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Anthem
1608 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 24 2007 : 9:21:33 PM
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I don't know if many others here fall into this category, but I have come to understand that the physical body (or at least mine) has limits to how quickly it can change. For whatever reason I have a hungry mind for knowledge, wisdom, higher awareness and I recognize the more I change for the better, the more I want to continue to expand. This has lead me repeatedly to hit a ceiling in how much my body is capable of changing to match the ever expanding awareness of the mind.
The list of things we can do to elevate our consciousness is extensive and when added upon an incredibly powerful system of daily practices like AYP it can be too much. I have spent much time, doing self-enquiry, asanas, reading the words of the sages, daily AYP practices (usually to my limits), being in the here and now, it can all add up to too much and when you are over it not only hurts, purification isn't as fun. I don't believe there is any limit to physical change, but one has to respect that change is more gradual in the physical world than the emotional or mental worlds.
I have also become aware that wanting to change too fast creates a stress on the body which reduces its capacity to change. This inadvertently gives us the opposite of what we want and slows us down. So as Yogani has put it on numerous occasions throughout the lessons, less can be more. Sometimes one has to just figure these things out the hard way!
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Kyman
530 Posts |
Posted - Sep 25 2007 : 6:54:20 PM
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Hello Anthem,
It is interesting that you posted this, I was having a similar thought the other day. I was enjoying my easy and steady pace, thinking about how flexible yoga is and can be. Then I thought back to the beginning, a few years back.
I remembered realizing very quickly that I could not continuously practice like I was. The meditation would become a strenuous activity, and empty of the ease that comes when the body has found a proper rhythm or cycle. More down time would be required to recover from the symptoms/damage of over doing. It also promotes duality, as the mind is forced to create frames of reference in two modes of living. Over doing, and recovery. The magic in between just got squished out of the picture.
In the beginning, the mind doesn't know, and projects all sorts of things onto the body/path. There is no real understanding of why a certain technique is done, or not down until a certain time. We hold back sometimes when we should persevere, and indulge when we should abstain, and trample ahead when we should rest. It takes some time for the mind to link everything together so it can recognize the more in less. Before we do find our natural way, you might say you are still in the clunky phase. At least in terms one's potential and how they may practice fives years down the road.
Because knowing yoga is the best way to find the right pace, in the beginning you cannot rely on this in order to keep from over doing. Instead, recognize your own progress thus far and trust that those who have more experience are being honest way they warn about the consequences of pushing too hard. With that honored and accepted, the best thing you can do is not put yourself into a position of weakness or dependency. This will create fewer conditions where the mind tries to use yoga instead of surrender to it. In other words, love yourself and fulfill yourself in all the ways the body uniquely demands, as to avoid reducing the process to means and end.
With all that, there is something to be said for following that inner voice which sometimes beckons us into new territory. Places that may be beyond our understanding or education. There is great intelligence and reward in following that intuition, because it is acting on more information than our conscious mind. A model for safety must be applied and maintained, but the spirit of curiosity, of our authentic will, must be honored in order to go from the page of techniques to communicating directly with all the dimensions of our being. Curiosity and quick learning are a deadly combination for the ego.
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Edited by - Kyman on Sep 25 2007 8:43:28 PM |
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Anthem
1608 Posts |
Posted - Sep 26 2007 : 3:08:17 PM
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Lot's of great wisdom in there Kyman, thank you for your post. |
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emc
2072 Posts |
Posted - Sep 26 2007 : 3:56:40 PM
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quote:
...but the spirit of curiosity, of our authentic will, must be honored in order to go from the page of techniques to communicating directly with all the dimensions of our being.
Oh, thank you for that, Kyman!
I have no clue if my physical problems - that sometimes occur - is due to overdoing, a sloppy life style in general, irregular practices or another unknown factor... The only thing I can trust is my inner voice and it pushes me all the time to go on despite of minor cold symptoms, head ache or the like.
I also am pretty convinced that it's the level of ego identification that determines bodily symptoms. My experiences (particularly from the retreat) is that when leaving personal self-concern through dropping identification with the body, the symptoms go with it. It can happen instantly. The physical body is probably able to alter its constitution instantly. Evolution in the nervous system may happen quickly under the right circumstances.
The speed of transformation in the physical body is not determining the progress of growing inner stillness. It's the other way around, the body follows immedately the level of frequency you're at. But it seems like the body is deciding the limits, since it responds so quickly to thoughts of the mind. When you fall back into personalizing after a period of higher consciousness, the body quickly manifests those erraneous thoughts and following contractions as uncomfortable symptoms.
I don't know how much truth there is in that... it's just my strong conviction after latest tango dancing in and out of timebound bodily existence and the eternal now - unlimited and non-attached to body. |
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Respecting the limits of physical change
