Uniting Body and Breath

"Yoga is about clearing away whatever is in us that prevents our living in the most full and whole way. With yoga, we become aware of how and where we are restricted -- in body, mind, and heart -- and how gradually to open and release these blockages. As these blockages are cleared, our energy is freed. We start to feel more harmonious, more at one with ourselves. Our lives begin to flow -- or we begin to flow more in our lives."

~Cybele Tomlinson

Yoga is more than the physical practice with which most of us are familiar. In Patanjali's 8 Limbed Path, in the Yoga Sutras, the Asanas, or physical postures, are the 3rd limb, following the Yamas and Niyamas. The intention of the asanas is to prepare the body for meditation. In Western culture, we tend to associate the asanas with physical fitness. Yet it is through the asanas that we develop the discipline, concentration, and inner awareness to transform ourselves and our practice. The unnecessary parts of this world fade away and we are left with breath, body, movement, and spirit.

When we come to our mat, we are often told to connect with our breath. To breathe and move. We can use our breath to calm our mind, body, and spirit. When you come into a pose, allow the posture, with help from your breath, to release tension. Be aware of where you're holding and exhale it away. "The posture of yoga is steady and easy." This is how Patanjali describes the asanas. To free our minds of distractions, and thus be totally at peace, we must also free our bodies of distractions. Tension held in our muscles, or pain in some part of our body, distracts our mind. As we move through our physical practice, the union of breath, body, and movement, calms the mind. Patanjali said, "Posture is mastered by freeing the body and mind from tension and restlessness and meditating on the infinite." The infinite and united light that connects us all to one another and the entire universe. Through our breath we connect to each pose and we connect with our practice. Yoga is about this connection of breath, body, and spirit. Yoga means union - the union of our individual self with our highest self. Through the practice of yoga we can make that connection.

You are yoga. You are the union with each object, each living creature, with each person you see, and with the entire universe.

"You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state." (Sharon Gannon)