I woke up in paradise. Palm tree forests and tropical bird songs was part of my daily life while I was surrendering myself to Y O G A teacher training in Bali, Indonesia. I was longing for this experience for two years of my life. And when I finally stepped on my yoga mat and did my first sun salutation, my body just vibrated, I could feel the tingling sensation in my arms and legs. My heart was filled with joy and my eyes with tears of happiness. Yeah, I know I am quite emotional person, but my oh, my did I felt the power of yoga in my body. Everything in my life made sense and I finally was able to hear myself loud and clear.
Yoga does not change the world around you, but it changes the person who is observing it.
Am I ready for this, I asked myself. I exhaled and placed my arms in the center of my heart. I think we all know what was my answer.
Lazy people get away
Well yoga was never my thing in the beginning. It was too slow and static for me. I was thinking about the meaning of just standing in one position for five breaths. I am not doing anything with my body, I was assuming that yoga is for lazy people. And one day it just changed completely. You know that in life everything happens in perfect timing. We can never miss an appointment or a meeting if it is meant to be for you. Nu, there is no chances. Believe me. So mystically enough I ended up in a yoga class. My life at that point was quite a mess I can say that, I just came back from India aka other dimension. The events that happened around me just made me think about what am I actually doing with my life and bla bla bla. You know when everything is upside down. I remember that day, like it was yesterday. It was hotter then ever and I choose to participate in Ashtanga yoga class. I decided to go there because I met this powerful women with wild, curly ginger hair. Her energy was just so explosive and shining, that I fell in love with her right away. I wanted to know more about her, so I reached out to her, inviting her for a conversation. And she was more then happy to meet with me. We met and it felt so familiar, we discovered that she has born almost on the same day as I am. It was no questions asked that I wanted to participate in a yoga class led by her.
It must be something there I wondered. So in that hot and humid day I was revealing one of the most important things about Y O G A. In one of the postures I was bending so much that all my posture was collapsing. She came and quietly sad to me: “Signija, you do not collapse with your body just because of your flexibility, stretch forward, look up. We do not want to collapse we want to grow and move forward, so show it with your body.” These words hit me so deep, that I finally understood the whole meaning of yoga. Your body, the way you move is the direct translation of your mind and inner world. From the way one is moving we can tell the whole story about this person. So then I started to really scan myself and think about my movements and how it has been reflecting my inner state. So I will explain a little bit deeper taking an example of me. If I am so bendy and flexible I can bend into one hundred poses without even blinking an eye. In real life it translates that I can be in uncomfortable life situation and I will still be fine, because I am so flexible that I can adapt to all situations. But do I have the power and strength to say no to these uncomfortable situations and be grounded? And the answer was not yet. I can be flexible but I lack strength and it could be easily seen in my yoga practice. So from that point on I decided to go the path of yoga. Our body is the key to more understanding of our self and mind. It is a great reflection of what is happening in our inner world.
Holy trinity
So I was stunned by the way I could start to communicate with my higher self through my body. This movement which I called lazy before suddenly started to make sense. Expanding and contracting, trying to balance on one foot while your other leg is close to your head is a task, you know. So I saw the possibility of where I could grow and build a stronger connection with myself. I wanted to become stronger, meaning I was inspired to learn how to stand on my head which requires a lot of shoulder and core power, and of course calm mind. One thought and you are out of balance. So it gives us an opportunity to learn how to master our mind in order to master our body and then our life. It all starts with ourselves. If we stand straight up and our shoulders are leaning forward it is a sign that this person has closed his heart to the world, he is not opening himself to the possibilities. If the person during the practice is loose like an egg yolk, it just means that in the life he is the same. Or if person is stiff, it means that this person is not able to adapt changes in his life, he is holding on to some old beliefs not ready to let go and move on. The same like me, I am not physically too strong and it means that in real life I am not being so strong as well. Everything is connected. Like I could write and write about the power of mind and body, what we could learn just from standing on one foot. It truly is mind blowing. And so simple.
It is not always easy each and every day is like a new beginning, our mood is different the way we feel is different. So your practice could not be all the same like it was yesterday. And it is really interesting to notice that as well. For example one day I can feel the power of my body, the other day I feel like a grandma with hurting hip or something. And the magic lies in acceptance of yourself and the way your are at this moment. You learn to love yourself. Your learn how to receive a Y O G A B L I S S. By slowly practicing the sweet harmony of the movement and breath. We are inhaling all the good, all the light, while exhaling all what no longer serves us. Using the power of mind, visualizing how you are becoming lighter and brighter.
To remove physical obstacles asanas (postures) need to be practised. To remove obstacles from the pranic sheath and the breathing pattern, pranayama is advised. To remove obstacles from the mind yogic meditation is engaged in. For swift success, these three methods need to be combined.
Gregor Maehle, Pranayama: The Breath of Yoga
So here I am using the holy trinity – body, mind and spirit to awake in myself some new energies and give the knowledge to others, so we could awake this divine energy in all of us. Because it is already there we just need to learn how to access it and use it. On my next article I will invite you to a little bit more deeper insight of my Yoga teacher training and the brilliance of our nature. And the other side of living in paradise island Bali.
Namaste,
Signija ♡
