9/20/2019 0 Comments Add Some Life to the ListThe beauty of a dedicated asana practice is reflected around the world these days, as millions of Yoga practitioners are so committed to evolving their practice. Though personal reasons for this vary from person to person, the result is the same….beauty, the body becomes an art form. The body, as it is in asana, is a result of focus, commitment, and restraint…all of which, are characteristics and disciplines of engaging with the practice and fully bringing it to life. In my experience of leading practitioners through the series of the First Two Limbs of Yoga (the Yamas and Niyamas), a common response I receive is “Oh yes, I know those already”. I question though, if knowing them already, means having the ability to list them and define them…pretty ABC. But this is so very different from living them and establishing a living relationship with them. Anyone who has developed an active, committed relationship with their asana practice will relate to this. As a balanced comparison to Asana, I wonder, if so many Yoga practitioners truly “know” the first two limbs of Yoga, wouldn’t our world be growing increasingly beautiful (like asana)…collectively, wouldn’t we be moving closer to respect, integrity, and authenticity, rather than further away from it? Like a student of mine recently said, “we don’t even know we’re not practicing them”…we’ve somehow come to think that being able to memorize the list is the equivalent of knowing, of understanding, and of developing. Engaging with the yamas and niyamas requires the same attributes that we’re so willing to put toward the development of our asana practice, so why do we offer such an elusive commitment, such a vague defensiveness when mentioning a practice of ethics, and applying the same dedication to them? As we know, the Yamas themselves are restraints…an aspect of ourselves we’re willing to bring forward in our physical practice, but it seems a cringeworthy prospect when we consider restraining our behaviours. What is the discomfort in even thinking about that? I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s because we know they will evolve who we are in the world; likewise, we fear that restraint means a loss of freedom; and, similarly, we fear the inner discomfort that can come full-on when we face ourselves from a new perspective. The truth is, that our inner misalignments are our own, which means we do have the power to align them…but we have to believe in that power to do so. We have to believe that we can remain on an even keel while our ego experiences (sometimes huge) discomfort. Same as with those asanas we “perfect”. But when it comes to our emotional selves, somehow we’re less willing to fall down, we want to protect ourselves from that. But it’s necessary to fall emotionally. There is no other way to get back up. Power is not something we’re generally taught about; and sadly, the power we’re shown “out in the world” is that of dominance, overbearance, and of a misuse of power that has become acceptable. Yet the power to override our coarser selves is a beautiful inner space indeed. The thing about power (the beautiful power), is that it’s a trait we are introduced to and come to know FROM doing something we’re not so certain about. It’s not the other way around. It’s far less likely that we’ll feel power first and doubtful action second. Waiting until we’re comfortable to grow can often mean we never get around to it. So we need to rely on a lot of courage and compassion. Mostly, jumping in and swimming around IS the way to find our feet, to establish that power that encourages us to try other things that we’re nervous about. So it’s about self-belief, and can we trust ourselves to ride out the storm? Can we trust ourselves with learning as we go? I read somewhere about the headlights on a car only see as far as the next bend in the road…and this is such a blessing to come to terms with in our own lives. The light will shine on our path as we step forward…even if that’s a very shaky step indeed. So, for all those who say they know the First Two Limbs of Yoga, I encourage you to truly take a second look at that within yourselves…you might come back with the same response, or, you might find you’ve memorized a list.--Lettersinyoga
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