Chakras, Vayus and Asana in Awakening

Posted on August 12, 2015 by admin

The Big Picture

Yoga is the exploration of: Awakening and stabilizing that Awakening, aka: Enlightenment, Self Realization, Moksha, Freedom from Suffering, etc, and involves Awareness, Attention, Intention, and Identification. This awakening allows our own unique creativity to emerge as a crucial component to the on-going planetary and Cosmic awakening arising in the fullness of this moment.

This exploration requires:
1. an ability to: differentiate the two perspectives available to humans:
Purusha and Prakriti, Being and Becoming, Luminous Emptiness and Creation, Now and Time, The Changeless and Impermanence, etc; cultivate each as a proficiency or skill, and integrate them into …

2. the realization of Oneness, of Non-duality, Advaita. That the two points of view, while differentiated, are never separate from each other. Purnamadah, purnamidam.

3. the recognition that the “I am”, the Self, Atman, ‘drashtuh svarupe‘, where the Infinite emerges into form as Soul, is eternally unbounded, luminous and the source of all creativity.

4. the understanding that life conditions, experiences and karma have created patterns of belief, thought and emotional reactivity that can obscure or completely hide the inner light of soul and inhibit creativity.

5. that there are skillful means, upayas, that specifically address these obscurations and reveal the inner light. (Citta vrtti nirodha, sthira sukham asanam, Mindfulness, etc.

6. that these obscurations appear as either rigidity, an imbalance of tamas, or chaos, an imbalance of rajas; or possibly combinations of the two. And they all involve a confusion of self-identity. (vrtti sarupyam itaratra.)

7. Somatic practices such as hatha yoga transform these imbalances back into coherence and harmony, sattva, by bringing attention/awareness to the deeper structures of the nervous system, including the gut body and cardiac nervous system, as well as the other physiological systems, which have their own inherent intelligence that moves toward healing and wholeness. Surrender into this awakened intelligence ( ishvara pranidhana, II-47: prayatna shayithilyaananta samapattibhyam) dissolves (nirodha) the self confusion (avidya), and allows the light of the soul to shine clearly (I-3: tada drashtuh svarupe avasthanam,) and Divine creativty to emerge as your life journey.

8. This process of healing and awakening creativity is an evolutionary impulse rippling throughout the entire Universe. (I-40: paramaanu-parama-mahattvaanto’sya vashikaarah

The Details

How can we work with chakras and vayus ‘on the mat’ to transform psychological/emotional/spiritual confusion into light?

There are seven major energy centers in the human, known as chakras or energy wheels. As somanauts, we bring the buddhi (as light) to each and explore them as regions of movement and coordination of movements. This allows ‘enlightened posture and movements, or movement/posture as Divine Prayer. When all seven have been turned on (lit up), there is a clear sense of the spinal axis as emerging from the chakra line, like beads of light on a string. This of course, is refined in tadasana.

Our spiritual home base.
4th chakra: The center of our universe, where love, wisdom and compassion are awakened and sustained and all the chakras learn to work together. We begin here, and return again and again until we are rooted here as a felt sense in the body deeply linked to Mother Earth and Father Sky. It also supports heart and lungs, and feeds energy to upper limbs and head for movement and support and integrates the subtle spinal movements with the breath. Feel the heart chakra as a point where the infinite expands into form and keeps going. It’s a continuous opening.
Lower chakras:

1st chakra: tail and legs: the three pillars of support in tadasana, and the anal mouth, the root of the gut body. The first cosmic gate, opening a connection to Mother Earth. 2nd chakra: Sacral region: small movements at sacro-illiac joints and the bladder as an organ of support and vibrancy. 3rd chakra: upper abdominal region: liver, kidneys, spleen, stomach, adrenals, descending fibers of the diaphragm, T10 – L3 and more. Modulates spinal curves where the lumbar undergoes large changes in shape. We’ll see more below when we get to the samana vayu.

Upper chakras.
5th chakra: continues support and movement of head, jaws, mouth, and tongue. Integrates cervical and thoracic curves in movement and support. 6th chakra: inner ears, third eye, pituitary center. Subtle movement of skull on C-1, a place often stuck. Cranial-sacral work involves integration skull and sacrum, 6th and 2nd chakras in subtle inner waves and inner energy fields. 7th chakra: crown, above the skull, organizes movements that totally release neck. The second cosmic gate, opening connections to the heavenly realms/Father Sky.

Now we add to the mix the physiological/spiritual organizing energies of aliveness known as the Five Prana Vayus. These are:
Prana = what we take in / expansion / upper body centered
Apana = what we get rid of / condensing / lower body centered
Samana = what we choose to keep / the balancer / middle body centered
Vyana: distributing the good stuff to all cells and tissues
Udana: growth and development on biological, emotional/psychological/spiritual levels.

Can we ‘feel’ these five organizing activities as movements of energy and energetic fields? Can we integrate these with the chakras? This will bring us to the basic laws of living structures and the effortless support they offer. Then our poses and practice in asana become divine prayers, healing and awakening creativity.

The primary organizing activity in the Universe is the balance between expanding and condensing. This is the yin/yang of Taoism and Chinese medicine, and also ‘Tensegrity’ as articulated by Buckminster Fuller, Tom Myers etc. In a tensegrity structure, like the human body, the compression elements push out against the tension elements, which in turn pull in against the compression elements. B.K.S. Iyengar describes asana as the balancing of centripetal (toward the center) and centrifugal (away from center) forces. (Light on the Yoga Sutras on Patanjali). A star, like our sun, is delicately balanced between the intense condensing caused by gravity and the equally intense expansion created by the nuclear fire. Our life flows from this dynamic relationship at all levels of reality.

As the prana vayu governs taking in, we can experience it as an expanding energy field centered in the chest (fourth chakra) to open heart and lungs. It is the yang, or centrifugal energy. Imagine this as a radial expansion, like the opening of the hoberman sphere. In kinesiology, we feel prana also in supporting the action and movement of the arms, ribs and head.

The apana vayu governs releasing out and thus is a condensing or squeezing field centered in the lower body (first and second chakras). It is the yin, or centripetal energy. When functioning in a healthy manner, apana squeezes out solid and liquid waste from below, but also helps to squeeze the air out of the lungs. Kinesiologically, apana can be felt supporting the action and movement of the pelvis, legs and tail, maintaining grounding energy in posture and movement.

Samana is the balancer. It integrates the upper body action of taking in with the lower body action of squeezing out. Usually described in digestive terms, as it is a third chakra energy, somanauts explore the samana’s role in balancing the upper body and lower body in movement. It’s role is to integrate the movements of upper body/head and arms with movements of the lower body/legs and tail like in the cheetah. Notice the cheetah is actually flying more than running. Notice also the coiling and uncoiling of the core as it oscillates between flexion and extension. This is the mammalian action will will explore first in the asanas.

Ideally there is a single integration of all five vayus, the prana, apana and samana riding on vyana and allowing udana to function at highest most refined level possible. Iyengar describes this as samyama in asana, where organs of action, organs of perception and intelligence (buddhi) integrate into a single conscious movement in the entire body.

Now we add the poses. Take what we have covered above and integrate with what follows.

Integration through the Standing Poses

Lesson 5 of the basic course in my home study section of the site covers this,
(and saves me the need to rewrite it all! ) so please click here to continue.

Flipping the Dog (Please click here.)

Into Inversions

Preview of Coming Attractions

Holos: The Nine Limbed Torus

Posted on July 27, 2015 by admin

In our on going explorations in embodying Sacred Geometry, we continually cycle back to the torus, and the corresponding torroidal field, one of the primary patterns of cosmic creation. It is time to add a whole new level of torroidal intelligence to our somatic journey, and to do so, we will bring in my ‘across the street in Ojai’ neighbor Brian Berman, and what he is calling a HOLOS, a symbol for one humanity.

Brian, a spiritually awakened sculptor and peace activist, had an inspirational vision in 2012. It began as the illusion of his separate self dissolving into wholeness, emptiness and deep silence. Only Being/Knowing. Then a thought arose as a spark on energy that then dissolved back into the silence. Then another. Forms coming and going. Then, an image of a torus appeared, emerging from his heart as strands of energy spiraling out from stillness, and then spiraling back into the infinite stillness at the core of his heart. He recognized at once that the torus was a symbol of unity, of many linked as one, rooted in the infinite. From his many years as a peace activist, he realized the possibility of using this image as an international unifying symbol for all engaged in bringing peace to the world. And it did not hurt that, while on a 2014 pilgrimage to Ramana Maharshi’s ashram in Tiruvannamalai, India inquiring about using art in a spiritual way, he got a clear ‘bring this into the world’ message.

The center of the Holos represents the infinite, wholeness, stillness and silence, the Source of all creation. The nine spirals represent the emergence of any and all forms, from atoms to galaxies, and everything in between. Think of the holos as a three dimensional expression of the pranavah, the sacred syllable ‘OM’. The nine spirals can be seen as linking three equilateral triangles, each of the 9 apices being 40 degrees apart on the circle. Nine is composed of a trinity of trinities. According to Michael Schneider in ‘The Beginners’ Guide to Constructing the Universe” “nine is considered thrice sacred and most holy, representing perfection, balance and order, the supreme superlative.”

We are going to take this unique torus and use it to help clear out the chakras and invite it to provide an organizing intelligence for the water and collagen molecules in the Living Matrix of the body. Finding and differentiating the nine strands may take a while, but we are all in this for the long haul, so be patient. Consider this like the Vajrayana Buddhist practice of mandala visualization meditation. Much to be revealed in the future as we play with this!

In any comfortable sitting pose, align yourself with heaven and earth and bring your attention to your heart center. Feel the spherical volume, above/below, front/back, right/left, alive, fluid, spacious. Now convert the sphere to a torus, opening the center like in a bagel, so now the center is emptiness. Stay open to heaven and earth and stillness and begin to notice how the tissue in the heart region is responding. In the holos, ascending energies move clockwise and descending energies move counterclockwise. Let the field and your imagination do the work. Try not to help muscularly. Find where your energy field is weak or distorted, or overworking. (My right posterior quadrant is challenged). Now imagine the limbs differentiating, lengthening or spiraling to help create space. Visualize the empty space between the solid limbs of the holos. Feel it from above and below as in the very top picture. Try moving it around; up and down, right and left, forward and backward. What does this do to your feeling?

If we combine the holos with a hoberman sphere, we can expand and condense both the empty center space, as well as the nine spiraling lines, in a gyroscope like action. This action really awakens new possibilities in the holos. Feel how the centrifugal expansion increase space between the lines as they rotate outward. Feel the spirals rippling through the fluids and tissues as the chakra line stabilizes. Same with condensing centripetal action. For most of us, the heart space (prana vayu) needs more expanding and the belly space (apana) needs more condensing.

The well known sacred geometer extraordinaire, B.K.S. Iyengar, (how many different triangles can you find in this trikonasana?) describes this phenomenon in “Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali”, in his commentary to sutra II-46: “Conative action is the exertion of the organs of action. Cognitive action is the perception of the results of that action. When the two are fused together, the discriminative faculty of the mind acts to guide the organs of action and perception to perform the asans more correctly; the rhythmic flow of energy and awareness is experienced evenly and without interruption, both centripetally and centrifugally throughout the channels of the body. A pure state of joy is felt in the cells and the mind. (For a deeper discussion of this, see Samyama in Asana.)

The holos field is a fractal, so it can be found all over the body. Imagine it to help to open any place that feels restricted. Take it into your limbs, head and tail until it finds its place. The center is always stillness and the energies emerge and dissolve again and again, moment to moment, day by day. Take time to help the larger field and the mini fields also, stabilize. Find the patterns in any pose, at any time. Let them settle and stabilize. No hurry, no worries.

Differentiating the Lower 2 Chakras

Posted on July 13, 2015 by admin

As we continue to rest in stillness, while the universe flows through us, in the on going stream of karma and creativity, we somatic explorers can also use the yoga postures to help with the flossing the chakras, creating a more clear channel for the light. Always cycling through the heart, the energies of the asanas can be very helpful in both differentiating and integrating the various modes of energy associated with each of the seven main chakras, allowing our creativity to unfold and flower at more and more interesting levels.

For most modern humans with a confused upright posture, the bottom two chakras are squashed together with almost no differentiation. We will use our supported bridge pose to begin the process of opening space between them and developing a sense of fluid differentiated movement. Then we will integrate this opening and new sense of space into our play in the rest of the standing poses, and then all the rest of the poses in your repertoire. The water element makes for very juicy yoga!

Structurally, the pelvic bones are the first and most obvious link, as they connect with the femurs to form the hip joints, powerful 1st chakra centers, and also with the sacrum at the sacro-illiac joints to motivate the 2nd chakra. As you can see above, there are numerous nerves, ligaments and muscle fibers here, so this is very dynamic space. There is another hidden link, the elusive joint between the sacrum and the coccyx, much more obvious in animals with a larger tail. For most, the L5 – S1 joint, where the sacrum connects to the lower lumbar, is hypermobile, leading to excess movement and injury here. If you can ‘stabilze L5 – S1, and mobilize the sacral-coccyx joint, you will have very different spianl experience! Your imaginary tail will make this link more accessible, and this will help open up the center channel with what we will call a bit later ‘lateral space’.

One observation we can make, before we go further, is that chakra 1 represents the element earth and stability, while chakra 2 represents the element water and mobility. As students of asana, sthira sukham asanam comes immediately to mind. If we can find the dynamic balance of stability and mobility through the structures and energy fields of the two lower chakras, we have the perfect foundation for all subsequent movement needs. Eric Franklin’s very helpful book, “Pelvic Power” is full of great imagery, exercises and education. I love the fountain!

A second observation is that one can be very integrated in structure and movement down there and still be emotionally dysfunctional. There is no shortage of highly skilled professional athletes who fit this profile. The element water is also associated with emotions, and the second chakra is also the center of sexual energy, so as we begin to release the bound energy of the second chakra, we need the grounding energy of the first chakra to stabilize us, and the wisdom of the heart chakra to make sure our actions are always expressions of the heart.

Place the block directly under the sacrum. I prefer a wooden block, as the feedback is clear and the block is stable. I find the foam blocks less stable unless you stack them, and then you lose the precision of the narrow edge. However, your body has to be safe and comfortable.

Feet are alive, continuing to ground the energy, even though the primary grounding is now through the block. Gently press the feet forward to create a rebound energy coming back towards your head. Channel it through the center of the pelvis. To do this, the pelvis is neither tucked, nor untucked, but floating in neutral, parallel to the floor. This pose is not about how much height you can create up to the ceiling, but about how accurately the energy flows through the core. The block gives you feed back for exactly where the sacrum is. As you press the feet, feel that action is coming from the pelvic bones reaching toward the knees, right and left evenly. This would be grounding if you were standing. Let the rebound move in the opposite direction through the sacrum so you feel the double action centered right where the hips and sacro-illiacs are located. Allow a space to emerge between the bones, without a sense of ‘stretching’ anything. Just energy flow, ground and space. Feel the diaphragm and heart expanding to receive the pelvic energy. Feel the fountain.

Now begin to grow a tail that extends out past the knees. Try a mammal tail and oscillate between flexion and extension, forward and back bending actions, just with the tail, but let the fluids of the whole body respond. The other spinal vertebrae may also move in a wave like motion. Let them feel the fluid motion, but try to not help by contracting any muscles. This is the beginning of differentiating the front and back body from the center and opening up the inner ‘volume’ of the body. Inhabiting this inner space is key in the somatic awakening process.

Then take the feet up without losing the tail so there is no ‘gripping in the lumbar sacral area. There will be some engagement of the deeper muscles as they align with the flow. Experiment with slowly moving up and down to involve different regions of the spine as the legs and sacrum adapt to the changing angles, and then land gently without losing the awareness.

Next, try a fish tail with side to side wave motion. Big fish! Let the whole ‘chakra line’ feel fluid, let all the vertebrae have a chance to feel the integrated flow. The fish tail action is the beginning of finding the lateral space that opens up through the second chakra as the two pelvic bones differentiate. That the right and left feet and legs can move independently is obvious. When the two pelvic bones can differentiate, at the pubic bones and at the sacro-illiacs, the second chakra can begin to breathe and the side to side or lateral differentiation and volume awakens.

With one leg extending upward you can explore this new awareness. Let the pelvic bones follow the legs, leaving the sacrum floating above the block. This can help release tension in the deep spinal muscles along the length of the spine. The other leg remains in hip extension and you can begin to sense space in the center plane of the torso with the help of the tail. The legs stay alive as the fluidity supports the expanding of diaphragm, intercostals, mesentery and mediastinum. The pelvic bones and spine are often ‘confused’, meaning they are stuck together perceptually. So as the fish body awakens, the spine becomes more and more free to feel like a fish because the legs, from pelvis to feet, float away. This is more obvious in the next stage.

It all comes down to water, collagen, physics and sacred geometry: Now, with legs and pelvis free of the spine, play in this ‘Continuum’ exploration of the inner world that is opening. The balance of water (compression) and collagen (tension) build the tensegrity field, where every fiber feels connected fluidly and elastically to every other fiber, whether muscle, bone, organ, cell or fascia. Let the body take on any shape it desires. If the arms want o float upwards, let them go with it. Drop habits and holding and be as free as an anemone. There is a spectrum of of learning and freedom of expression, of course. It builds over time as Hebb’s Axion deepens the integration. When you are ready to carry this into other poses, retain the inner balance of fluidity and stability. Stay grounded and sing and dance your heart away!