Asanas, Pranayama, and Pauses

Holding the pause links actions to results, thoughts into words, notes into symphonies and awareness into awe.

Yoga is artistic; a mosaic morphology of unexpected insight. Like music, the arrangement of notes is a tether of frequencies pulling the listener in to hear. The practice of asanas awakens deeper physical awareness. The novelty of creating, developing and accomplishing unforeseen strength is personal excitement only the artist can appreciate. The glow others see is a reflection from within. Nuances of poses are polished. And, the frequency of the practice rises.

Focus on breathing is sharpened. The timing, force and desired purpose of breathing is a self developed force. You can read about it. You can watch You Tube clips. You can study to understand the neurological and physical power of breathing. But, like music, until you practice your own instrument, you cannot master it. This is another level of commitment. Practice enough and you realize breathing is beyond inhaling and exhaling.

The length or brevity of inhale/exhale is experienced. How you can raise or lower the chemical exchange of hormones is a life-long concert. The body is in a constant state of change via age, emotions, activity (or, lack of), etc; therefore, subtle differences of the same breathing technique surface. Turn off expectations so you can attract the unexpected. Yoga's movements linked with breath provides ample distraction for a yogi's mind. In time, consciously coordinating breath with movement becomes effortless.

A passionate artist is briefly satisfied with the last note of a song or stroke on the canvas. The push to discover more becomes an insatiable force once crossed over.

Poses are personalized vs. mimicking pictures of others. Breathing deepens the power of asanas; not only because the exchange of air is understood, but the internal muscles are now flexible and strong. Details of alignment are polished. Space between thoughts widens. And gaps bridge the past and future. The horizontal road of time has a detour. Or, maybe it is a wormhole of quickening. It is on the detours where nuggets of pure gold are found. The unexpected illuminations are energetically exhilarating. You now have to dig deeper.

Are you ready to stretch beyond presumed edges? I am going to share my revelation of late. The pause bridges the finite to the infinite.

Music's magic is beyond the frequency, sequence of notes and tones played. It is the pauses between notes that empower them. In yoga, we practice pausing between movements and thoughts. We focus on the inhalation and exhalation. But, there's more to breathing than the give and take of air. Shifting focus to the pause between the next act of breathing polishes clarity of your inner lens. Like viewing a cell with a microscope, you intensify awareness of the previously unseen.

It is uncharted territory and you are free to roam and experience whatever emerges beneath the surface. Liberated from expectations, your practice deepens. The asanas, breathing and other limbs of yoga infiltrate through you and beyond. The bridge of measured time and timeliness is linked by the pause. You might slip and feel yourself falling up.

And, when you start falling up...the edges blur and your rhythm becomes your guiding light.

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