First Winter Round 2--Taking Flight

MYOGA SEASONS for Subscribers

High Crow, photo by Michael Hobbs of hippyparents.com

Seeing with new eyes (our theme from Proust in Round 1) necessitates first seeing correctly how we currently see. As Einstein said, “We suffer from an optical delusion (the sense of separation) that represents a prison for us…Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature.”

As is fitting for the energy centre of perception, this quote suffers from issues of translation. Below is an updated English translation of the original German:

A human being is a spatially and temporally limited piece of the whole, what we call the “Universe.” He experiences himself and his feelings as separate from the rest, an optical illusion of his consciousness. The quest for liberation from this bondage [or illusion] is the only object of true religion. Not nurturing the illusion but only overcoming it gives us the attainable measure of inner peace. ~ Albert Einstein

Food for our focus on Focus itself, and on clarifying our Perceptions here in Ajna Chakra, which is often called the Third Eye. Some call it the First Eye to indicate we start with our insight and move outwards from there into seeing with our other two outer-gazing eyes. I prefer to refer to this energy centre and its super powers as the Strong Eye.

Round 2 of First Winter is a strong, just-under 28 minute, practice. In order to support yourSelf, trust the longer journey by being mindful of your wrists, especially if that's an area of concern for you. Lift weight out of your hands by engaging your stronger core and leg muscles instead of relying on arm strength.

Arm balancing is tricky business. There is a leap of faith required if this is new to you. Instead of rushing into it, please, take your time and trust that every little bit you do is helping you build the strength, determination, and vision to grow your wings. As you know from Round 1, Perception is how our "third eye" energy centre, Ajna Chakra, is often translated from Sanskrit. So, in order to change our reality, we must change our perception.

Do not give in to frustration or any sense of weakness. Notice your habitual Perceptions. Instead, focus on clearly envisioning the details of your flight. Also stay steady with the strengthening work that will get you there. This is as much brain work as it is body work, so take the visualization portion of the practice seriously, at the same time that you take yourself lightly! :)

Here's what Others have to say about this practice:

"Loved the reading. I connected with it's meaning by the end of the practice – thanks for repeating a part of it. I found this round was quite challenging and doubted my strength at times but then I realised "Hey, I'm now stronger than I was 27minutes ago!" Will give it another go another day. Thanks Melissa :-)"--Nathalie

We start out with the reading that Nathalie was referring to—another gem from Mary Oliver and one of my all-time favorites. As I say in the video, holding your arms up during the time it takes me to read it, is part of the practice. In order to hold our bodies off the ground with our two arms, we train and strengthen by simply holding the arms up for a few minutes, without strangling the neck with the shoulders. Continue to visualize (one of our key words here in Ajna Chakra) the arms stemming from the waists instead of the shoulders.

This practice picks up the pace from Round 1, so instead of struggling, please support yourself by starting with (or returning to) the foundations we set there. I consider vinyasa to be advanced, even though many people start with flowing and power-type yogas, because, unless you’ve established yourself in the Basics and really inquired into habitual patterns in the body, you’re likely to simply deepen mis-alignments when you try to keep up with a quicker pace. Slow down, refine, strengthen, and realign closer to “true” before you accelerate. Level 6 of Basics is particularly pertinent to this second round of First Winter.

Or, for an even shorter intro to arm strengthening, here’s a quick bit from TVNZ days. Even though it’s less than 7 minutes, notice the slow and precise pacing here.

If you’ve ever driven a car that’s canting or pulling to one side, you’ll know that going quicker doesn’t eliminate the cant. The lean is instead amplified and puts you in a much more precarious situation that’s harder to correct ‘at speed’ than when you’re going at a slower pace.

We’re diving right into the levels of mental and physical focus that are absolutely essential for flight. If you’re scattered, then how are you going to gather yourself up for lift off? It’s like leaving baggage on the tarmac. Be fully engaged with each moment if you intend to actually get off the ground!

And, in that vein of slowing and centring, here’s another free video from Restores that uses wall and block supports for the 1/2 Moon Balance/Ardha Chandrasana we open our wings into later in the practice.

But now, back to our prep for High Crow with Narrow Squat which can be tricky, so you may need to do it on its own more regularly until you find greater comfort with it. Some ways to modify Narrow Squat are to sit on a bottom step or a block, to help with balancing while you attempt to tuck up small. Or have your back against a wall and slide down, again so you don’t do a backwards roll!

If you struggle to tuck up tight, start on your toes with your hands ahead of you to assist as you shift weight back to lengthen the Achilles’ tendons. Or hold onto heavy stable furniture so you can feel supported while you lean back. Whichever modification you’re working with, do your best to align your mid-knees with mid-toes. As I said in Round 1, Child, Tuck Pose, and Standing Tuck are all essential precursors to Crow so head back to those if you’re struggling here. If you can’t quite tuck up small with your underarms draped over your knees, that’s the first task.

Again, birds don’t leave parts of themselves behind when they fly!

For the free subscribers, I’ll leave you with our lovely Lokah mantra practice. Often I find folks focus on the negative without even realizing it. By taking in the news each day, they have the best of intentions, yet underestimate the impact it has on their systems. Sure, we need to have a rough sense of what’s happening in the world so we can safely navigate, but I suggest being aware of how easy it is to stew in the traumas that threaten to overtake us. There is so little we have any control over. Our own piece of heaven on earth is mostly the extent of it.

I personally have to have very strong filters for media, which was part of our Purification process in Autumn’s focus in Vishuddha Chakra. How can we take in poison and expect to stay unpoisoned? If you do decide to let all the bad news in on a regular basis, at least counter it with a practice such as this. Be wary of any tendency to dismiss the power of the imagination. As we found with embodying the Crow poses, unless we can see it, we cannot be it.