There are so
many layers to a yoga practice. There’s
the tangible asana or postures – the flow of a sequence with the vinyasa
transitions/re-sets. There’s the
balance of achieving the same depth or expression of a posture from right side
to left side. There’s literally
balancing on one leg or on the backs of your arms. There’s flexibility and strength and finding consistency between
these two separate-but-equal aspects of practice. These are all visible, touchable, explainable things that are
fleshed out, focused on, and progress-measured for any given yogi.
And then there
are the less tangible aspects of practice.
There are mental and emotional challenges or releases; there are
energetic realizations. It’s often
said, and is true for me, too, that time on the mat teaches a degree of letting
go, of surrendering the mind to the physical awareness of being in this moment
only, not dwelling in the past or pushing for the future. Depending on the dogma of any given yoga
teacher or studio or individual practioner, even, the unseen inner progress
(which, granted, eventually does morph into a tangible outer result, like it or
not – to quote O2 Yoga founder Mimi Loureiro:
“I teach yoga because it makes people nicer.”) is often the most
beneficial part of a complete yoga practice.
Yoga almost gives you permission to stop, breathe, and discover the best
version of yourself there is.
The energetics
piece of yoga is truly interesting to me and is the next layer I’m
exploring. Does it make a difference if
I flip my palms up towards the sky as I sit cross-legged versus flipping my
palms down on my knees? One is said to
be a lifting energy, the other grounding.
Does that work? Is it
placebo? Does it matter either
way? What about mudras like gyan mudra
(connecting your thumb and forefinger when the arm is extended) or taking a
chin lock in various seated positions – what does that actually do? It feels more yogic to employ these things,
so I do them and I think they make my practice feel more complete, but who
knows? To me, using them is almost like
learning correct grammar – if you want to seem less pedestrian, you will take
gyan mudra in your twist.
Where I have
noticed an actual difference, however, is with my savasana mantra, of all
things. I’ve written about this several
times, but it’s something I definitely think is worth repeating as often as
humanly possible. O2 Yoga instructor
Carol Ciaravino closed a practice once by asking the class to think “I am” on the
inhale and “here now” on the exhale. So
simple. So revolutionary. This mantra completely changed my
practice. I started using it in every
class and the next thing I knew, I was leaving every class feeling as if I were
literally an improved human being. I
felt focused, grounded, and renewed.
And all I did was remind myself to remain present for five minutes at
the end of class. How could anything
be this easy?
I discussed this mantra with anyone who would stand
still long enough to listen and had some especially interesting conversations
with my friend Tom about this topic. He
suggested an alternative to “I am/here now” by thinking “I” on the inhale and “Am”
on the exhale. I experimented with
this, too, and for me, “I/Am” was a much louder, bolder statement than “I
am/here now.” My mantra felt grounding,
calming, and restorative. His felt
empowering, bold, and energizing. So
when I taught Dedication Yoga last Sunday, this was the energetics option I
gave the students – instead of asking them to flip palms up or down, I asked
them to pick one mantra or the other, depending on what their energetic needs
for the day were. It’s kind of like a
yoga revolution – or a yoga evolution.
The options – the variations – the modifications – are endless. Do what works best for you and your
practice, that’s the bottom line, right?
Simply breathing works wonders for me.
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