If you have been practicing yoga for some time, at some point you may find
yourself to have ‘out grown’ your regular class, or bored of the same routine. In
many ways, this can be cause for celebration! Your consciousness has expanded
and no longer are the worries of ‘ I don’t know what that Sanskrit word means,
or ‘ I look terrible in this pose’, prevalent in your mind.
So pause here. This is the potential still point to enter into the ground of being, to
access your freedom.
For many of us, we can jump straight into ‘looking for’
a) a different yoga style
b) a new teacher
c) a more advanced pose
or we drop out completely because our mind says ‘oh yeah, I’ve nailed that Yoga stuff’ , but the invitation here, is to stay just a little while longer, in the space and freedom that you have created for yourself from all the effort you’ve put into your yoga asana practice. It is here that the magic arises.
It’ s in the familiarity of the poses that the thinking mind is freed and we can now
relax a little into the ‘feeling state’. It’s the place where you feel safe enough to
close your eyes and really feel the sensation, whether that is a stretch, a tension,
a tender bliss feeling or an irritation, it is the moment you have really connected
to a deeper sense of self.
It is during these moments that you may be compelled to make a satisfactory
sigh and your body moves with more grace and ease.
When our fundamental Consciousness is free it is compelled to express itself
through action or movement and its extremely satisfying and liberating to do so!
Have you ever tried to stifle a yawn compared to fully letting it out?!
So how do we express this freedom in yoga?
For me, it’s in the transitions. If the class is a Vinyasa, I get a little more creative
in moving between the poses… it’s ‘me time’ however fleeting, I can be fully
dedicated to expressing the inner feeling through movement, the shape of my
hands, the flow of my arms, my breath moving into my feet and toes and the
whole body becomes one with the dance.
Some teachers even offer freedom to ‘go on your own’ for one or two rounds of a
flow sequence. In any class however, we can take full responsibility for our
freedom, either physically, emotionally or mentally and choose, from here, where we place our attention. This is a process, or a deepening of the awakening
conversation within, which then shows itself in action.
There seems to be a growing trend in free expression classes, such as ecstatic
dance, embodied flow and free time in Vinyasa…. perhaps it’s a sign that we, as a
westernized yoga culture, are becoming more collectively liberated and
simultaneously expressive.
*Flow state – continually being on the edge of skill level and capability