Now, for the great story behind Vrksasana ~ a tale of how Sage Markandeya was eaten by a child and spat out again during the end of the world ;)

As we continue our term theme of the yoga stories behind the poses, I would like to share with you now the story of Eagle Pose, Garudasana. An adventurous tale of great trickery, wisdom, service, and strength, around which our two Sunday classes this week will be designed. 

Many moons ago, in a time when demons roamed the earth and great yogi masters levitated atop mountains while river goddesses flowed down their backs, there were monkey people living in the Himalayan forest…

In a time that was long ago but was also quite recent, the world was dry and dying. The earth goddess Prthvi cried out for help, her body cracked and wasting away. High up in the heavens, Lord Visnu, who is the keeper of the world, heard her suffering and vowed to help solve her problem…

Practically speaking, jalandhara bandha involves lifting the heart and extending the neck before lowering your chin to your chest and squeezing the throat back and closed. It can be practiced with kumbhaka, breath retention, for increased benefits. Just like putting up a boundary in one area of your life can magically cause an unleashing of energy in another area of your life (!), exploring these strong neuromuscular engagements (locks) in the body can help to release a natural state of flow that may enliven and rejuvenate in unexpected ways.

In yoga we understand that this area of the body, our core centre, is where the third chakra dwells and is represented by the element of fire. Interestingly, fire in Sanskrit is known by two separate words: Agni, and Tejas. Agni refers specifically to the physical element of fire, the heat of it, and sits rightly in this area of digestive and processing power within our bellies. We 'cook' life in our stomachs. However, the word Tejas, also referring to fire, has a different meaning altogether. Tejas is not in fact the fire but rather the glow and illumination created by fire, the transformation that comes when things are burned away to create space for new growth.

While our days of living off the land and pouring fresh milk across the doorstep to ward off faeries may feel long gone (for some), it's hard not to look out today and see the fertility and exuberance that people have been celebrating in Ireland for over 5,000 years. Bees are buzzing, flowers are blooming, the birds are singing, and all that was asleep has finally finished yawning and is now ready to dance. 

Hasta Bandha in Sanskrit translates directly to 'hand lock'. It is a practice of finding anatomical alignment and energetic lift in your hands to optimise balance, strength, and relieve pressure on your wrists. But in yoga philosophy we learn that everything is connected, and that the hands are direct extensions of the heart space. You give and feel with your hands. When you press down with your fingers and palms to lift out of your wrists in a downward dog pose, you simultaneously lift and enliven your heart centre. Just the same, when you offer something freely to another - simply because it feels good and right to do so - there is a subtle softening in the muscles of your upper back, and you tend to stand a little taller for the rest of your day.

I am writing to you enthused, rested, and restored from a glorious eight days away sailing around the Greek islands. I was pinching myself! I hoisted the mains and set sail towards Poros, swung like a pirate off the halliard and into crystal blue waters off Dokos bay, hiked to ancient temples in Aegina, and explored the cobbled and carless streets of Hydra where Leonard Cohen once roamed and wrote. Hallelujah!

Celtic Gaelic is an Indo-European language, and therefore a not so distant cousin of the Sanskrit language. For example, the Gaelic word for soul is Anam, the Sanskrit is Atman. If the Sanskirt word for ego is ahamkara, and the Celtic word for soulmate is anam cara, could there a connection here? Despite being two polar opposite concepts?

Chitta is a word in Sanskrit that alludes to the mind-field, referring to the subconscious part of our psyche that stores memories and impressions - out of which all of our thoughts, identity, and emotions are born. It's where you begin in the psyche, where your roots are. I think of it like a big field of mud; a fertile ground from which food can grow and nourish you - but also a place where you are likely to slip and get stuck.

The sanskrit word buddhi comes from the root word 'budh'; which means to awaken. The great Buddha, of course, translates to mean the 'awakened one'. The buddhi then, in yoga, is the part of our mind where we may be more spiritually awake - where we make good decisions, we consult our values, where we understand right and wrong. But it is also our higher knowing, the seat of our intuition, a place where we set intentions, and where we may recognise the ego for what it is.

Traditional yogis were masters of observing the mind, and they considered the physical practice of yoga (with all its many challenges and benefits) as merely a mental and energetic preparation for meditation and self-realisation. They coined the term Antahkarana Chatushthaya to refer to the four parts of the mind. The phrase literally translates to mean 'four parts of the inner instrument'. Just in the name, we can see that the mind was considered as a tool for self-realisation in yoga; an instrument. But, the mind was also known and taught to be the cause of human suffering. A double edged sword.

Sahasrara chakra is located at the tip top of your head, and is sometimes depicted as rising a little bit above the body, almost like a halo. It is thought of in subtle body teachings as the bridge between the physical experience, the psyche, and the spiritual world. It is associated with the element of space, the colour violet or white, and is specifically related to faith and trust; the knowing and recognising of the universe as a force that is working for you - not against you.

One of the best things I have ever heard is that you can recognise the difference between fear and intuition if you understand how they both feel. Intuition will always feel clear and expansive when it occurs - even if it's about something negative. There will be a sense of calm certainty, even a factuality about it. You recognise it because it comes to you all at once, it cannot be altered once it arrives, and it remains whole like a nagging certainty in your belly until you honour it, or until it comes to pass.

The word Vishuddha in Sanskrit can be translated to mean 'pure'. Words like true, authentic, clear, can all be attributed to this throat chakra; our physical dwelling place for expression and relational communication. The voice, the face, the neck; even our ears are linked to this throat centre. But if you're anything like me, you might sometimes come away from conversations with regret or anxiety, wondering if you 'came off okay', or if your true intentions were understood.

The word anahatha literally means to be 'unstruck'; unhurt, unbroken. The meaning is in reference to the specific sound of two objects coming together without ever striking each other; which is thought to be the sound of the universe: anahatha nada. This is paradoxically the sound of two things coming together and yet remaining separate; which is said to be the true meaning of unconditional love. To be whole as we are, while in connection with everything around us.

As the chakras get higher up the body, the focus slowly peels away from the physical and moves up towards the realms of personal relationships - the mind with its many restraints and tools - and eventually towards more expansive places of loving awareness and spirituality. The highest chakras, specifically the top two, are often the most scoffed at and/or the most obsessed over (!), because they deal with these realms of ether, spiritual intuition, and more celestial concepts like energy (prana), the universe (brahmāṇḍa), and the divine or a deeper consciousness (purusha).

As we continue working our way up the primary chakras this term, we now arrive at the manipura chakra - the solar plexus energy centre. This subtle body wheel spins around the area of the belly button, and links to these physical functions of digestion, immune support, metabolism, blood sugar levels, energy levels, the muscles of the diaphragm and the sympathetic nervous system. This is the energy centre of fire, associated with the colour yellow - an ghrian álainn. The sun. Sūrya.

Sometimes translated as the seat of the self, svadhisthana chakra is the energy centre of soft desires, emotions, creativity, and fluidity. A subtle body centre, it sits in the low belly, in the seat of the pelvis, and is physically connected to this area of reproductive organs, kidneys, and the bladder...which means it is linked to sensuality, creating new life (new ideas), birth, manifestation, and emotional connection.