Yoga, as an overall discipline, is incredibly rich and diverse. This complexity tends to get a bit lost on Western practitioners, with the focus mostly on Hatha Yoga as a physical practice of body and breath. Hatha is, in fact, only a beginning discipline, although it lies at the heart of the psychological transformation that is the true fabric of an authentic and transformative Yoga practice.
The definitions of the word ‘hatha' (pr., HAH-ta) are many, with the most common being "sun" (ha) and "moon" (ta). A more subtle definition is "force", which, in this case, intends that we force unproductive habits out, while forcing more evolutionary and progressive habits in. This "forcing" is not so much forceful per se (remember the notion of ahimsa, or non-harming - it applies to ourselves, first), but, more, a gentle smoothing into place, a subtle shaping of the intention of change.
We begin with the body. By engaging in various asana (postures), we seek to change the habits of the body. We attend to alignment, position, and posture, gathering strength and vigor in the process. This, in turn, fosters a certain mindfulness because we must be mindful of the body in order to bring it into a different state of comportment.
This ‘body mindfulness', in turn and by necessity, fosters a mindfulness of mind or consciousness. We start to attend to what we are thinking or feeling in relationship to how we are presenting ourselves physically. Off the mat, we begin to notice the raised and hunched shoulders of our anxiety, the crossed arms of our self-protection, or the arms akimbo of our aggression; state of body becomes a marker for state of mind and, as we bring the body into a new alignment, so do we the mind.
In some respects, this is where the notion of Yoga as science comes into play. Recently, it has become evident that our previous model for the brain as a static element within the body is incorrect and that the brain is, in fact, a dynamic organ whose physiological profile changes in response to behavioral changes. This is called neuroplasticity.
Thousands of years before this notion was even considered, the Vedic rishis recognized that a deep awareness of the mind could influence states of consciousness and that body position could influence levels of awareness. Interestingly, we work it backwards - not by fault, but by design.
While we engage in a physical practice to foster first body mindfulness, then increased awareness, the saints and sages who developed the Yoga discipline started with the mind and how the mind then influenced the body. Take, for example, a simple shoulder stand. A shoulder stand requires a straight back. A straight back requires good posture. Good posture requires attention to the body and, by association, a specific state of mind.
If we attend to our state of mind when sitting in a good posture - rather than slouching or slumping - we can develop a sense of the relationship between state of mind and state of body. The rishis rightly reasoned that simply by engaging in a specific physical posture or comportment, one fosters the mental state associated with that posture and vice-versa. As our attention to the posture deepens, so does our attention to its associated state of mind, which fosters deepening awareness. This notion was the genesis for the evolution of hatha yoga from a general sense of "firm and steady posture", as suggested by Patanjali, into the collection of specific postures we recognize as hatha yoga today.
Now, this is not to suggest that to right our minds all of us should run out and become Hatha Yogis, or any sort of yogis, for that matter. What it does suggest is that if we engage in this particular sense of body-mind connection -- if we attend to our physical state, it will bring us to an understanding of our state of mind and we can, ultimately, effect change. I was presented with a convenient, and unbidden, example of how we might work with this just the other day.
A friend called in the midst of a full blown panic attack - she could barely breathe, or speak and could only blurt out, "Can you help me?..."
I said, "Sit down on the edge of a chair..."
"OK..."
"Feet flat on the floor, hands on your knees...listen to my voice..."
"OK...OK..."
"Find something in the room to focus on that's not moving and keep your attention there...keep listening to my voice..."
[ragged breath...tears...keening...]
"You're safe...you're safe in this moment...sit up straight...slow your breath down...listen to my voice...you're safe..."
"He's going to come after me...he's going to come after me..."
"Listen to your breath...keep your attention on what you're looking at...you're safe in this moment...nothing can hurt you in this moment..."
[breath is slowing...]
"Stay focused...sit straight...feet flat...keep looking at what you're looking at...", etc.
She calmed down in about 3 minutes. She was then able to verbalize that she was frightened and reacting irrationally to feeling unsafe and it simply got away from her. This was after she used her posture and breathing (hatha) - one presumes she was pacing, hunched, unfocused, closed down, etc. before sitting and focusing - and accessed her state of mind, bringing about a shift in perspective and, by association, a shift in thinking.
This is not magic - we all know that breathing is the key to quelling a panic attack and we also have here the added element of my voice, which, through years of teaching Yoga and meditation myself, can tend to take on a somewhat hypnotic quality when necessary.
The magic comes in recognizing that by bringing the body into a particular aspect or posture, we can foster a particular state of mind -- in this case, relative calm. So, if we begin to attend to our physical presentation and its associated state of mind, we can shift that state of mind by changing our physical aspect.
Another example - when I am anxious, I tend to, quite literally, wring my hands. It's a lovely little habit I picked up from the (admittedly somewhat histrionic) women in my family. If I find myself doing this, I stop, and I immediately begin to calm down. "There's no reason to wring your hands..." becomes "There's no reason to be this anxious...".
More to our point, change your body, change your mind. Going one step further -- and revisiting the notion of neuroplasticity - change your mind, change your brain. We can effect change through our posture and comportment. It's a circle.
If we attend to a physical state as it is associated with a mental state and change that physical state, it changes the mental state. Repeatedly changing this mental state changes the brain state and effects a lasting change by rewiring old habits into new. This is a concrete instance of how the mind-body connection works and can work for us in changing our repetitive thought patterns and habits of the mind.
So, the next time the Committee jumps to the fore or you fail to acknowledge the value of your authentic self, take a look at what you're doing with your body. Similarly, if you are a practicing yogi, next time you're on the mat, stop competing with the 22 year old hard body next to you (c'mon...we all do it), drop your ego and see where your head is at.
You might surprise yourself, and prompt your own evolution in the process.
© 2009 Michael J. Formica, All Rights Reserved
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