Nature has been refining our human form for hundreds of thousands of years, which has led to this exact moment in time. With greater connectivity and availability we have access to see the proportion of our form, to perceive the bigger picture. We are a metaphor of Nature’s processes and inside of us lies the whole cosmos. We are stardust and within this dusted form lies opportunity.
Yoga is a practice to perceive this pattern and measure ourselves in time and space. Constant refinement of our structure refines our mind. At first we are primitive with undisciplined emotions. The practice is a means to measure ourselves, to see where there is disharmony so we know what needs to be refined to move us into greater harmony. The body will fall apart yet in our modern times it is falling apart too quickly. Yoga is a means to revere nature’s pattern and process, the universal design. It is a means to participate in the process while moving through the shifts of life with grace and ease. The physical practice is to constantly refine your form to be fitting, functional and well-integrated.
In life, at every moment, we aim to refine our words and actions so each interaction gives others the opportunity to be at their best. It is much easier to be bitter. The real practice is to train for joy and happiness. Refinement of our forms and minds offers us the opportunity to show gratitude for being here, now, with the gift of perceiving our impeccable design – our knees fitting into our armpits in a forward fold, our arm bone the same length as our shin bone. These many fits mirror our fit in the grander whole. Our mapped out form fits into geometry: the octagon, the circle, the square, the six pointed star.
All of it is magic – the fact it fits so well – but also the knowledge that if you don’t participate it will fall apart quicker. By constantly refining ourselves we help refine others, the planet, and as a byproduct we get to live healthy, happy and joyous lives. Real yoga gives you the opportunity to iron out habits, wrinkles, disharmony that no longer serves. This constant process of refinement mirrors nature’s constant refinement of us. The miraculous is woven within the mundane and every moment offers each the opportunity to perceive this magic.
Superimposed Human Form Sketch by Kat Villain