad Gita. Such knowledge is,of course, necessary. However, it is historically inaccurateto present yoga as connected only to India. The presence ofAfrican deities—such as Amun, Ra, Olodumare, Heru Khuti,Aset, Esu, Tehuti, Maat, Ogun, Shango, and Osumare—hasbeen unconsciously (or perhaps purposefully) omittedfrom contemporary yoga philosophy. People often ignorethe deep thoughts of the sage Ptahhotep, who wrote theoldest textbook in human history. Unless someone seeks outPtahhotep's The Teaching of Ptahhotep, Divine Word, Bookof Coming Forth by Day, Papyru of Ani and the MysterySystems, he or she will not know of their existence. No onecan deny the seminal role India played in popularizing yoga;however, Mother Africa, the source of civilization, was thesource and the deliverer of yoga to the world.

Continues...

Excerpted from The Art of Feeling Goodby Robbin Alston Copyright © 2012 by Dr. Robbin Alston. Excerpted by permission.
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