Free Falling with Yoga
Free falling with Yoga
Free falling with Yoga
My first article of the series was a journey with Yoga and now we are half way through our course at NRG Yoga Teacher training I am slowly understanding pillars of mindfulness what Yoga is truly about for me, as I free fall with Yoga I am becoming more aware of the gifts I am receiving and the people who make it so special, I am surrounded by the beauty of the truth for me now, and finding more strength to stand in my truth. Not an easy journey that is for sure but definitely one worth takeing. after all whats an adventure without a few hiccups to make a good juicy story!
Yoga is less about the postures and it is more about the breath and mindfulness, I am now coming to understand these statements and what is being instilled into my consciousness to feed the unconscious …. took me a while!!
As I take a deep breath and I free fall my way through my Yoga teacher training, trust is at the forefront of my consciousness and it seems that in this time and space we are all being challenged with standing in our truth. If we don’t stand in our truth we are being dumped by the truth wave and as we come up to gasp for air we hopefully recognise the lessons, step onto the shore as the wave retreats and we are left standing firmly in our truth.
Recently, I have been doing my own processing and being dumped by the truth wave as I reflect on my experiences, I see the gifts of the wave dumping and as I read, breath and move through my asanas (postures) I absorb, release and renew. As I continue my studies I realise I have been free falling through the Yoga NRG principles of Asana (postures)
Through these principles and the eight limbs of Yoga which is part of the journey, I realised I am being guided to let go…..and yes, I fell…releasing and shifting through these principles as I am guided with grace. I think the unconscious mind has the control and you just have to ride the wave as graceful as you can as you let go, in doing that, you heal. It’s a process and the yoga was the best thing for it, I didn’t feel like it was about anything in particular it was just a flood of emotion. My body was releasing, and I liken it to the experience of free falling …..with a parachute! Well, that’s my experience, and a bit of fun. You might liken it to something else, like surfing, or something else you relate to, so here we go…
This action, of parachuting is a conscious action, but you don’t know the outcome until you try it, you put yourself through the training, and you don’t know how you will react until you do it, because you are unique and you also have a choice. Weather or not you choose to jump or not, you have a choice and you find out your boundaries when you do things that scare you find out if you fully trust or are you in distrust of self. As you would stepping out on the strut of a plane as you poise and breath having trust in self you let go……. and just do it. To jump and take a leap of faith or not to jump. It doesn’t matter really it’s just an exercise of action, not bravery, the bravery comes from recognising and learning. What matters is that you are present and honouring yourself for your mindfulness. You can’t trick your body/mind. So, I invite you to take a deep breath and free fall with me on a little adventure, here we go as we jump and free fall through some of the Yoga NRG principles of asana…..(you can breathe out now!)
Equanimity-mental calmness, poise, serenity, evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation, composure. You breathe and allow composure, you breathe you allow space for mental calmness when we poise, we breathe and allow……..
Acceptance- acceptance of self and others of where you are right now is where you are meant to be in this now. You observe the emotions such as fear and you breathe….watching the emotions of the past, pass by as a cloud passes through the sky across the front of the sun it momentarily blocks the sun creating the darkness then as the cloud moves past you observe the emotion and see the sun shine on you again. You recognise you are not in the moment if you are holding the emotion and siting with it, if you observe the emotion you allow it to pass and see the sun shine once again. Your Acceptance of self was the sun shine, as you sit with love and acceptance there is patients of the heart.
Patients – it is said if you rush the unravelling of a rose you will break of the petals, so to if you rush the unravelling of the parachute you may hinder and twist the lines causing the chute to become tangled and unable to catch the wind in its sails and gracefully open. The same goes for a journey with Yoga asana (postures) if you don’t use the breath to move through the asana and you rush them you can injure yourself, rather than strengthening. This can be applied in every area of life, if you can recognise where you maybe forcing something then we can breathe, have patients move with ease and grace and land without injury.
Beginners mind – as you imagine a time when you did something for the first time and how it feels, the beauty that is a new sensation and you are hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling, and seeing something again for the very first time, the surprise and joy of learning something new and the delight and ease of the non-questioning and just the accepting and being. Slipping through the wind at high speed feeling the wind catch your canopy and gliding you with grace through the sky’s like a bird, you see the target and you steer yourself to your landing field…
Non striving – expansive breath the openness of taking it all in, enjoying the view, breathing more and creating space for your landing enjoying the ride with the wind as you near the earth….
Non Judgement– without comparison we have no judgment, without judgment we only have love, that is purity, the foundation of compassion, as we replace emotion of judgment with compassion we detach from the discontentment and competition and self-justification. In our truth we see clarity, in our clarity it is just breath that will guide us to safety.
The letting go – going with the flow, the trusting of self and the being in the now enjoying the moment and feeling grounded.
A sense of humour – with love as a foundation you will always have the ability to smile from the heart you will change your day with a smile and everyone around you will shine.
These are the principles, as I learn to be mindful of my experiences, my teachers are in life’s little adventures and they are there if we choose to see them. I guess it all comes down to interpretation of the Mind Body conscious and unconscious ego and intelligence. I have found myself free falling through these principles, I embrace the true meaning of Yoga that I am experiencing, the words are the guild line and the explanations is my journey of truth so far. It is our own very personal process of enlightenment through trust of self. Your experience is unique in that Yoga and you are individually interpreting differently and your reality. That reality is that, no one thing is good for everyone it is our own free fall you will always have a unique experience, however the first step is to release and let go….( yes easier said than done) you may feel at times you are losing control, then you can get back on the mat (your yoga mat) and try again. As, I shift through my asana I recognise that I am at home and I am where I am ment to be. This is an important process for me right now.
This is just my experience that I relate to what yoga is teaching me through postures (Asana) and Breath (Prana) and the sum of this is helping me defrag my Mind, I feel blessed with the way in which Yoga is now part of my life and the wholeness in which it is enriching my being.
Patanjali, in his Yoga sutras explains: From the yogis stand point the practice and philosophy are inseparable. “Yoga is the process of stilling the movements and fluctuations of the Mind that disturb our consciousness”
Namaste (we are one)
But wait there’s more! join me, as I defrag with yoga and continue my journey……
Namaste (we are one)
By Linda McCall
Healthy Equilibrium therapies
www.blahblah.biz
Reference : BKS Iyengar light on life, journey into Power Byron Baptiste, Tammy Williams Yoga NRG Principles of Asanas, and me.
By Linda McCall