Yoga is the path of unification and a living, dynamic state of unified consciousness. Like the understanding of the unified field within physics - a vibrating field of consciousness that extends through all of the diversity of creation - yoga is both our essence and the way to re-member our essence. This re-membering in hatha yoga is the process of embodiment or experiencing the fullness of consciousness that we are. In the 21st century, we find ourselves in a grand experiment where the cellular wisdom that has evolved over millions of years is experiencing an acceleration of changes (that reveal themselves in the yoga room everyday). For most people in urban centers (even in the small and spacious town of Bend), the rhythms of daily life are radically different from any of their ancestors before. The effects of abstract and instant communication - television, email, cell phones, etc. - that draw and fragment our awareness to the shifts of mono-culture of the body with more and more sedentary-frontal-plane ways of moving in the world, are changing the quality of our embodiment. These shifts combined with an already long history of ambiguity and conflict with the body in the West and current high levels of stress-related diseases are creating an adaptation to disembodiment as a cultural norm. -Shiva Rea from Introcuction to Embodying the Flow
Currently, I feel this disembodiment in my own life in the area of confidence. I simultaneously fear being seen and being invisible, which is a fragmented experience of it's own. As a yoga teacher, these fears are detrimental at best and debilitating at worst. I cannot hide while teaching, nor can I fully reveal who I am in each moment, the experiences of anxiety, unworthiness, insecurity - are not exactly what you look for when choosing which class to take. Yet, to deny these aspects of myself would be inauthentic and not serving the parts of myself that need full acceptance in order to be let go of - you can see the dangerous path of fragmentation, right? So, what then?
What is the middle ground between the seen and unseen?
After sitting with this question for even just a minute, I knew the answer - it was simple really: embodiment, an in dwelling, a quality you can't describe, it is the essence of charisma, it is that lovely quality that your favorite yoga teacher holds, it's charming, it magnetic and it's special because we have all experienced in ourselves, yet are drawn to those who seem to shine it forth - it's fearlessness - it is an utter trust in, and awareness of, and operation from the inner most Self. Our yoga practice has the ability to provide space for us to re-embody in this way. To provide our entire beings to move in a way that our ancestors did - in a way that is in alignment, with Nature, God, the Universe, Community and Self, no separation, no fragmentation, and very little, if any, abstract or mental fear, aka insecurity. My hope is to practice this, on the mat, but also in all that I do. I have a yearning to be whole and to remember who I am. Do you also share this desire? Let's join together and flow!