LEARNING HOW TO PRACTICE ABRÁÇANA
ABRAÇO
"hug" or "embrace", in Portuguese; (pronounced "ah-brah-so", 2nd syllable being the strongest)
1. act of hugging, wrapping the arms around
2. demonstration of affection, of friendshipASANA
“seat”, in Sanskrit
It's the third of the 8-limb Yoga of Patanjali and refers to the adequate posture to practice yoga.
Asana is also the term used to the many different postures of Hatha Yoga, practiced to reach physical health and eliminate excess energy in the body and mind. It's important to note that, for a posture to become an asana, the practitioner should, besides aiming for body stability and comfort, contemplate a light and relaxed state of mind.
Abráçana is the asana of embracing.
*(it's pronounced "a-brah-sa-na"; the second syllable is the strongest)
I've added it to my daily yoga practice and I've been very committed to perfecting it.
It's a simple posture that doesn't require much stretch and is not likely to cause any sprain or break any part of the body. Besides that, the vast majority of us is presented to one of the manifestations of this asana by our mothers immediately after we're born, when she holds us for the first time. So it's not like it's something completely new to any of us.
I've been a hugger since a very early age and never had much of a problem with physical contact nor much of a sense about individual space.
But when I found out about the subtler manifestations of, I realized this is probably the most challenging asana for me.
ABRÁÇANA WITH OTHERS
Giving an abráçana does not simply mean wrapping my arms around another person. An abráçana requires me to not condition my demonstrations of love and affection to specific attitudes by the dear person.
It's about embracing all their light along with the weaknesses, fears and insecurities.
This is particularly challenging to me because every now and then I catch myself very identified with other people's feelings and, in an attempt to get rid of them inside me, I end up pushing away my loved ones, even though I love them.
Another very important part of practicing abráçana with others is not being ashamed or afraid of being vulnerable while expressing my feelings. It's becoming clearer and clearer to me the big difference between what I feel for the people I love and what I communicate.
For it to be an abráçana, it's important to remove this protection layer that I've created throughout my life and allow all the feelings that I cultivate inside to come out.
ABRÁÇANAS WITH LIFE
Practicing abráçana with life is about welcoming every situation it brings us as an opportunity to learn — about life, about other people and about myself. Developing this point of view requires us to let go of controlling things and to be more connected with the processes in which we engage than with the specific results we expect to get from our activities.
Giving life an abráçana means recognizing all the synchronicities around us and adopting a point of view of abundance, in which we value what we have available instead of what we would like to have.
I've been noticing that to give life abráçanas I need a lot of flexibility to adapt to its suprises, fluidity to keep on moving and optimism to identify all the beauty around us, and I've been trying to give a lot of attention to these qualities inside myself.
ABRÁÇANAS WITH MYSELF
This may be the most sophisticated manifestation of abráçana.
Because, for me to be able to give myself an abráçana, I need a lot of self compassion to keep on loving myself despite all the shadows I find along the way.
Giving myself an abráçana means being at peace with everything that I consider good and bad in me.
I've been being challenged to face all my judgements about how, subconsciously, I believe I should be and about what I see as right or wrong. I have ups and downs, sometimes I'm more stable, sometimes I feel more insecure, but I can definitely recognize that my self abráçanas are becoming lighter and more relaxed with time.
LEARNING HOW TO GIVE ABRÁÇANAS
I've recently realized that all the moves I've been making in life aren't but attempts to learn my personal manifestations of abráçana.
And sharing this process, along with my reflections and feelings, is part of perfecting it.
I take advantage of this blog for my personal sharing and I have hopes of having the messages written here reaching out to you as an invitation to practice and perfect your abráçanas, as well.
