"It may at first seem that the yoga practise on the mat is about our bodies, our arms, our legs, our shapes, our ability to balance flexibility and strength and yet over time the focus moves away from the physical...far way. What we are really working with is not the body, but the mind within; the body and the postures are just the physical work, the tools, playground, the scene, the way to grasp it, and from the first breath this tangible, visible, physical material and techniques command us to pay attention, focus, and remain in the present moment only.... setting up a control boundary around our bodies and our mats the practise has this way of narrowing down the limitless variables of life so that we may start to observe them more clearly, initially we are amazed by all that we had not noticed when we were rushing about, self important and blindly caught up in the world. This world that we get caught up in not only exists outside but also inside, as we each carry our own world of thoughts and snares with us around in our heads...
Aided by the quiet comfort of a steady practise the mind relaxes and begins to learn that it is actually OK to relax, to give up the control, to slow down, to stop chasing the next thing! In this first stage the mind ( or should I say 'We') starts to let go of the external, superficial or physical layer and gradually and naturally starts to descend within, through the breath , every breath , and every part of the breath and it's sensations and we begin to discover the splendour and richness of our forgotten inner worlds, not the superficial layer of thoughts and snares but the deeper layers that lie covered beneath...
We learn, if we are lucky, and with time, to let go of all that bubbles to the surface for us along the way... for you see each practise is different, as is each moment, there is just no point of trying to over-examine, analyse and 'find out why' about everything that comes up, it is endless work, if we get stuck here, as we all do for a time, we will lose the inner path which continues on to deeper more subtle layers of discovery.... The practise spotlights parts of us and makes things surface for observation and analysis, which afterwards become identified and dismissed, or rather acknowledged and accepted. Over more time and this ability to learn about ourselves and then let go we may just transcend beyond it all, to a place where we still may be in the act of moving, positioning our body, breathing and knowing and yet it all happens somewhat spontaneously, in the background, at a distance, on the surface...
As our focus gets softer and softer and we learn to let go let go and keep moving onwards and inwards through our work we find that the mind we started out with has also loosened it's grip on us... it's like whatever we thought we were before, we are released from. If we reach this stage we have made space for consciousness, which can be thought of as shy or subtle/ fine, to be experienced because the more gross mind and logic have been quietened. Only when we have this willingness to not only take responsibility for, but to rise above the control of ego, mind, breath and body can we reach the glory of the deeper levels of the heart and Spirit. And then the whole process of the awakening becomes unveiled. Then we know in an instant that which we call yoga and why we do it.
This is the way of Yoga for me,
A transcendence to freedom
-Leanne
