The Unbearable Lightness of Being

The title may be deceiving.  This is not a post about Communist Czechoslovakia.  I just liked the title!

Yoga often works with dualities.  These dualities are interpreted in different ways depending on the philosophical approach; Classical Yoga holds duality to a black versus white approach and Tantric thought holds that all is really one.  A shade of gray.  As my yoga practice has evolved and my own recovery with my eating disorder has progressed I’ve found a shift from this black versus white way of thinking to a gray place that I have often blogged about.  I discovered this in recovery well before I began to really study yoga and interestingly enough while at first in yoga I drifted towards the Classical perspective I’ve found that in getting to know myself more deeply that the real truth has been more aligned with the Tantric approach.  However picking Classical versus Tantra would be applying duality and that would be negating the whole argument.  It isn’t just one or the other, but instead the personal combination that resonates strongest within me.

A couple weeks ago I was focusing on grounding in my yoga classes.  In a complement to the airy, movement oriented, Vata season, I wanted my students to experience their ground.  To go within to the strength and the stillness of finding their roots.  Long holds in standing postures, four-corners of the feet finding strength on the mat.  Empowering seated postures and deep belly breathing.

This week in a dualistic compliment to grounding I chose to focusing on lightness, freedom, and flight.  In order to find our flight we must first find our ground, feeling safe and strong there, rooted in our First Chakra, before we can safely spread our wings.  Flight and freedom can sometimes be a scary prospect.  We must trust in ourselves and our abilities and that even if we do fall we will find grace in the motion.

Humans often seek the thrill of flight. The yoga mat may not be the first place we look; perhaps it is through a ropes course, a trapeze class, a hike up a cliff, or even learning how to fly an airplane.  Even for those who don’t have a fear of heights there is still the sheer exhilaration of what they find through these adventures; an all consuming experience that brings them to the edge of their humanity.  A true experience of being in the moment.

As our lives become more hectic and more tethered by technology I find that people are increasingly seeking out these experiences.  Maybe they can’t get to the more extreme types of flight, either because of space, time, or physical limitations, but I assure you that they can find this place on the yoga mat.  Perhaps they may have to be more patient to get there, but look within. It exists.

Grounding and flight exist beautifully together, but they are both action oriented, so where do we really go within to experience? Why the belly of course!  The powerhouse of our soul.  Much more to come on that front!

When my core is touched by music
love’s wine begins to flow.
In this temple of fire my blood
is melting the snow from my body.
It is spring, it is time for action,
It is time to throw away all false pretenses.
Dragged and pulled in love, I bear all the pain.
Caught in this confusion, in this bitter sweetness
I am the captive of this journey.

-RUMI

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Photo Credits: Yoga Journal. Hannah Siegle