"The teacher would say the same thing every class. His voice would get all deep and strange. He would tell us to do various things, and always ended up with the suggestion to 'breathe deep into your DNA.' This whole speech was just so odd, somehow. After several weeks, when I heard it coming again, I just couldn't resist laughing."
We laughed at the story and rolled our eyes a bit, too.
Later, my daughter corrected my report. "Mom, what he actually said was 'send prana into the mitochondria of your deep organs.' Different wording, but still sounded silly."
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Another yoga training day brought an anatomy class with Lisa Biow of Sacramento. Lisa knows her stuff, ranging from deep theoretical knowledge of anatomy to the practical intricacies of Rolfing actual people.
She led us through a partner exercise. One partner extended an arm out to horizontal and by force of muscle tried to keep the other partner from pulling the arm downward. Then we repeated the exercise, with one difference. Rather than using muscular forces, we were to visualize or imagine a line of energy extending from the middle of our bodies out through the extended arm. When our partners pulled down on our extended arms, we were surprised. We were able to resist with much more ease than the first time.
Why? Lisa explained that our amazing nervous systems know how to convert imagery into an action plan. That has big, big implications . . .
• • •
"Imagination is the ability to create an idea, a mental picture, or a feeling sense of something. In creative visualization you use your imagination to create a clear image, idea, or feeling of something you wish to manifest. Then you continue to focus on [it] … until it becomes objective reality… Your goal may be on any level — physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual." — Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain
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On second thought, the suggestion to send prana to the mitochondria was not so silly after all -- given what the nervous-system-body-mind is actually capable of. Perhaps the yoga teacher just needed to make himself more comfortable with that suggestion, so that his words came from a place of authenticity.
I've thought that somehow our minds, through imagination and visualization, have considerable power. Now that I have a better sense of the mechanisms, I even more than before would like to keep learning, in order to harness that toward my highest and deepest goals.
I've giggled before, too. Sometimes I disagree with what teachers say. In the last 5 years, I've moved more toward looking at what has been touched in me and why I disagree than judging. I learn so much more this way. I think your post demonstrates this kind of "education."
ReplyDeleteWhen an acquaintance explained that his practice for the year would be to criticize no one, I immediately felt, um, critical of that. Surely some things are fair game for criticism! But your comment reminds me that criticism usually faces outward. We can learn a lot more, and be much better forces of unity in the world, by looking inward. Thank you.
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