The title of this post makes me imagine something requiring a loin cloth and fire dancing. For better or worse, that is not what is about to follow.
There is something about yoga asana that has the potential to move each of us deeply. There is the physical movement, of course, in transitions to poses and within a pose. There is movement through the breath. And movement of the busy mind that might settle down enough to move within the practice from awareness to hands here, strength there and length in another place in the body. There is movement into stillness and recognition of the choice to stay or move away from.
And then there is actual being-ness.
On those days that presence shimmers, a coming home to ourselves is no longer illusive. Isn’t that what we all seek? Alone or in a room full of people practising together in presence, some days you can almost hear the crackle of magic. It is so tangible, so beautifully real. It is within ‘being-ness’, fully occupied, that all else drops away…that ‘being at one with’ simply is.
Ritual and intention can help us embody being-ness. Here are ideas to consider:
- Set an intention for your practice. This could be as simple as connecting in with your breath; with hand on belly and upper chest, notice how it feels to breath and decide to take this breath awareness into the rest of your practice.
- Light a candle when practicing indoors especially when light is low in the early morning, evening, on a cloudy day or…
- Take your practice outside. Expanding the time we spend in nature is incredibly healing. (I really enjoyed this book: Vitamin N: The Essential Guide to a Nature-Rich Life by Richard Louv.)
- Place flowers nearby (bring the natural world indoors).
- Place a picture of a person you want to offer up the energy you create to or have a picture of someone or picture/symbol of something that inspires qualities you wish to manifest in your own life.
- Create a place that you feel good to be in; face a window, clear visual clutter, sweep the floor, create a pleasantly scented environment with natural essential oils if that is something you enjoy, open a window.
