In the inquiry of the body. Why do you practice yoga postures? Why do we, as a culture, deeply benefit (or not benefit) from asana practice….
The whole system of yoga is made of many dimensions, they are synthesized in a text called the Yoga Sutras, and described as 8 Limbs of Yoga. Asana is one of the limbs and its the one that the west has grabbed on to as the main focus of Yoga in the dominant culture….. although the other layers of practice are sometimes present in classes, trainings and workshops, and sometimes they are not present at all.
Personally, in my life and practice, I am very much in the inquiry of the role of postures in accessing Yoga or Unity Consciousness. The other day while practicing, the knowing kind of dropped in in a deeper way, much like it does in those movements of connection when some kind of understanding is felt about the great mystery of life… ‘aha moments’ … in this moment I could really feel what it is to be an embodied spiritual being, to have a body that is a vessel for spirit and love to shine into the world.
The body is a part of the multidimensional self; body, mind, ego, emotions, energy, wisdom, witness, spirit, oneness, divinity…. the body is a part of this whole being, and through it we can open to a free flow of spirit and divine connection. It’s like, through the body I can access spirit because the channel is open and clear, but if a practice becomes souly about being in a body and perfecting a particular form, we create a loop of ego and narcissism that is counter productive and reaffirms the ego tendencies of a false self, and it can even cut us off from the stream of sacred energy that is abundant and available to all beings.
It’s a strange time to be an embodied spiritual being, a time when yoga is sold as a weight loss technique and people take endless selfies of themselves in yoga poses and get really preoccupied with fashion accessories. No judgement of course, just the inquiry, ‘isn’t this interesting’.
I”m really really grateful that my practice facilitates moments of clear connection with spirit, and I am motivated to create opportunities for others to open up to the vastness of their own potential as an embodied spiritual being, to create spaces where bodies are loved, cared for and deeply respected as vessels for higher wisdom and divinity.