Being present, feeling grounded, and fearless are qualities of the first chakra. This exploration seeks to discover to what extent we can experience these resources in 3 poses: Tadasana, Virabhadrasana I and Parsvottanasana. The instruction to always stay within your level of comfort might be challenged marginally. Are you ready?
Presence
How aware can you be of your whole body? How aware of the breath? The monkey mind can easily be pulled to Planet Future and swing back to Past Haunts. Are you willing to challenge your attention and train the resource to stay present to your body and breath?
Fearlessness
To be fearless means we stand against that which scares the living daylights out of us. First chakra poses can help us do that. We make a life altering decision to dig our heels in literally, peacefully stand our ground, and breathe in and out just one more time. Yes that's the sound of the heart pounding, and yes the body is trembling a bit, and there's even sweat somewhere or other. And yes it passes when I release the pose. Halleluja!
Grounding
To feel grounded I might actually have to leave the ground a bit, lifting and lowering my heels. Over and over again, perhaps bending the knees, making larger and larger arm movements, and creating a wider more secure base by stepping the feet wider. Will I break my sound barrier today and make a sound with this movement?
This is the work we can choose to do in Yoga, if and when we are ready. This is the journey of victory. There is a breath that can help us become victorious, called Ujjayi breath, the breath of victory. We breathe through the throat without distorting the face or tensing the throat. This victory is subtle. The breath helps to keep us steady. No body knows the trouble we're seeing, or the glory. Hallelujah!
Poses
The base of the pose is the foundation. We make that strong by planting our feet firmly with the four corners rooted even when we lift the toes. In Tadasana explore various hand and arm positions to increase our resources. Explore hugging yourself, placing the hands on the heart, raising arms above the head, or any other variation. When you step forward courageously in Warrior 1 ground again before and as you bend the knee. In Parsvottonasana continue exploring arm positions: arms behind the back, Cow's Head Gomukhasana arms, prayer position at the heart, even Goddess Deviasana arms. Perhaps the arms are your weapons.
In your Yoga journey, continue taking small courageous steps as you claim the title of a Peaceful Warrior on the QT.
Heather Greaves is the owner of Body Therapies Yoga Training. She organizes yoga and meditation retreats and workshops in Ontario and Barbados, and has been helping yoga enthusiasts learn to teach yoga in a certified program. For more yoga tips or to sign up for our monthly newsletter visit http://www.yogatogo.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment