Step 5- Attune - Resonance and Creativity
Listen. Can you hear it now? Can you sense the subtle pulsation of your heart, the rhythmic movement of your breath, the gentle murmur of your thoughts? Can you hear the chorus of life all around you in the sound of the wind, the laughter of children, the cascade of birdsong as it announces the sunrise?
Purposes: Communication, purification, refinement
Practices: Opening the throat and shoulders, speak from the heart with sincere intention
Actions: Refining vibrations, shoulder pull back, posture awareness,
Yoga practice: Any poses that open chest, shoulder, breathe and holding a post with awareness.
Radiance - Openness ($13.00/ 48 mins)
To increase fluidity and function of each shoulder muscle down to your back, try opening up the shoulders with this series of strengthening and lengthening exercises. These exercises can improve posture, stimulate blood flow, and provide a great energy boost.
Video available for 180 days
Stability and Balance ($13.00/ 58 mins)
To further enhance your body's balance and stability, try exercises that strengthen the muscles responsible for keeping you upright, including your legs and core, as well as toning the glutes. This series of exercises can improve your body awareness, increase muscular strength, and enhance mental clarity.
Video available for 180 days
From Speaking to Listening
Sound and rhythm are everywhere, within you and around you. All prana is vibrating, oscillating back and forth, flickering with the steady beat of existence. You need only listen deeply to become part of this chorus of life singing the symphony of creation. You are part of this creation, and your notes are needed too. But like any musician who plays in an orchestra, you must first tune your instrument.
“Our body is an instrument played by divine breath. It is our job to keep the instrument well-tuned and to listen to the voice of truth moving through us” - Anodea Judith
When you pluck a string it vibrates the air molecules around it, which eventually dance upon your ear drum and make a sound. The vibration lasts until the impact upon the string is neutralized, then it returns to quiet and stillness again. If you hit the string harder, the sound will last longer before it is neutralized. If you hit it softly, it will barely make a sound at all.
In the same way, life will pluck the cord of your sushumna (joyful mind) with people and events that move your soul. Positive or negative, these impacts cause a vibration at the core level of your being.
Communication in the Process
Communication is the process of sending and receiving information or consciousness from one thing to another. Our cells communicate chemically, our nervous system electrically. We communicate with each other through words and globally through the internet. In yoga, we first learn to communicate with our inner temple through the “innernet,” an elaborate inner system of neurons, muscles, breath, and sensations that tell us whether we are doing a pose correctly. The brain and body are in constant communication as we move, breathe, adjust, and come into and out of poses. Practicing yoga allows us to become fluent in this language and brings us into deeper communication with our ancient self.
Subtle Energy
Sit quietly in an easy cross-legged pose. Close your eyes and go inside to your inner temple. Listen to the sound in your body, starting with your breath. Follow the rhythm of your breath as you inhale and exhale, not forcing anything but just listening to the air flowing in and out of your nostrils.
Beneath the breath, listen for your heartbeat. Feel it as a vibrating organ at the center of your being, whose vibrations flow rhythmically throughout the body, through every artery.
Now notice the rhythm of your thoughts. Ignore their content but imagine your silent witness is listening to the cadence and tone as if it were a muffled conversation in another room. See how your breath, heartbeat, and inner thoughts all dance to a single rhythm, each playing their individual parts. Feel the harmony of each part in concert with the others.
Now begin to listen to the sounds around you. Listen to any sounds of nature or of cars or people outside. Take your listening into the imaginal realm and imagine you can hear conversations out on the street, broadcasting on the radio or television, sounds that are occurring in schools, offices, and stores, anything you notice around you.
Pigeon Pose and Explore Your Variations
It is important for the body to be warmed up before entering this pose. Let’s explore pigeon pose first, then see where it takes you, and if you are comfortable to explore further from there.
Begin in Dow award Facing Dog. Pressing firmly into your hands, lift your right leg up straight behind you, pointing your toes, extend from the heels of your hands all the way through your right toes as you inhale deeply.
Exhale and bring your right shin forward between your hands, bending the knee and placing the outer edge of the right calf on the mat, moving your right foot as far forward as you comfortably manage without discomfort.
Extending your left leg straight behind you, inwardly rotate the top of your back thigh so that the front of the entire leg, knee, ankle, and foot press downward onto the mat.
Extend your tailbone toward the back end of your mat, press your hands down, lift your crown, draw your shoulder back, and take a deep breath here.
Exhale and lower your upper torso down to the floor, keeping your spine lengthened and your core in line with the center of your mat. You may use your hands to make a pillow for your forehead, or extend your arms straight in front of you.
Variations (There are many variations in this pose)
Bend your back knee and lift your foot toward your buttocks. Bring your foot in the hand on the same side and press on the top of foot to depend the stretch.
Catch your back foot in the elbow crease of your arm on the same side. Reach back with the opposite arm and interlace your fingers. Be sure to level your shoulders to the front, as reaching back tends to twist the body toward the back leg.
The full pose reaches back with both hands and holds the foot to the back of heads (photo), this is a challenging pose that requires years of practice, so please respect your practice with awareness and comfort level.
