the Energy of Transformation...

This is why I practice, to transform. Of course I'm appreciating this on a day that I did not practice any asana, I did practice pranayama and chanted Ommmm... for a while this morning, and had full intention of practicing after my class, but I was hungry, so I went to eat breakfast, then thought I would practice a few hours later when my belly was empty, then had another bought of hunger (strong hunger patterns today lol) and so ate, now it could happen again but I am slated to meet a friend for dinner in about 45 minutes, so no asana for me today, and in thinking about this this morning at Starbucks the title for this post came up and then I went through a mental process to figure out what that meant to me, so here it is. To me the physical practice of asana, one of the limbs of yogic philosophy, is essential. To some, it may not be so much, but for me its a much needed thing. My body is too unhappy when I don't, today its not bothering me at all (cumulative effects I imagine) but very often it is, and when its not happy, its hard to focus on anything else. It is housing my spirit after all, so its important. Anyhow, so I love moving and putting my body into these interesting shapes, breathing into them and feeling the energy move through a space, maybe in a way that it never has before, or in a familiar way that I know is signifying that that area is opening up the way I know it can, either way is wonderful to me. And in the Ashtanga Yoga tradition between these shapes we jump back, inhale into updog, exhale into downdog and then jump back through and sit down (vinyasa), lining up for the next posture in our sequence So lately I've been having a lot of sensation in my arms during the vinyasa portion of my practice. Not pain, not nervous twitching, not even muscular strain, just sensation. Sensation that sometimes makes me feel like I'm too weak to do yet another vinyasa, or that I need to give up and stop my practice, and then I think nonsense! I've done this for many years, I know I can make it through this part of the practice especially! So I go forward, not pushing physically, just breathing more deeply, feeling the sensation, letting it be there and then it passes eventually. So what happens next are thoughts pop up, or memories of things that have left an impression on me, or an icky feeling with them. Depending on where I am that day, I may sit and feel the feeling, or allow the thought to be there before moving forward into my next asana or next vinyasa in preparation for my next asana, and some days I'll just keep moving forward through whatever I'm already doing and just allow the thing to be there whilst I do so. Either way, I breathe more deeply, move with that breath and allow the thing to be there, and eventually it falls away, or if its a deeper pattern (or samskara in Sanskrit) my whole practice that day may be dedicated to it, meaning it rides the whole while with me and maybe even another day before I'm able to allow it on out and through me, or before it changes to a lesser emotional or energetic sensation and then eventually passes away from me. This to me is the energy of transformation. First we notice it in the body, we are taught to believe this is everything, but of course in the yoga practice we experience that there is so much more underlying that physical sensation. Then we feel it maybe emotionally, with me its always the body, then the emotion. Then we feel it energetically, as we get more and more subtle in our ability to sense things. Once I personally feel it energetically, then I'm able to allow it to move on through and release it, transform it into the strength to move on in my practice, or to move on in my day, or week, or whole life. Or just simply as it leaves to make the space physically and energetically for more flow in our existence, body-wise or life-wise. Space in our bodies is an amazing thing to have, but when it becomes enough space that you start seeing manifest in your life, and in time, how you use your time, how you view time, or how you perceive time on the subtlest of levels, thats really wonderful, and hopefully the real reason why we do this. No, not just to alter our perception of time, but to alter our perception of "reality" even, or what we think of as reality. Because trust me, reality is never what we think it is, it is much more lined up with the energy of things than with the physical perception of things, or at least I've come to see it this way, and of course I think I'm right about this, so want you to believe it to be so as well lol. So next time you're practicing, notice, are you pushing through? On a physical level? On an emotional level? On an energetic level? Either way, just notice, observe. Even the simple act of noticing it will change it and shift it and allow you maybe to perceive it differently, if not that time, then the next. Namaste and love to you all!