Most of us are suffering from severe misapprehension about our own bodies. We take this free-flowing form, solidify it by labeling it as stiff or flexible body and create a vast separation between it and the environment. The truth is that every move we make during our yoga practice, no matter how clumsy or graceful it may look, is never wasted and is never wrong. It only benefits our fluid form we call body. But the term body is only a term and the idea that it’s stiff, clumsy, crooked, beautiful, flexible, or graceful is only a mind made, culturally induced idea, a mere word, a little belief-formula encoded into our minds and we live our lives by unconsciously applying this formula every moment. We build an entire lifetime around this belief-formula.
This organism we call ‘body’ because of that little belief-formula, is not interested in forms and shapes. It is only interested in moving harmoniously in relation with everything else around it. It does not feel separate from anything else around it hence its freedom to move and express whatever it expresses within the boundary-less boundaries of its vast intelligence. All expressions and movements make sense and all expressions and movements belong, period. There is no such thing as flexible or stiff organism.
What we call a ‘body’ is a constantly moving, highly intelligent, fluid organism that is not different from the Amazon rainforest or the Aurora Borealis. When we call it or think it a ‘body’, we diminish it to a meaty and boney, solid and square, dead and decaying structure and we label it as stiff or flexible. By doing that we actually insult its intelligence and it inevitably and at times irrevocably becomes what we call ‘sick’ and as a result we suffer not our bodies. This form does what it can to maintain its harmonious interaction with everything else, including our own mind, nature, our solar system, the galaxy, and beyond. It always finds its way out into movement and connectedness just like a river eventually finds itself in an ocean. That happens even sooner when we learn to recognize it as such, as a living and moving, innately brilliant organism.
What if we were to put all the beliefs that have been formed around our bodies with the help of our parents, doctors and all the so called body specialists aside - including the information that’s been intravenously fed to us through our modern culture, nutritionists, clothing designers, movie stars, pop singers, cosmetic surgeons? If that was at all possible to do, which it is, then maybe we could actually enjoy this life, move in this naturally graceful form as a beautiful, unique, light, eco friendly, highly intelligent, constantly changing and evolving energetic vehicle that takes us from place to place without being a burden on anyone.
Let’s relax a bit and love our bodies. Let’s breathe and try some sort of movement whether it’s yoga, dance, or walking freely and consciously without the perpetual internal negative dialogue and see what happens.
We are in this form temporarily and the lease is running out. Let us recognize the truth of our forms - now.
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