In the hands of a great teacher amazing things can happen. I had an amazing weekend with one of my favorite teachers Desiree Rumbaugh.
Throughout the weekend Desiree designed a practice that opened us up to our backbody, or to something bigger as she said. (If you're in my classes right now you'll be doing this all month long as our focus )
In Anusara yoga the back body is seen as the connection to the Universal (divine consciousness) and the front of the body as the individual. The idea is that the whole is present in every part leading from the back and expression through the front.
Most of the time in our practice and in life we spend most of our time focusing on what's in front of us and opening up from there. You may even have heard me or other teachers talking about opening up the heart in your poses. Opening up the heart is good, but everything if it comes first from opening to something bigger becomes so much more powerful.
As Desiree put it "You can't have too much grace". I found myself expanding into things I never thought possible. As I expanded into my body, of course it created space in my heart and mind as well.
In the moments where I thought I couldn't do anymore, I opened to something bigger and grace carried me through. I am excited to see where this can take me and as it takes me into more space, I hope to share that with you.
I am so thankful for all my teachers. I am thankful to my students who give me a chance to share this practice in meaningful ways. I thank the universal for giving us ways to celebrate life and love to create joy with this practice.
Peace and Namaste!
2 comments:
Hi Michael,
I am taking your inversion immersion class.. yesterday what we focused on was open up the backbody.. This morning, omg, let me tell you- I felt like a new world opened up to me, like I couldn't even really slouch when I was at my computer, not because I was chastising myself about my bad posture but because my back *wanted* to, and I even got my lower core involved as well. Such a sense of peace and well being! Thanks Michael and I am really looking forward to class next week!
-Corrin
ps, my back feels really awakened today!
Opening to something bigger has been so inspiring with you, Michael! I'm finding my poses coming from someplace new--someplace hard right now--but challenging and important. Doing poses where I used to feel confident and rooted now feel new and challenging. The day after class on Tues, my body ached from being stretched in all kinds of new ways. It wasn't pain, it was the ache of growth. It wasn't local, it was all through my insides and out. It's growing aches, and I find that very exciting! Class today (Thurs 10 July) was once again stretching and growing and opening and flowing. How wonderful! thank you!
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