Week Four - Udana Vayu, Ascending Upwards
Hello everyone,
Thank you all for such a lovely class last Sunday! It was a yoga practice jam-packed with warrior shapes, strong breath, core activation, and one of my all time favourite intentions to move with during a yoga sequence - I AM WORTHY. A mantra not to be skipped. One to be spoken aloud. Written over and over again. Repeated in times of stress and comfort alike. If I was to ever get a tattoo (unlikely, as I am a total wimp!) it would be these words hiding on the sole of my foot, as Gaeilge - Is fiú mé.
The pronunciation, in Irish, sounds almost like 'I am free'.
In line with our theme for this term, we explored the powerful energetic force of samana vayu. This is a spiralling of prana (energy) that moves like a vortex behind the belly button, simultaneously swirling inward, outward, upward, and downward, supporting our balance in every sense. Samana vayu is closely associated with the energy centre of the solar plexus, manipura chakra - a psychosomatic place of worthiness, empowerment, inner strength, and playfulness, crucial for supporting the healthy functioning of our digestion, adrenal response, metabolism, and immune system :) It's all connected!
This Sunday at 6:30pm we will continue our journey through the vayus, landing in udana vayu. If you can believe it, udana vayu is even more subtle than the previous three vayus we've explored so far this term. *As a gentle reminder, a vayu in yoga philosophy is a force of energy within the body, almost like an inner wind, that moves in specific directions via channels (nadis) and supports specific bodily functions. It is not neccesary to understand any of this in order to come to practice and enjoy our yoga classes, by that way! This philosophy chat is just for fun and pondering. You can expect practices of bhramari pranayama (humming bee breath) this Sunday, as well as breath of joy - all beginner friendly - with a soft yoga flow, gentle inversions, and a slightly longer savasana and meditation at the end :) If you're intrigued by yoga philosophy though, keep reading for more reflection on this upward-moving vayu! It's a fascinating one.
Udana vayu is said to be an ascending flow of energy located primarily between the head and the heart. Think: up and out. As this is of course the area of the throat, udana vayu relates to speaking, communication, and relationships; all sorts of creative expression and connection. It gets more interesting, though. Udana vayu has the very special task of bringing our energy into higher planes of consciousness. For example, when you are awake and in the process of falling asleep, this is udana vayu in action. When you transition further into a deep sleep, udana vayu is flowing to support you towards the dream state, and beyond. When you die, it's believed that udana vayu directs your prana to return as one with the whole universe; like a drop of water coming back to the ocean for respite. This is when you are said to experience true yoga, union, on the journey towards reincarnation - when it all starts again.
How cool is that?
Honestly, the first time I heard about this, I felt it was far fetched. I imagined reincarnation to be something akin to me, Macha, showing up as a butterfly or a circus artist in another lifetime. Same thoughts, same preferences, same opinions, same inclinations, just myself in a different physical form. But then, in studies totally separate to yoga or philosophy, I read the following statement - which is a well known scientific fact in the world of physics; a fundamental principle. This is it:
Energy is never created or destroyed, it just moves around.
What a thing to consider in relation to ourselves! Prana is simply the yogic word for energy, literally translating as life force, and modern science insists that it cannot be destroyed or created. This is proven. So that means that when we die, it is only a death of our ego and form - the energy that gives us life simply moves on to other things. Eternally. This is true of humans, animals, plants, even rocks. The felt realisation of this is the ultimate aim of meditation. As Ekhart Tolle puts it so eloquently in his book The Power of Now, "the secret of life is to die before you die and find that there is no death".
Anyway, udana vayu is the directing force for all of this. Ha! Super intense.
If you are still reading and keeping up with these emails to date, you are my hero! You officially know more about the vayus than I did after completing my first ever yoga teacher training...or my second ;) I am so grateful to share this practice with you, thank you thank you! I am off to Amsterdam now for a party and to see some old friends. I can't wait to practice with you this Sunday.
Le grá,
Macha
A Thing of Beauty (Endymion)
By John Keats
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkn’d ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
‘Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.
