Muscular Energy- One Another as the Banks of this River called Kula

Greetings All,

Things have been a-brewing since our discussion Monday night. It was quite vibrant and I am so thankful for the offerings of revelation that Amy and Shyla brought to share with the kula. It reminded me of Prasad (sweet offering), and how we are turning ourselves into this sweet offering to the divine through the transformational power of Yoga.

I wanted to share with you all some things that have come out of that discussion and my work in practice since. I was a little awash in all the multitude of gems that came from the discussion Monday night. Then I realized that our striving for structure was like Muscular Energy trying to manifest within the group. Deciding upon our course of study is like setting the container in which the expansion may occur-- just like Asana: First we Opened to Grace / Set a Strong Foundation. Then we are feeling this pull to put some parameters, hug into this expansion, maintain the riverbanks.

So, I would like to propose Muscular Energy as a theme for our practice on the upcoming asana study. Of course this will go along with Organic Energy for balance and the other three UPA's. I have noticed some things in my practice, though. Working with Pincha Mayurasana, I have been feeling this great coming-together of all the Principles in sequence. Taking the time to open first has been a great catalyst for each of the Principles of Alignment to initiate into the next. It's like the River knows where it wants to go, I just have to find the headwaters. I have also noticed that, after this opening and then anchoring the foundation, the themes from the workshop with John Friend are welling up to the surface. Specifically, Melting the Heart is really at the forefront when working with going up into Pincha Mayurasana. This Melting the Heart, in conjunction with the established openness, has allowed me to gather my shoulder blades in to support my core much more than ever before (I deal with a flat thoracic vertebrae - so this is BIG). So, I went back to study the Immersion Manual a bit. Guess What! Page 37, under "General Principles for Classes of Poses" I found Inversions and Hand-Balances. They list, *Establish Good Foundation, Melt the Heart, Muscular Energy, Shoulder Loop, and Hugging the Midline to be among the key alignment focuses! So, I am suggesting that Muscular Energy, and specifically Melting the Heart (a form of passive muscular energy), be a major focus of our work next week. Input please! Yes? No?

If this does sound like a good plan, I would suggest that we all look over page 37 and then page 28 (re: muscular energy) of the Immersion Manual. This way, we can all feel a little more "accountable" for our work we are doing together. I know some of us expressed confusion about what we should do in the time between meeting. This way, we can have a jumping off point.

I will email this post out to everyone for some input. Please be open and generative with your responses. I truly want to know what you think. Have you been working along the same lines? Is this stirring up juicy tidbits of insight for you? Are you onto some completely different "scent" of this slippery trail of Yoga?



-Brittany