Gateways: Asana and Body Psychotherapy....

Upon reading Michelle's blog (see her in the sidebar of followers!) I was compelled to post what draws me to yoga, time and again. My practice began in 2000 with a strong focus on the physical asana of Ashtanga Vinyasa...and thereafter commenced a love affair with the traditionalist aspects of yoga (Right leg first, yoga sutras, Guru-disciple) etc. I've since put aside some of that. Much of my own personal journey has been working to heal psyche vis a vis the physical body, and I've found an excellent container for that process in the less- traditionalist teachings of Forrest yoga (www.forrestyoga.com). While less "traditional", I've found the Forrest practice to be an incredible bridge between asana, pranayama, and pratyahara and healing the stories held within my body.

So what's the line or the gateway between yoga and.... body based psychotherapy? Is there a line? Does there need to be one?

Yes and no. In terms of what you see in your classes at a local health club, there may be a self-designed line created by the participants of the class, or by who is the teacher, or by the lineage. When I practiced Ashtanga Vinyasa, for example, although my "stuff" came up, the paradigm of that practice did not give me a container to process it during practice itself- only later. Forrest yoga does.

In the Yoga Sutras, yoga is defined as "the cessations of the fluctations of the mind." Googling "body psychotherapy" as defined by Wikipedia , is a system that addresses the mind and the body, including awarness of the clients process as manifested in all aspects of the physical body. (rough translation, not word for word).

In a sense, all yoga is body psychotherapy (when we look at how the yoga sutras essentially address the nature of the mind...) , and in another sense, in conventional systems, weight is given to the devotional aspects of practice first and foremost.

Can we have both?

Absolutely.

My perspective on this is that its like building a house. In order to get to the sixth and seventh chakras (eg devotion) or even the heart (also devotion/bhakti) there needs to be a solid foundation in the first three chakras- the feet, legs, pelvis, and belly. Say, for example, you've recently been in a car accident, and you go to yoga class. Is the first priority to work through the ramifications of the car accident (fear, fight or flight, possibly injury?) or to connect with God? There may certainly be both at the same time....

...but we need to start with the ground floor, eg the physical and emotional bodies and lower chakras, our emotions as manifested in our body....in order for our spiritual connection to be solid and have staying power.

I've had several friends/clients ask me if they could just skip healing and go straight to God. Yes and no. Spirit/God/dess can certainly accompany all of us throughout our journey, but you can't build a house without a ground floor: at least, not a house that will weather life's storms.

So as our individual and collective healing work is done, whether through yoga asana or elsewhere, we are able to structure a more complete and authentic connection to God/spirit/source.

Back to the original topic : try an experiment. Next time you get on your mat, slow down your asana practice. Close your eyes, and send your breath into a part of you body that has been habitually tight. And from there begin to sense what emerges.

Heart-core Power...

I've been struck recently by the connection between the power of the heart and the power of the gut- eg the knowing-ness flowing between the third and fourth chakra.

Energetically, the third chakra extends from navel to solar plexus (eg almost to sternum) and encompasses issues of self power, gut knowing/intuition, and will (power). On that level its connected to manifestation- manifestation through power.

Our heart (anahata) chakra flows upwards from the third into the physical heart, and around and behind the back body...thats why grief can run in currents behind the heart.

What do you love in your life? What brings you joy? What do you love to do? Do you love your work/service? Chances are, tapping into the answers to this question follows the flow of energy between third and fourth chakra.

For awhile, I've felt a dull ache in my third chakra without "knowing" what it was about. A dear mentor suggested that it was, perhaps, time to entertain going to graduate school for body based psychotherapy ( a vision I've held since childhood.) Instantly, as soon as I said YES and set up the interview, the ache in my third chakra ceased, my ribs physically dropped/relaxed, and my heart found more calm.

What's your vision?

The First Blog- Unity

Hello, aloha, and welcome.  Or to quote Michael Franti "Hello, hello, hola hola, bonjour bonjour, ....." (there was more to that but the cd is in the car).  I first heard that song by him yesterday and what brought tears to my eyes was the absolute feeling of  inclusion and unity- we are equally blessed and we are all in this thing called humanity together.

The sense of unity I felt when listening to Michael Franti's "Yell Fire" album last night opened my heart wide - like yes, people, this is what its all about.  We are one.  

The nightcap, to that  was finding Marianne Williamson's "A Return to Love" next to my bed: resonating with beautiful universal truths.  Relax.  Innately we are whole, its just that sometimes the soot of our "stuff" obscures us from remembering /knowing that. 

  And in that wholeness we are connected to Source- pain and suffering are simply us forgetting that connection.   I've read that in books, I've heard it from teachers, and more and more I own it in my heart.

Beauty- whether in an uplifting song, an inspirational book, a moment of clarity- is a reminder to me to step back from the internal dialogue and remember.

namaste,

Jessica