The Process (and Pulsation) of Aligning

Mar 25, 2021

 

At ease, in the present moment, spacious, clear, grounded, centered, calm, settled.
 
These are some of the words that describe my experience of being in alignment in my asana practice yesterday – a lower-body focused practice of seated hip openers and twists.
 
Articulating beneficial experiences in yoga strengthens them.

Therefore, I invite you to explore your own process of moving into alignment:
 
- How do you go from feeling out of sync to synched up? From scattered to sorted? 

- How would you describe the movement toward unity and wholeness that comes from bringing the pieces and parts of you into greater harmony? 

- What words convey the experience of feeling aligned in your body and being?
 
To get you started, perhaps it’s helpful to share a bit about my experience. For me, alignment is a process that moves in pulsation. 
 
On the one hand, there’s a deconstructive aspect: I sense where there’s holding and let go. I release tension and soften some of the hardness that limits and blocks. 
 
Then there’s an edifying component: I adjust and respond with an intentional, purposeful movement toward integration. Then I go back and reflect, feel, and let go some more.

As usual, alignment results from a combination of effort and surrender, doing and being, action and reflection.
 
And, since I get asked this often enough, I’ll add that rarely do these two aspects of moving into alignment come together for me. Rather, they happen in succession, first one and then the other, back and forth. Repeatedly. 
 
The experience of full-on unity? It happens occasionally. When I do get glimpses of it, wow. It’s spectacular how consciousness sings in my body. 
 
The real gifts, though, come after. When the work of the practice settles and I go about the rest of my day is when the value of alignment feels most tangible, clear, and lasting.

 

 

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