Upon reflection of the JSYTT in Mexico and the required readings, I have been able to build, deepen, and incorporate a better understanding of the 5 elements into my practice and teachings. At the same time, I also have so much more to learn. Below is what I have been able to “glean” thus far. In my deciphering of the phrase “brief reflection,” I have opted to detail how I have attempted to incorporate the knowledge gained from the training and readings into my teachings – which are a reflection of my own personal practice. I am going to exercise “santosha” and be completely content with the following submission.
The Internal Practice: Establishing Sacred Space and Connecting with the Inner Divine
The practice begins by creating a sacred space that enables students to feel safe in their own bodies. According to Michael Stone, “The body is the best place to begin to reconnect with reality, because it is right here all the time. We need not make a pilgrimage any further than the felt body at this moment.” (146). In this safe space, we are better able to “engage ourselves completely with our human characteristics and to accept the whole of what we are.” (Odier 41). In either a seated or reclining meditation, students are guided to observe the parts of the body that are in contact with the earth (back of the head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, sacrum, hips, thigh, calves, heals, etc.) as“[w]e open to experience from a place of stillness.” (Stone 6). Students are directed to practice equanimity (upeksā) physically in order to set aside their ego and expectations; to accept their limitations; to accept themselves exactly as they are at that given moment (49). It is also an opportunity to set aside those habitual “stories rooted in fear [that are fueled by] greed, anger, and confusion.” (89). As the body settles, the “monkey mind” tends to come alive . . . rather than fight these distractions (citta vŗitti), students are cued to allow them in, and imagine letting them go on the exhale. By beginning in this space of self-love and self-acceptance, “the restoration of intimacy through body, mind, and heart” better enables students to connect within as “. . . the divine is at the very heart of the awareness of breath, sensations, emotions, and thoughts.” (Odier 42,148; Stone 14). After all, “[w]hen we are safe in our own bodies, we have a ground from which to step out into the world” – in the practice, we are mentally prepared to step out onto our mats (Stone 155).
Students are then directed to notice those parts of the body in contact with the Air (Vayu) element (crown of the head, back of the neck, low back, behind the knees and ankles, soles of the feet, and the entire front body). Students continue their journey inward by connecting with Air element through their breath – first through observation: observing the length, depth, and breadth of each inhale and exhale; observing any natural pauses. By “[r]eturning to the arc of the full inhalation and exhalation, the mind comes back to neutrality, back to the present experience.” (14). By deepening the breath, students are cued to fill the belly, allow the ribs to expand and the heart to rise on every inhale; to allow the back body to ground and grow heavier while allowing the front body to soften, drawing the naval towards their spine on every exhale. As students begin to create their own rhythmic breathing pattern, the external practice begins with subtle movement as the students begin to sync their movement with their breath – cuing inhale (prāna) to expand and lengthen, exhale (apāna) to soften and release (17, 34).
The External Practice: Sun A, Vinyasa, and Yang Sequences
The external practice continues with a warm-up sequence where students are cued to engage ujjayi pranayama and core activating postures to incorporate the Fire (Angi) element. Guided first through Surya Namaskara A or similar variation, students are reminded to ground those areas of the body in contact with the earth (hands, feet, toes) to include their drishti. Students are also reminded to stay connected with the air through the breath as they continue through the flow on their own while I hold the space and offer support as a guiding observer (Stone 158). The Water (Apas) element is incorporated with the fluidity of movement as students transition from one pose to the next – creating a flow: “[l]et us be like the wave that accepts its pathway, it strength, its weakness, its freedom, the absence of choice.” (Odier 28, Stone 34, 40). These reminders to connect to the elements are reiterated as the Vinyasa flow is introduced in 2 to 3 segments with subtle verbal and tactile adjustments, as well as modifications and variations. The element of Ether (Akasha) is then introduced in the pauses between the postures and between the segments of the sequence. As the sequence is built in 5-6 posture segments, students are cued to “expect the unexpected” as additional postures are introduced or a sudden shift in perspective takes place (from top of mat to side to back of mat) – oftentimes in the middle of previous segments serving as an opportunity of “seeing reality as a contingent and impermanent flow.” (Stone 108, 142). This provides the students an opportunity to break the habitual pattern that they have developed for “[i]f the practices are to be vibrant and challenging, they must also interrupt the habits . . . .” (105). This experience also serves to build “a trust in the complexity of life” – to “live as the water and function as the wave.” (87, 128). Once the flow is established, students are released to drop deeper into the flow on their own providing them with an opportunity to be creative, to apply their own modifications and variations – an opportunity to connect with their Heart Sútra – to be “light, random, and uninhibited.” While students are flowing on their own, I will introduce the Ether (Akasha) element by having students intermittently pause before transitioning to the next posture. In these pauses, students are reminded of their connections to the 5 elements; it also serves to interrupt their “habit” – symbolically reflecting reality to be in constant flux. To close the warm-up sequence, students are invited to elevate their practice with the air element by taking an inversion they can safely execute for 10 complete yogi breaths.
Students are then directed to child’s pose or seated meditation to return to the complete yogi breath before being introduced to the yang sequence. The yang sequence is anywhere from 1-3 postures (standing or seated) that are held for longer periods and engage every fiber of their being. Here the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Ether are emphasized: Earth for grounding and rooting down those points of contact with the earth; stoking of the Fire not only through the breath, but also the muscles that are actively engaged in each pose; Air as students are directed to breathe through the hold as they maintain the space (ether) while holding the posture(s). It is within Ether that “[w]e reach toward the infinite and we touch the heart, we come back toward our center and touch the infinite space.” (Odier 26). By guiding students to notice the “attachment (rāga) and aversion (dvesa)” they encounter in these difficult asanas, they are encouraged to move into the uncomfortable in order to “open to an answer or any other strong feelings and not take immediate action” – to indeed, wait and see (Stone 13, 33, 51). Students are also encouraged to let go of the effort in order to embrace the moment for “[e]ffort must relax for intimacy to appear” (34). It is another opportunity to practice equanimity – “[e]quanimity (upeksā) is not a silent witnesses of our psychic lives but an opening toward what is.” (49).
Internal Practice: Yin Sequence and Savasana
As a transition from the external to the internal practice, students are lead through a yin sequence of 2-3 seated yin postures. Since these postures require no muscular energy, they can bring the student back to an internal practice. These restorative postures are longer holds that compliment the active asana practice. Students are guided through the 5 elements as they relate to each the posture. Here students may be guided to a symbolic representation of Spandakarika: “the sacred tremor is the way in to this new manner of seeing and feeling things. This is not a mental process, but a dynamic that engages both the body and the mind.” (Odier 19). The sacred tremor can be symbolically represented in the waves of sensations the students notice in these static holds. Here, students are encouraged to find stillness within the “tremors” that arise; to stay connected to the breath as the sensations ebb and flow like waves; to practice equanimity; to practice “limitless, formless space” (43).
Bringing the practice full circle, students return to the point in which they began . . . stillness in space (ether). It is in savasana “corpse” pose that “. . . we do not slip into nothingness – we slip into existence.” (Stone 165). Here, Kundalini can be alluded to that “which unfurls from the heart and permeates the totality of space, is quite simply absolute love.” (Odier 43-44). This spherical reference serves as a reminder that the world appears within us, and “the Divine is he who perceives the world, for he perceives only the reflection of the divine within him.” (17, 42). In savasana, we surrender to the moment; we let go of our need to control; we accept the present moment; we open to absolute love; we experience joy (28).
Closing
As I direct students out of savasana, I briefly return their attention to the 5 elements; first air by taking a complete yogi breath; the earth as they notice the heaviness of their body grounding into the earth; the fire of their inner divine light ignited by the practice; the water as they begin making subtle movements; and ether as they pause on their side in fetal pose in a moment of gratitude. Upon rising into a comfortable seated position, I close the class with a few rounds of a chant – which has not only been a throat-opening experience for me and my students, but a heart-opening one as well.
Final Observations
What is truly amazing about these elements is their interconnectedness; all are essentially formless and limitless in nature. It is possible to experience this interconnection within ourselves in our practice: “[p]ractice awakens the dormant and often invisible interiors of mind, body, and heart in order to establish a more tender, responsive, creative, and active self.” (Stone 13). And as it nurtures within us, it also radiates beyond us . . . beyond the four corners of our mat, beyond the four corners of the room as our “[i]nternal practices always flow back out into the world.” (Stone 58). It moves us not only toward self-acceptance and self-love, but accepting our part in a greater whole . . . as a part of the earth, not separate from it . . . interconnected (samādhi) (21, 25, 50, 89, 93).
If we are open to all of this decisively and without pause, we encounter the world as a part of it. This generates trust and reinforces the truth of being part of a much greater whole. This is no dream, there is no gift to open or heaven to which we must one day ascend; when we arrive in present experience, we come to see that the long carpet of reality is already unrolled. (Stone 25).
I have a deeper understanding and appreciation for the sangha – it is the world of which I am a part because “[a]ll is radiating sacred tremoring – people, mountains, rivers, and emotions.” (Odier 45). While I could continue with how this training has affected me, my efforts would be futile at this moment. First, the information from this training continues to evolve in my practice and my teachings. Additionally, the effects are too elusive to authenticate into words – and I don’t want to limit it with language or to box it into a “story.” As such, I will close with this: “The point of ethical practice is that we are reaching out to listen rather than speak, to be touched rather than to touch, to be affected rather than to manipulate.” (Stone 146). As such, I will continue to listen, be touched, and affected by this and future trainings.
Submitted with much love, light, and gratitude.
Works Cited:
Odier, Daniel. Yoga Spandakarika: The Sacred Texts at the Origins of Tantra. Inner Traditions: Rochester, 2004.
Stone, Michael. Awake in the World: Teachings from Yoga and Buddhism for Living an Engaged Life. Shambala: Boston, 2011.
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