New Term Week One ~ Yoga Stories, Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
Hello everyone,
This Sunday I'm delighted to say that we will be beginning our new yoga term at Thrive! It's another five week term but we are taking a break for the bank holiday weekend, so the 5pm Hatha and 6:30pm Soft Stretch classes will run until June 28th. Did you know that it's a blue moon month! That means there are two full moons blooming in May ~ the first one a flower moon that landed on Bealtaine, and the second a blue moon landing in just over a week on May 31st (we will have no yoga on that day).
It's a rare thing that I would pause a yoga term to go on a girls trip...you might say it happens only once in a blue moon... :)
If you'd like to sign up for the new Hatha Flow or Soft Stretch yoga term, dates May 24th ~ June 28th *with no classes May 31st, please let me know. I'm very excited for our philosophy theme this term ~ we will be exploring some of the Indian myths and stories behind the most foundational yoga poses! This will be a fantastic term to try if you're new to yoga, but it will also be great if you've been practicing for a while and wish to connect to the poses and philosophy of yoga in a deeper sense. As always, the weekly email will be the place where most of the philosophy and history of yoga is shared. This way we can allow our physical yoga practice together on Sundays to be embodied, light, and accessible. If you'd like to unsubscribe to these emails at any time, please simply send me a message.
Okay, the stories behind the poses. I am so buzzed for this one! A quick acknowledgement to say that I am not of Indian heritage, and that these stories have been taught to me through my years of yogic study with various teachers. I am using Dr. Raj Balkaran's fabulous book 'The Stories Behind the Poses' to guide me in sharing these myths as authentically as I can, and have attached a link to purchase that below.
Alright, let's go! This Sunday we will be exploring the shape of Tadasana, the Mountain Pose. Here is my rendition of the story of lord Siva, who saved the world from drought by inviting a river goddess to fall on his head...
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 solve her problem. Seeking advice, he sought the help of Brahma, who created the universe. Brahma told Lord Visnu that the only solution was water, that water is life, and since there was none to be found on earth, Lord Visnu must find it in the heavens; he must speak to the celestial river Ganga and ask her to travel to earth and quench Prthvi's thirst.
Visnu went to the goddess Ganga to ask this of her and he was laughed out of the house. The great goddess rippled and splattered at the ridiculousness of his request - if such a powerful being as she were to pour down unto earth, everyone would drown. The weight of her flowing body would crack the earth in half! And, besides, the goddess Ganga was comfortable and she did not want to leave her heavenly home.
Returning to Brahma, Lord Visnu asked him once again for his advice. In his seat of meditation, Brahma felt a subtle intuition, and recommended that Visnu seek out Lord Siva, the great yogi who lived high up in the Himalayas and who was as close to the heavens as anyone on earth could be. This Lord Visnu did. When he visited Lord Siva in his hut, the great yogi told him to return to Goddess Ganga and invite her once again to come visit him on earth, with her full force untamed, and that ~ whatever happened ~ he would handle it.
Goddess Ganga, who had great respect for Lord Siva, was flattered and agreed to come to earth ~ although she still believed she would crush the world in doing so. Shrugging her turquoise shoulders, she flung herself down from the heavens with a great splash and landed atop Siva's awaiting head. As she flowed down Siva's strong and calm body, she found herself slowed and pacified by the love of his yogic presence. Feeling held, grounded, and eternal, the goddess lingered on his skin and the force of her current quelled, until eventually she slid gracefully toward Siva's feet and descended down the mountains to nourish the earth.
I love this story! I believe it is a fantastic metaphor for how one might use the practice of yoga to work through and release difficult emotions. As I am reading and taking part in Julie Cameron's 'The Artist's Way', I reminded daily of how buried feelings and unresolved stories can lead to creative drought. This creative drought is not simply a lack of inspiration, but a lack of vital life energy (prana) and it can manifest in the body as lots of nasty things like dry skin, auto-immune diseases, brittle nails, broken hair, and even (I'm discovering) PCOS ~ recently renamed PMOS ~ which is a metabolic ovarian issue/hormonal imbalance. You can literally imagine this beautiful earth goddess Prthvi crying out, desperate for water.
In yoga, and in the pose Tadasana especially ~ which we will explore ~ there is an invitation to go inward, to see feelingly, and to stand strong and stable even when difficult emotions arise. The emotions that come up, while perhaps overwhelming (like a river falling from the heavens), may be held and catalysed by the stability of your loving attention. In mountain pose we rise up to meet who we are, and use our compassion and strength to calm and channelise the force of our feelings. With that awareness, we are like a mountain guiding water down to wash our feet, and only good can come.
Okay, I have to go ~ I'm late for work now! If you're still reading this letter, thank you so much :) I hope to see you on Sunday!
With all the love (grá) in the world,
Macha
*A link to get 'The Stories Behind the Poses' book on Easons :)
