From the very first time I rolled out a Yoga mat and was guided through a full session, I felt the raw potential of this universal practice to welcome me into new and blessed realms of myself and of Life.
It was a rare gift to enjoy 75 minutes to myself, with nothing to interrupt me beyond my own thoughts, and with the dimensional space in and around my rectangular temple of exploration. I had grown up in the world of competitive dance, and was used to relating to my body as an object of movement rather than a subject of multi-faceted internal expression. It took a while to shift my inner paradigm more into inner experience rather than external performance, and yet that shift was a vital God-send.
For the first time in my life, I was welcomed via the portals of Yoga into thinking, feeling, moving and being from my essence, my core, my center.
The portal of Meditation opened me into becoming a compassionate witness rather than a powerless slave to the multitude of thoughts racing through my active mind. This witness stance offered me a chance to observe each thought in a more detached way, helping to both clear and calm my mind space. A portal of beautiful sanity.
Pranayama has been a life-saving portal, opening the vital energy and flow within. Apparently each breathing exercise is at least 5 times more powerful than any asana, and based on how the techniques have changed me, I fully believe it. The doorways of my diaphragm, my lungs, my every single cell, are purifed, alkalized, and renewed. My inner world shines and smiles.
The portal of postures is vast and limitless. Even if I have softened my body into Balasana, the child pose, a gazillion times, I can still feel a sense of powerful protection washing over the back of my body as my hips descend toward my heels and my heart lowers closer to kissing the earth. I am nourished, breath by breath, as I love the child re-awakening within.
And finally, the portal of Savasana offers my nervous system a chance to sigh a big juicy ‘Ahhh….’ as I let go of any holding that the earth yearns for me to release. No more fight, no more flight, no more freezing. Just letting go and Be-ing, deeper and deeper, as I relax closer to balance, sweeter in harmony, more fully into healing.
Each sacred practice is its own peaceful and powerful portal and Yoga continues to be one of the greatest blessings in my life and in my world.