Day 20: Moksha, Yoga Is Unity

Well here I am, day 20 of 30 straight days of hot yoga at Moksha Yoga Los Angeles, and as I laid on my mat before class, I brought my attention to different parts of my body. To my feet, my legs, my abs, my shoulders, my head, and I noticed by simply bringing awareness to my feet for example,  without changing them, they relaxed.   Suddenly my body temple was grounded on the mat, eyes closed, and everything was relaxed.  It felt lovely to lay there, my throat felt sore, but that was okay.  But as I laid there, I noticed a presence, that was alert, calm, and ready. So I decided that would be in my practice today, that alert presence.  I would be alert to now.

Joe our teacher entered the room and discussed with us many reminders, but one in particular was that the breath is powerful, that yoga is sustained through the breath, through the inside out. The practice is within out.  The expression is  from within, then comes the physical. As we moved through our practice today I noticed this alertness in each pose, and this alertness, awareness, seems to notice and adjust in the presence with out effort, but when my mind is engaged in the pose, I become willful and push the pose.  So I became aware of two movements within my practice, one subtle and quiet, and the other loud and pushy.  Now the thing that helped me when I recognized the pushy part was first becoming aware of it, then breathing with it, and then the alignment comes.  I was in down dog and my shoulders intuitively went back and in, I was aligned.  It felt great.  The discovery today of this alert presence led to something quite wonderful towards the of practice, we closed our eyes and Joe our teacher wanted us to feel the breath in the body, suddenly I became aware of the power of the breath and the fragility of the body.

The breath moving down to the hips and the stomach expands like elastic, the ribs expand, and out through the nose. It really is quite extraordinary and this powerful process goes on unconsciously for most people; but to feel it and recognize the fragility and the strength of the body temple, was amazing.  Someday my body will feed the earth, the spirit will add itself back in to the air, and my mind will go with the body.  Yet I have the opportunity everyday on my mat and off my  mat to unify the body, mind, and spirit as one. That is wonderful news.  I have that opportunity in my practice to unify the mind, the body, and spirit, awesome!!  And the foundation, the practice is allowing the powerful breath to move through and do its work.  That is faith, to be still, when all around you is in chaos, and listen, just listen.  On to day 21….Thanks Joe and Moksha…. Namaste

David Matthew Brown- Practicing the presence on the his mat.