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articles
Awareness
by polly dibella
Yoga is a science of perception. It is a practice that enlivens us through experiential process. As the body becomes more open through the poses, the mind also becomes more clear and perceptive. The practice is not only to do the poses, but to direct our awareness to the body's experience of the pose. This focuses & strengthens the mind, deepens experiential learning and opens to another layer of physical release.
We all want to feel good and are quick to judge or resist our own experience if there is some discomfort there. Often we only become aware of our bodies when there is discomfort. For many of us, we only pay attention when we are in pain or some kind of discomfort. What would it be like to notice a subtle shift in tension, or to realize a pattern of holding, or to feel a slow spreading of relaxation through the muscles and the cells, perceiving more breath??
The point of a hatha yoga practice is to use the body as a tool to focus the mind . There is a direct relationship between muscle tension and mental agitation. The muscles around the tailbone are the first to contract when we feel threatened or stressed. This is going on all the time, even in our sleep! Each time we release tension around the tailbone, there is a little more space inside to breath, a little less mental stress. It's not so easy to say "I'm going to stop worrying about such & such" - but as we release some of the accumulated tension that comes from stress, we simply become less & less prone to stress. We are freeing the mind through the body.
Directing our awareness as part of our practice harnesses that energy of released tension and adds to it. In the beginning, you have to put some effort into cultivating awareness….as the circuit of release =awareness=release gets going it becomes easier and it spreads beyond our yoga time into our lives, our work, relationships, health, creativity……
Then we are in the practice of vairagya…… letting go, surrendering to our true nature of bliss consciousness.
-4/03
by polly dibella:
Karma Yoga
Rama Berch is the creator of Svaroopa Yoga. She writes a monthly article about the practicalities of life through yoga's perspective and inspiration. Below is an archive of these articles that you can access. The most recent articles are listed last.
To reach Rama Berch or to get more information about SvaroopaŽ yoga, contact:
http://www.masteryoga.org
Shavasana - April, 2004
LivinginShavasana - May, 2004
AttainingInnerFreedom-articleJuly2004
TheMysteryoftheHumanBody
0904MentalandEmotionalPatterns
1004HavingExperiences
1104EmbracingLifeFully
0501JustOneWord
0502TheInnerDriveToward
0503Relationships-PetsPeople
0504YogaisAboutRelationship
July2005DesireandDestiny
0508ThePowerofChoice
0509Yoga--TheDisciplineof
0511PracticeandDiscovery
0512TistheSeason
0601TheFireofYoga
0602PhysicsAnatomyandYoga
0603NamingtheExperience
0606IWantToBeHappy
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