I slipped in and out of a meditative state recently during my asana practice. I had a hard time following the instruction and just wanted to sit cross-legged and feel the energy of life that surrounded me. My ego, of course, told me that was the wrong thing to do. Work, sweat it out, feel some pain…that’s how we do yoga!!
My ego couldn’t be farther from the truth. Yoga is finding that still point where you can coexist with Spirit consciously. It is the joining of your physical existence on earth with your Spiritual existence in the reality of the Universe. If I was doing yoga to its fullest expression that morning, I would have stopped my asana practice, sat cross-legged and basked in Spirit.
Why come, my 5-year-old self ask? Isn’t it better to struggle and sweat? The short answer is no, the purpose of yoga is not “no pain, no gain.” It is to facilitate the meditative experience; raise one’s vibrational energy. Again, why come?? Higher vibrations equate with happiness, health, wisdom, empathy, and well-being. It equates with your True Self. When you are sad, depressed, angry, etc are you able to feel any of those things? No, you have disconnected with your higher self, your higher vibrations and in the process, you have frustrated your very evolution.
We are energy-based beings. Reread past blogs if needed to understand that concept. Our vibration, our frequency, is all we are outside of our consciousness. There is nothing else. Given that is who we are physically, we need to pay attention to our vibration and always work to stay in as high a frequency as possible if our goal is to transcend this existence and evolve.
This is the goal of yoga. As we learn to communicate with our Higher Selves, we are increasing our vibration, if only for a short time. The more we practice, the longer we are able to “stay connected” on a conscious level. This is not something that you can force or will into existence. You have to let go and allow it to come to you. You must relax into it much like getting out of the Chinese finger traps we played with as children.
That’s one reason why the process is so frustrating for some of us. As soon as we begin to consciously feel our connection with our Higher Selves, we want to focus on it and bring it to us and that is when we lose the connection. It slips away because we are trying to use the lower frequency energy of our mind to explore and understand. Our mind frequency is not compatible with our Higher Self. They are two separate and distinct states of existence. Yoga asanas are designed to occupy the mind so that the Higher Self can shine through when we are not paying attention. We can’t shut the monkey mind down, so we give it tasks to keep it occupied. That is when the opening occurs for our Higher Selves to come to us.
Do you understand? We can’t go to our Higher Self. We can’t force the connection. All we can do is get out of the way and let Spirit come to us. It is an important distinction. It is a passive act, we don’t go to Spirit, Spirit comes to us. Stories abound of spiritual seekers spending a lifetime looking for enlightenment only to find it after they stop searching.
Now let’s go back to my morning asana class. I was given a gift of being consciously present with Spirit during practice that morning. However, my monkey mind was too focused on my yoga butt to be concerned with the reason I was there in the first place. That moment is now lost but never forgotten. I will have future “aha” moments and perhaps I will now be a little more open to recognizing the opportunity to join with Spirit consciously.
We all have the doorway to Spirit in front of us. The best we can do is crack open the door and allow Spirit to enter. Spirit comes quietly and will be standing beside you when you least expect it. When your time comes, when you are ready to receive the presence of Spirit, Spirit will come. Remember to pull back and allow Spirit to flow through your entire being. Nothing is more important in that moment than to commune with your True Self. Your yoga butt can wait.
Now we are doing yoga….
Namaste
Blair is the co-owner of Yoga Daily in Mt. Pleasant, SC. He is a certified yoga instructor, recovering lawyer, and a spiritual student. The content of this blog is what Blair considers to be universal truths that span all dogma and religion and it is offered to you in Love and Light. Check out The Daily Yogi for additional blog entries. You can contact Blair at [email protected]. Yoga is but one path to the knowing that we are all One. Please take what resonates with you and leave the rest without judgment or offense.