Bringing balance into our lives, living yoga through Space and the other elements Earth, Water, Fire and Air.
“The Sun is The Prana of the universe and it rises to bring light into our eyes.
The Earth draws the lower fire of Apana.
The space between the Sun and the Earth is Samana, and the moving air is Vyana.
Excerpt from The Prashna Upanishads
Well, balance is something I’m always juggling as a householder with five children, four cats teaching yoga, maintaining my own practice and continuing to study movement Alchemy, Soulful Wellness and Jyotish level II & III Vedic astrology. While helping my favorite organization The Ark of San Juan find homes for cats & kittens and trying to balance in our worldly daily chaos if you will.
Really balanced doesn’t exist, we are always balancing, right?
Another area is feeling the need to create space. It is true for me which is why I’m going to share ways that have helped me, so I can hopefully help you if you will. Is Space something you try to cultivate in your daily life? As you know space surrounds us all. Space has no container, Space is wholeness and everywhere.
Lorin Roche says in his book The Radiance Sutras “Yukti verses 20”
“The radiance of space permeates the body
And all directions simultaneously.
Space is always here,
Already here before noticing of it.
What we call space is a presence.
So, as you know, space surrounds us all. Space has no container, Space is wholeness and everywhere.
Lorin Roche also says in yukti verse 24
Every element in you loves the others
Earth loves rain, Sky loves sun
Sun loves the space it shines through,
Space loves everyone equally.
Now, let’s find Balance through Space? We begin by breathing with the pulse of life. Feeling that connection of our body microcosm in our universe macrocosm. When we come to our Mat to practice yoga we want to really feel our feet. We want to feel the front side of our body and the backside of our body. We want to feel the connection from the souls of our feet grounding down rooting with the earth, body settling, to then catch that energy and draw it up to the crowns of our heads radiating as the sun does in the sky.
I’ve learned through Prana Vinyasa and the beautiful Namaskars (sequences) that I teach from my dear teacher Shivaji Shiva Rea, and being part of the Samudra School of Living Yoga which I continue to study with.
The Four Movements of Lunge (Prana Flow pulsation & Energetic Alignment) are the Pancha Vayus speaking through our bodies Asana. There are in fact five The four to embody first are Apana, Udana/Prana Samana and Vyana. Embodying this relationship to the pulse of these movements brings balance and presence in space. Here we can begin to reclaim space and open a greater awareness within our bodies, opening to our senses, our hearing and energetic heart.
It is your heart that brings the breathing universe to every cell of your body. Bone, muscle, ligaments, skin, nerves and other tissues.
This is our innermost deep pulsating rhythms. Our heart radiating life into every part of us.
The interlinking rhythms of breath and heart give the primary embodied experience of the pulse of life. In and out. Rising and falling. Contracting and expanding. This is mirrored in all of life and to the pulsing vibration of stars.