When yoga is confused with exercise, fitness and physical ‘health’ people do all sorts of weird and wonderful things. The body becomes an object and the mind dictates what to do.
This is the opposite of the Yoga that I embody and teach.
The body has the secrets and the answers. Somewhere, held between our flesh and our spirit, joyful mysteries are waiting to be uncovered and delighted in.
If we listen to the body and let it lead us we can shift from ignorance to knowledge and transform suffering to bliss.
I do this daily, so it is not empty words.
In our Deep Healing Retreat the first Asana session was self governed. One the very first night a room of 13 women all listened in to their breath, energy levels, desire for stretch or strength, openness or closedness, expanding, grounding or retreating. In this scenario the vibe of the room is one of calm, respectful, honest goodness.
No instructions. No one needs to be the boss.
Like the drops that make up the ocean we are individuals and yet united as one ocean: experiencing the tidal waves of life in an ebb and flow.
That is how I witnessed the unravelling.
Calming, Honest, Self Referential and so very very Goooood.
The was of being in the Yoga is natural and easeful and the focus is not on doing something, its not on randomly moving something. As Mary Bond says, the senses ignite the movement. A sensation is felt, there is a calling or request from within and the listening person responds with awareness, deep witnessing and a pleased heart. Pleased that we can so simply meet the body’s self evident requests and inner knowing. Pleased that we are far more capable of being with the body’s goodness than we would have otherwise known.
It's really not that hard.
There are certain ingredients required that made this session so natural and easeful and devoid of self consciousness. I won’t share them here as it is my skill and training. But those present and those who attend my regular weekly class know that there is a distinct feeling of receiving the voice of the body and following it, compared to telling the body what to do next.
The second option is a disembodied authority, an unelected despot who no body loves anymore.
If you watch my Intuitive Flow videos on YouTube you will get a taste for what it is to listen deeply so that the yoga arises from an honest place as a gift given to you.
No seeking, no reaching, no ambition or drive.
Intuitive Flow is a sacred honouring of body, breath, heart and mind. Usually this takes place in the ecosystem of nature which supports the fullness of the experience.
What is a human body without sun, shadow, breeze, scents of flowers and leaves, earth and sky? Union with nature is a way to receive the gift of beautiful life.
In Deep Healing Retreat we got ourselves out of the yoga room as often as possible and retreatants have shared some of their gorgeous moments with self and nature.
So receive your yoga, let it fall into you. Perhaps through surrender of the walls that protect you, let them crumble and take the tension with them as they fall. Perhaps through lingering on a sensation and seeing where it leads you. You will know. The gift of self knowledge bring the gift of self trust.
I invite you to receive your yoga wherever you are now. It can’t be taken from you. Not even in a slouched posture or when in chronic pain.
Take this moment and let yoga be with you.
“I am whole, complete and a perfect part of this universe”