Sunday 28 April 2019

Spring Sadhana


It is the final week of our Spring Sadhana. 

This annual even has come to be a ritual of transition from the end of winter into the full blossoming of spring. Each year 29-30 students of the Yoga Centre Winnipeg plus Jan and myself make this commitment to transition together.

Each of us comes to the room with our own goals and intentions, and with our own challenges, yet the experience is shared. Each day the practice continues, the room begins to move as a unit instead of 30 individual beings.

This shared journey starts with the willingness to take on the challenge – 28 days of early wake ups - a big ask on those mornings when it still dark and cold! 
It continues with the willingness to show up and immerse oneself in the practice, regardless of what the practice asks.

In the early days we are all enthusiastic, the practice feels great and the early morning wake ups seem worth the effort. But, as with any transformation practice, sooner or later the resistance kicks in! The path feels arduous- maybe the body is tired and achy, the mind fuzzy, or the heart tender. The practice affects everyone differently, but impacts us all regardless!

The knowledge and palpable feeling that we are not alone, and this too shall pass, helps inspire us through the hard days. When we feel our resistance, we know that it is shared, and it helps us carry the load.

It’s not unlike the body. Our bodies are a community of cells that function together to make up what we call 'me'. Part of the yoga practice is learning how to bring awareness and life to the individual parts of the body. At the same time we are learning to move and connect these parts so that they function as one. In straightening my leg I touch my psoas, as I tone or release my psoas, I affect my breath, as I change my breath, I open my heart and calm my mind.

Some days different parts of our bodies cry out for individual attention- the wrist aches, the hip hurts, the mind checks out. It’s necessary to honor and care for each part independently, yet healing happens when we tenderly hold that individual part within the context of the whole.

As instructors Jan and I are very much part of the experience, yet we also have the privilege to witness the transformations taking place individually and collectively. Arms are getting stronger, legs straighter, breaths deeper and smiles bigger. Focus deepens as the group begins to breathe as one, move as one.

There is something magical about this merging of the individual and group transformation- perhaps it is that it is a reflection of how we walk through life. Each of us an individual yet we are always part of the whole. When we recognize our individuality yet rest in the awareness of our place in a family, a community, a planet, and a very giant universe, we are humbled and whole.

Namaste
Shauna