Why Do Yoga
A Reflection on Why Do Yoga? by Patton Garrett Sarley
Breathe is Key
As I am coming into certain postures or when I come into a present and concious space, I often hear myself saying ‘find your breathe.’ I know that you can control your mind through breathe and with that comes an ease in your body. In postures where I find struggle and I begin to lose my breathe and focus, I learn to breathe into the discomfort because I know that breathe also heals.
I dont think its so much more than a matter of Leaning In, but rather a matter of Breathing In that is the change and transformation in our lives
Its a matter of breathing in the positive and real, while breathing out waste, careless thoughts and beliefs of ourselves and others. I really apppreciated the author’s cite that the ‘rythmic pressure of breathe’ lends to a detoxifying of our bodyily and thought based systems. I think the alignment of rythm is a powerful thing and it caters to the element of wind, which at times is as strong and powerful as the movement of water. Seeing human beings are a combination of both its caters to the perfect unity of elements.
Cleansing the Bioemotional Self
I’ve always been tauch that we hold memory in our tissue not just within our brain. So as we are breathing into our practice we are able be more aware of the places and spaces in our body where we hold tension and unease. We often forget to stop and par the creation of space to a bio and microscopic level.
All posturing creates a turnicate effect — holding blood and breathe in various spaces in the body while holding it from others until we come into a resting posture that offers a full circular release. This level of bodily biology and increased functioning of our endocrine systems allows us to stimulate levels of happiness and contentment, which caters to not only less stressful days, but an overall less stressful life.
Undoing Stress
I feel that is is a compound of the Bioemotional Self. We stack certain timelines, life obligations, and personal/social expectations on both us and each other. If we dont reach our projected goal or if things do not go as we plan we hold that tension and what we perceive as a lack of self control in the root of our psyche.
Muscular and Biovascular Health
The opening up and healthy shock to the functions blood flow, beat and breathe. I apprecitated how the author noted the unvolintary beating of the heart, how it never rests and holds a steady rythm that allows us to connect a rythmic beat of breathing to the beat of our hearts.
The mention of yoga, especially inverstion postures are some of the only times that we can give our heart a rest. Like any other muscle in the body, the heart needs to have space created so it too can ‘take a breather.’
Mind-Body Unity
Postures and Dialogue are created in create strength and flexibility in the body and forgivness in the mind.
At one point the author states, “The mind is a subtle body and the body is gross mind.”
Subtle being defined as delicately complex and understated. Gross being defined as very obvious, unacceptable and blatant. The mind being a part of and in seperable from the body, and the body being the tool to act out the percieved wants and desires of the mind and vice versa.
Yoga is a tool that allows us to integrate the fuctionality and alignment of the body with the still underworkings, creative achievement, and overall connection and control of our minds.
Where we are concious of our present state and our continuous energy, which impacts decisions made and actions taken.
Integrated Functioning
When what you think, feel, say and do are all in alignment. I love the quote: “It creates the condition to be absorbed in the moment.” I think we often feel that is the moment is just while we are in a posture or at the studio, but yoga allows us to have those moments both on and off the mat. Where our actions compliment our words and when both are a reflection of how we feel.
Awhile back I read the quote, “We come to our mats not to accomplish but to feel.” I believe that yoga is the method through mediation and practice that allows us to root into our feelings, to give us greater understanding of impulse, and allows us to regulate and determine best action and measure in our lives.
A State of Union
He talks about yoga being a space for self discipline. The meaning of the word comes from the concept of yolking and alignment. We need to create a balance between our strength and flexibility, our top half of our body from our lower, from our left side to our right side, and between our body and our mind.
“We start to reclaim parts of ourselves that before were left to exist in the shadows of our personality structure draining energy, confidence and flow from us as we tried to make our way through life”
As we continue to seek out the feeling of feeling more comfortable in our bodies, as the more we learn to let go of the ‘physical’ pressue of society and ourselves, the more quickly we will be able to create the union of our bodies and minds — we not only learn to love our bodies more, but to be more accepting and forgiving of ourselves. It connects us to something greater than the material body. Its a connection to a deeper sense of who we are in these bodies.
Connection to the Whole
“The core component of the spiritual experience is the awareness of being part of a unified whole.”
We spend so much time in yoga talking about core connection, strength and flexibility of the spine & how this mirrors the interactions that we have within our lives.
Yoga touches us in both gentle and other times uncomfortable ways that is allows us to use our bodies to heal our bodies and our bodies to heal and better understand our minds.
Anyone Can Do It
As I interpret it. It is for everyone and everyone comes to find their own balance in options and practice. But its rooted in breathe and connection action and others. But I think the parallel conversation to Anyone Can Do It, is the conversation about access to education, training, mentorship and means. As we create opening and access to our true selves, we also have the power and awareness in order to create access to the practice and experience for others.
