Just Drop It. And Be Light.
This week I had the opportunity to attend Peg Mulqueen’s, of Ashtanga Dispatch, workshop on Bandhas & Breath @flowyogacenter .
Following her for well, quite recently actually, what peaked my interest about her is how she and her daughter bring out the raw true beauty that is already present in the Ashtanga practice through interviews with many respected teacher’s who’ve been practicing (for years!).
Not knowing what to expect, I initially thought I would make an audio recording for notes I could reflect on however, as soon class started Peg mentioned how the class would be a mix of “traditional” Ashtanga and not so much, starting with
no phones
no audio recordings
but we were welcomed to take notes, and write down our own interpretations from what we gained from the class. And because I just so happened to carry my meditation reflection journal, I opened it up and began taking notes on what I thought would be a class focused on just “physical body.”
Bandhas & Breath Workshop
In Ashtanga yoga system, Bandhas are an important part of your asana practice. They relate to the subtle body, where in yogic and Hindu philosophy, it is one of three bodies that together constitute a human existence. In Sanskrit, sukshma sharira, is sometimes called the astral body (linga sharira). The other two bodies are the physical body and the causal body.” [paraphrased].
Through yoga, one can control the energies of these bodies, by beginning to peel back the layers of the mind, the intellect and the ego, that the subtle body controls. By learning to control these “doorways” to the physical and subtle body, we are able to connect to our higher Self, becoming more aware of the true Self, hidden beneath all these stories, “hats”, and “labels” (physical attachments) connected to what we experience as pleasure and pain; and begin unlocking the full potential of what we are truly capable of doing and creating that has been hidden all along.
Let’s pause for a moment, is this what you expected to get from a yoga workshop/class?
I can imagine you thinking- What did I sign up for or walk-into?
Just as you might be confused or bewildered, often times in yoga practice (as in life) we get so focused on what we are doing in the “physical” sense that we forget there is much more going on at any given moment than what we are currently looking at.
A new approach to Bandha work
Peg first asked us to be open-minded with trying out the techniques she would teach us as, the techniques she would share with us were meant for us to use as a guide as they were tools that helped her in her practice. This was something I truly appreciated, as sometimes in life we can get caught up in “accepting and believing” everything that we’re told that we mistakenly begin to identify and hold onto new ideas when they might not be the right thing for us. Perfectly put in her words, as well as her teacher David Garrigues (see Episode 1 of Ashtanga Dispatch),
“It is important to listen, take in the information but see it your own way so that it makes sense to you.”
“What do you do when you’re caught between a rock and a hard place?”
This shift toward teaching the bandhas during asana, from a place of rigidity to one with less intensity, began when she said (paraphrased),
“ We never lose our breath, likewise we never lose our bandhas. And yet, we’ve made it look like we’ve Lost it (our bandhas), when in reality, we didn’t lose it, it’s been with us all along.”
Traditionally, the bandhas were taught to thought of us “locks” practiced during pranayama (yogic breathing exercises), by holding muscles associated with each bandha region “intensely” during breath retention.
Why “locks?”
Well, if we think about learning to control and harness the energy, life force within us that enables us to do and create more than what we could ever think or imagine, it is important to not lose this energy or “let it escape”.
However, as Peg alluded to, in our practice our bodies are amazing in that they have been created with our own “landing gear.”
In order to take Flight, LIFT Your Landing Gear
Many people don’t know that we have our own “landing gear”. Within the bandhas, there is actually a lightness that enables us to experience our practice, life, as though we are flying, however to experience this flying effect, our bandhas must be lifted. But because we humans have a tendency to take things quite literally, we close these bandhas and thus close the potentiality of any creative life force energy to come in and help us lift to higher levels of consciousness and experiences with less effort and greater control than we think is possible.
In order to move away from this idea of trying to forcefully control this energy through a “lock”, I began instead thinking of it as a doorway. With Peg’s interpretation of finding a more subtle approach when it comes to life’s practices, we can begin to understand that whenever you are caught between two equally difficult decisions or where it is a mandatory choice between at least two unpleasant choices, we need to seek that sweet spot between the rock and a hard place.
But How do I begin to “find” my Bandhas?
Bandhas, are different for everyone depending on your sex, age, and other factors, and even those who have been practicing for some time, might even say it can take 10-20 years to cultivate this awareness of energy within. So, we should be prepared for a lifetime of yoga practice, by ultimately exploring all levels of space within our body’s, not only with patience but active awareness and intention.
Eckhart Tolle says, that
“Thinking without AWARENESS IS THE MAIN dilemma of human existence.”
If you keep reaching and reacting from these places or stories, “hats”, and “labels” , they will continue to govern everything you think, say, and do. And as a result, you will only continue to bear the same results you either want or do not want (pleasure and pain). This is even more reason why we should change the approach we are using by taking a moment to pause and try something new.
You can begin by asking the greatest question you could ever ask yourself,
“What kind of Life do I end up creating for myself?”
As the things we see in the physical earth are only reflections of the Internal Limitless Potential of Energy we carry within ourselves.
By slowing down and taking a softer approach when you feel “resistance” (fear, depression, anxiety, anger, doubt, insecurity, etc.) when coming across the “locks, barriers” of life’s situations; you can then begin to pull back to a place of ease and take in information, regain energy, and find how to apply it for yourselves by turning those moments of heaviness into a sensation of power. Yet, power doesn’t have to be “heavy”, true power has a lightness, joy and the greatest of these, love, in order to find that “balance point” that brings us to the place of courage where we gradually increase our movement and FLY!
The yoga practice isn’t about “holding tightly” to “fear” but learning to find a happy medium of softness where you’re approaching each moment spent on the mat like a child unaware of what is yet to come, but yet happily expecting something great to come out of this moment. By enjoying your time, practicing that art of exploration- , “experimenting”, “flowing” and dare I say “PLAYING”
You step back from your own mind and begin to see things from a deeper perspective. One where a brief shift from thinking to awareness, brings detachment from your mind and you see,
“Life isn’t as serious as your mind makes it out to be.”
- Eckhart Tolle
And once we do notice this ONE TRUTH, we’re able to be free from the constructs of the walls we’ve put ourselves in, limitations to what we think we can or cant do, and see a glimpse -window, doorway-bandha- of opportunity that anything you want, IS possible.
That is if we’re willing to risk it all, try something completely bat shit crazy- And see as Peg so beautifully said in the beginning of class,
“There was nothing here we needed to search for, attain or grasp to do what we wanted to do in our practice. For it was and has always been within us all along. And will always be within us.”
- it just is up to us to begin noticing that when we meet our own insanity, it is then that we begin arriving at our own sanity and true healing and transcendence can come.
So, next time you come to a place of resistance or suffering, simply realize that if it doesn’t “feel right” bring you happiness, joy and lifts you up; Simply, meet the door of false delusion of form (be it thoughts, physical, or emotional), and
let that shit go
and instead, if you must, at first gently hold onto and go with what feels and makes sense to you.
Special thanks to Peg Mulqueen for sharing with us What Your Practice Means To You
and to my Yoga Photographer and Ashtangi friend and Spiritual Sister, Lauretta for a beautiful Spirit-filled weekend filled with soulful moments, good food, and of course photos!
And as I am continuing to remember, let’s remember to embrace life and our practice with love-and make it the way we want it. You never know what you will create or do today, tomorrow, or a year from now:
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