“The very center of your heart is where life begins – the most beautiful place on earth.”
~Rumi
Words to consider – Effortless effort, Inner Space, and Peace
Comfort and Stability are the foundations of yoga. Comfort and stability allow space for effortless effort.
If we are to receive the benefits of yoga asana and meditation, we must be comfortable and stable in the asana postures, including the asana posture of seated meditation, be it on the floor or in a chair.
Moving through the postures with our breath, and the ease of stability and comfort is moving with effortless effort. Sitting in the comfort and stability of effortless effort allows for the breath and focus needed in meditation.
Resting in stillness requires the same comfort and steadiness of an effortless effort that gives us space to relax, breathe diaphragmatically, notice how we are feeling, notice our strengths and challenges, to rediscover our inner space.
Our Inner space is an energetic, pranic-filled pathway within the depths of our inner body. An Intelligent part of our core being, a subtle space, filled with peace and tranquility and the best of ourselves, an inner space that can be tapped into through proper stillness and proper breath.
Peace – The Oxford dictionary’s definition of peace is “freedom from disturbance; tranquility”, and “a state or period in which there is no war or a war has ended”.
In a comfortable and stable position, we can in fact find this sense of inner peace by quieting our own inner disturbances through conscious stillness and breath. We can cultivate a calm mind and healthy nervous system by linking our body and breath in an effortless, yet systematic breath-aligned manner.
The Challenge – 2-5 Minutes, twice a day for 7 days, discover your Inner space of peace through Conscious Stillness and the Ease of Effortless Effort.
Centering in tadasana or mountain pose. Standing in a stable position with legs hip distant apart, bare feet flat on the floor, arms relaxed along the sides of your body, chin parallel to the floor. Eyes at a soft gaze or closed.
Lifting your toes slowly off the floor, gently bring the toes back down to the floor, and notice the four corners of your feet. Following your awareness up through your legs, notice your ankles, calves, knees, thighs, pelvic floor, hips, and the center of your pelvis. Breathe deeply into your lower abdomen and pelvis area, bringing your awareness to the stability and strength of your hips and lower body.
Consider for a moment moving through the world from this place of stability, the physical and inner strength of YOU.
With a slight engagement of the pelvic floor and lower abdomen, lengthening the spine, place the right hand on the lower abdomen and the left hand over your heart, noticing the breath on the inhalation and exhalation. Notice the beat of your heart. Be still for 1 – 2 full minutes.
Bring your hands together in a prayer pose, taking 3 complete breaths, inhaling from the pelvic floor to the crown of your head, softening tension while exhaling down the spine. Following the flow of your breath through the inner space within the center column of your body
Do this for 3 complete breaths.
Gently open your eyes, smile, and hold gratitude for the body and inner space that YOU occupy.
“Over time, the stability, and comfort of our physical posture become so mature that it’s as if our body isn’t there and we can simply experience the body through the lens of the breath. The body becomes a reference point for a deeper experience of our inner space”
~Ishan Tigunait
Thru soulful eyes 