Moving from inside out

It's real easy to allow our practice to become mechanical--especially if we have a strong alignment based practice. I like to remind myself that even when I have a strong focus on alignment that I have to align from the inside out. Attitude before alignment, and it's comes from within the heart. When we get quiet within our meditation, or beginning centering to class it's a great time to check out what's happening with our inner body--that which animates the muscles and bones and draws forth our life force. That inner body is also connected and enhanced by our thoughts and emotions and intentions. If we can connect to our poses from this place and move from the inside out, the poses take on a powerful meaning moving beyond just mere physical expression and beauty, but a depth of expansion that sparks a momentous creative act. You are celebrating, you are creating art, you are honoring that animating and energy and taking ownership of your abundant nature.

You will find that as you begin to explore this is in such poses as backbends for example (which we are working on this week) that if you cultivate this inner body awareness and move from outside in, to inside out, your poses will become so full and all pain associated with backbends will cease. I can't tell you how many of you this week have found new freedom in your backbends--how cool is that! It can keep on happening too! You don't have to have freedom some of the time--you can always to it. Remember it's about opening up to something bigger and then hugging in to that remembrance, and then expanding from the depth of that connection--moving from inside out.

What do you hug into? At given point there are three main places to hug in these are called focal points:

FOCAL POINT A localized power spot within the body. Muscular Energy draws into it, and Organic Energy extends out from it. There are three possible locations for the Focal Point: the core of the pelvis, the bottom of the heart, and the upper palate. In any given pose, only one Focal Point is active. The active Focal Point is the one nearest the most weight-bearing part of the pose. When the three possible Focal Points are equally weight-bearing, the pelvic Focal Point becomes the active one by default.

So for example in Backbends the focal point is the pelvis.

What are we hugging in and expanding out?

Muscle Energy The second Principle organizes and steadies the body, stabilizing the wild periphery of the body to move into the stillness and power of the core. Embrace your intrinsic goodness. Be steadfast like the earth.

Organic Energy The fifth Principle extends the radiant power of the core, aligned through the first four Principles, through the rest of the pose in the culmination of its expression. This expression is the result of the intention of the first Principle – Opening to Grace to align with the Universal. Shine – extend freely like air.




I hope this gives you some tools to have expansions in your practice this week!

Namaste!