Shifting from negative to positive.
The practice of healing.
Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi,
Yamas, Niyamas
Asana, the physical postures of yoga, is only one limb of the practice.
Asana gives me permission to check in, to actually feel the sensations in my body.
To stretch and strengthen, to bring a flow of oxygen to and through my body.
My mind will often label bodily sensations when still early in the practice.
The mental aspect of the practice
Gives me time to analyze these labels I've created myself,
To re-write them, and
then offer them up.
Surrendering ego to true self.
Which is only possible through concentration.
For example:
In ‘Side Angle Pose’ ‘Utthita Parsvakonasana'
My mind: “I am bloated today (label). I don't feel totally comfortable in my skin right now."
-As a result, my breath shortens which enhances the discomfort.
Yet we are still in the posture..
and then I remember I came here to heal myself- that was my intention I set at the beginning of class.
The teacher says “Take a deep breath in and a slow breath out"
I zone in on my breath. I really focus. I am breathing.
This brings me to Pranayama:
When I ‘zone in’ on my breath, it naturally deepens, and my nervous system sends signals throughout body that all is well.
The practice of Pratyahara, turning inwards, begins when I gather all my attention to my breath and the subtle changes in the sensations of my body.
My mind chirps in: “wow, I feel great, strong even, and spacious.”
In each breath of awareness, my mind and body become calm, shifting from negative to positive.
My body informs my mind that all is well. My mind informs my body that all is well. My entire experience shifts from negative to positive.
Dharana, Dhyana
Concentration, Meditation
Now my mind and my body are in a state of constant positive communication.
Before the practice of yoga, they weren’t in communication at all.
Through constant practice of awareness of the breath and the fluctuations of the mind and bodily sensations,
I reach a state of inner bliss. It feels like laying in the sunshine as a child, like giving and receiving love-to say the least.
This is Samadhi. Constant practice of inner awareness is required to reach this state and you might only experience it for a moment. But that moment will transform everything.
And so after practice I am let out into the ‘real world'.. I have sudden realizations about the ways I’d like to change my life, the future I'd like to see. And through these realizations I practice Yamas and Niyamas day-to-day..
By being truthful, honest, kind, clean, considerate, passionate, inquisitive, dedicated, and trusting.
So then when I return to my practice, I do so with more integrity and strength.
My practice grows and expands beyond the boundaries of my mind I once knew. My life transforms and becomes clear.
Each practice I feel more ease.
Each day I feel more at ease.
Practice and all is coming.
In honor of NEDA National Eating Disorders Awareness week, check out this Yogaland podcast by Andrea Ferretti
