Moving Into Harmony

MOVEMENT & BREATH: HEALTH - FITNESS - WELLNESS

The need to rest?

by

Does your practice leave you desiring Savasana, Corpse pose?
Do you tend to fall asleep in Savasana?
How do you feel 1 hour later after practice? 2 hours after? the next morning?

Savasana is considered one of the most difficult asana and is, in my observation, overtaught and too often desired at the end of a class. Savasana is meant to allow the mind to settle on the stillness, the space, and the unveiling of your true nature. It is not a pose for the purpose of recuperation and rest after an “invigorating”, challenging or hard practice.

Savasana – the seat of the corpse – is from the root word Shava. One merely dies away the “old” self to move into the openings created in your practice. A state of renewal. One digests the byproducts of their practice, and absorb the results of practice. It is recommended that the practitioner turn their awareness inward. This can purify oneself of sensory distraction. With a lessening of the senses distracting the relaxed focus of the mind, one can become more aware of their body’s subtle movements, breath and the state of mind. It can be used as a preperatory stage to meditation.

I recommend Savasana for evening practices only!

Meditation does not require Savasana. It is suggested. You can participate in your practice moving through a sequence that is inspired from inquiry into freedom. A sequence derived by oneself must be carefully monitored for pitfalls such as  attachment, desire, aversion, and violence.

I recommend for a Yoga practice, one be advised by a teacher who knows you and understands your intentions for practice; and has a good working understanding of your constitutional nature (Prakriti) and tendencies for imbalance (Vikriti). This is the beautiful combination of Yoga & Ayurveda.

Then your practice supports you. A sequence ending with seated postures, the true meaning of asana – meaning seat – is toward the end of your practice. Here your seat is prepared from the work accomplished in the standing and dynamic movements. The seat one prepares is harnessed with good circulation of Prana. One can then sit for periods of time with compassion, avoiding imposition to sit when the seat is uncomfortable or numb. This is key to the practices of pranayama and meditation.

Back to Savasana. If the body and mind drop into sleep during savasana then one risks the pitfalls of losing the connection to consciousness. Physically and energetically the body goes cold, looses the space and actually collects unwanted stagnation, especially in the lungs and heart. Repeated practice of going to sleep or dozing off during Savasana can create long term challenges often not noticed until many years later. If you fall asleep more times than not, please pay attention to your body’s signals and heed the body’s need for rest by looking into your lifestyle and the way you choose to live your days.

The results of your practice can leave you feeling:

  • Warm, invigorated and light
  • A feeling of ease with activities of daily living
  • Feelings of fluidity when arising from sleep the next day
  • Energized circulation
  • Grounded, with sharpness and clarity of mind; relaxed focus of attention
  • Clear senses; emotional and mental fluidity

 

Lighthouses

by

“Sail on!” it says,
“sail on, ye stately ships!
And with your floating bridge the ocean span; Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse,
Be yours to bring man nearer unto man!”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

 

 

 

The Keeper’s Light – 
I am the keeper of the light,
housed along this cliff over the sea
all day and all night.
I stand awake and prepared
no matter the storm.
I keep the fire burning
for the ships,
that navigate these waters,
be kept safe
with my guiding light.
– Shawn M. Flot 

In our travels to the coast, we happened across a sunny calm day at a point along Southern Oregons shores, Cape Blanco. Out on the point is a historic beam of light from Cape Blanco Lighthouse. Sending its beam of light 26 miles to the horizon, it guides ships on the sea from harms way of the rocky and treachorous coastline. We learned some amazing history during our visit, and it sparked a wonderful relationship the guiding light has to our own inner light.

It is an analogy the lighthouse and the lighthouse keeper has to our own responsibility to keeping our fire burning bright. I am referring to the Agni, or fire of transformation. The strength and sustainability of one’s Agni, determines their longevity and harmony with Life. It is a never-ending process and responsibility to harness the life force, Prana, that drives life forward, to nourish and optimize our brilliant flame of life.

The life force, Prana, is in service to Agni. It acts as the agent that fuels (the life force of the “food” we digest, and winds, or Vayus, the internal winds that move the functions of the body to keep the fire optimally burning for all mind-body functions. The fire digests, transforms, assimilates, and eliminates the “food”. This accounts for all aspects of living as we “digest life” taking in life around us, translate and transform it, eliminate what is not needed and assimilate into our tissues what is needed for sustaining the demands life brings to our mind-body organism. Therefore we must keep our fire burning bright.

Back to the lighthouse – A lighthouse is built on a broad and stable foundation, overlooking the cliffs to the sea. Cylindrical in shape, wide at the base, chimney like structure provides sustainable air, shelter, and height for the guiding light. This beam of light, originally produced by a flame, pierces the night and stormy skies, guiding its travelers by with signals of caution and care.

The foundation, or home, for the light and the lighthouse keeper is essential in providing a sustainable guiding light to the ships that pass. The importance of fire, and keeping the fire burning optimally for illuminating the dark and stormy seas was essential for guidance. A sturdy, grounded structure housed a light that centered from the top of the lighthouse.

The light, the flame, was unconditionally cared for by the lighthouse keeper. His job did not sleep, to keep the fire burning brilliant and illuminate the seas for travelers by. In addition, the lighthouse keeper had to maintain the glass that housed the light, both from the inside and out. Risking life and limb he would climb out on the railed walkway, often in strong storms to wipe the glass clean of sea spray and rain.

Keeping the fire optimally burning to prevent smoking or melting the glass, required diligence with the draft that cylindrically travelled from the base of the house to the top. With venting, the keeper dialed the vents to adequatically control the winds that fed the fire. A daunting task with the ever changing winds on the sea’s edge.

Another aspect of a brilliant fire was the fuel, often carried 100-200 stairs from where it was kept in warmed steal drums. In the early years, before kerosene and electricity, the warm steel drums housed animal fats, rendered from pigs mostly. Rendering fat to fuel was a long term process involving many steps and special tanks to heat and not burn the fat. Many resources and time were consumed in the production of fuel. Sounds like a metaphor to our own digestive process.

And finally the care of the wick – monitoring the height of the wick off the oil, the dryness of the wick and it’s relative position with the glass were crucial variables in maintaining the flame for a brilliant light.

One can see the lightkeeper’s role was “very demanding, not for the weak at heart, or soul” as one historian puts it. Whatever it took to keep the fire burning bright – to be a guiding light for travelers by.

 

Please see Anatomy of a Lighthouse  for structural explaination of a lighthouse.