Space, Matter, and Yoga
We Are Dead Stars"What is human existence? It turns out it's pretty simple: We are dead stars, looking back up at the sky."
Posted by The Atlantic on Thursday, February 5, 2015
Matter is organized energy. One of your body's six chief ingredients is hydrogen. The life of stars. How you practice yoga emanates your practice of life. The multi-task thinking approach is apparent in several defined styles of yoga. No wrong or right. It is how the person needs to move their energy. The body ultimately conveys a message to the mind when it is time to change. Just like stars burn hydrogen until new elements are born from the heat; the same for a yoga practice. The longer it is practiced for well-being, the brighter the core shines.
Creating a pose happens in suspended expectations. So subtle. Starting and end point untraceable. Each breath of a pose eclipses the last one. Mind and matter lose their separate identities. By holding the space...or, rather, allowing the space to hold you, a lot opens. Create Triangle with this approach. Position your feet to feel all of each foot on the mat. Extend the arms with a dynamic intention to reach in opposing directions.Take...really take the inhale and feel the space within expand; then extend on the exhale to reach for your soft edge before you come down to reach for the Earth. Feel the reach. Feel your fingers brush the tip of what your hands are seeking to touch. Surrender.
You are now in the first dimension of the pose. Observe how breath moves you from the inside out. If you feel any nuances of the body out of alignment, adjust. Make moves in micro-units. Water doesn't boil until it reaches 212 degrees; it simmers, builds heat, moves to changing temperatures. As with water, so is the pose. You can simmer at one degree beneath the tipping point and experience a lot of movement. Keep breathing and focus on your energy...how it is adjusting...your heightened awareness of details...how movement exists in stillness.
Come out of pose and counter it with a Sun Salutation or another movement the body asks. Repeat Triangle again...this time, even slower. Change meshes the body and mind energies closer. Sting's song "stars seem to lose their place" is understood. Maybe a bit unsettling...but, actually...let's just say, enlightening. Unlearn habitual holds. Use your breath as a compass. You might find your latitude was mentally limited. Come out of pose. Do another active movement to settle the expanded space. You're a rising frequency.
Third time is a charm. Standing grounded on feet, arms extended from the fingertips, take that inhale and reach far on the exhale. Do it like you're about to calmly parachute from a plane high in the sky. Get ready to fly. Embrace brevity of deliciousness of creating and understand the significance...without thinking. You can step into infinity. It's finding what you thought you lost. You feel the fire. You feel the water. You feel Love. Breathe. Keep the core and spine suspended in gravity's hands. It is no longer a pose.
It is a constellation of you. Your history, your present, your known and unknown dreams/realities...condensed. Taking a pose to the edge is like balancing on the cusp of death. You are living in one place...stepping into the unknown. Fear holds you back. But, even fear is necessary. Sometimes, it is not the right time for the body to cross the edge. You'll know if you ignore your ego. Intuition and common sense need to be listened to and respected. The secret is not to be limited by universal or long standing personal beliefs. Practice to transcend.
I am a quantum yogi. Every move is indivisible; yet is the sum of everything. My definition of fitness is not a script of moves to do; times to endure; heart rates to obtain; muscles to define. Pushing the textbook script of yoga/physical fitness aside opens doors. Patterns of thinking inhibits the use of your mind. Patterns of physical moves inhibits the body. Physical is influenced by energy. Einstein taught us this truth. "The field is the sole governing agency of the particle."
You are the field and you govern your effervescent particles with thought. Tap into thoughts to tap into your energy field. In yoga, the practice is a time to hone and expand your energy field. Practice with like minded and don't be surprised if you feel like you rode an amazing roller coaster. You did. Physical is delicious in it's own right. Energy rides are decadent. Decadent because that is what we are. And, matching energies move like waves of the ocean. No telling who leads the dance...it just flows.
Practice to expand with space. Practice to ride the waters. Practice to experience the moment beyond time. It is a sensual merge of physical and spiritual energies. Once you have your first ride...the lines blur and you start the journey to your human edge.
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