by Chaya Spencer
Many years ago, a local magazine was writing an article on lonliness and asked me to pose for a picture looking out over a river: a picture of being alone. I wondered why I was asked. Did I seem so lonely as to be the poster child for loneliness? Actually, having grown up with a recurring feeling of having been abandoned, I have often felt alone. David Whyte’s poem (below) “Everything is Waiting For You” resonates strongly with me for this reason. He reminds me of the quintessential teaching of yoga: we are not alone; we are part and parcel of a great whole; we are one with all that is. While these teachings can sound like an abstraction, I find great solace in the practice of yoga that enables me to soften my sense of alone-ness and connect into the “grand array”. In those moments I am not alone on a profound level which has nothing to do with how many people are with or around me. My sense of self expands beyond my strengths and weaknesses, my personality and shame. I am fulfilled and content just with myself. It is that experience which I long for.
Many years ago, a local magazine was writing an article on lonliness and asked me to pose for a picture looking out over a river: a picture of being alone. I wondered why I was asked. Did I seem so lonely as to be the poster child for loneliness? Actually, having grown up with a recurring feeling of having been abandoned, I have often felt alone. David Whyte’s poem (below) “Everything is Waiting For You” resonates strongly with me for this reason. He reminds me of the quintessential teaching of yoga: we are not alone; we are part and parcel of a great whole; we are one with all that is. While these teachings can sound like an abstraction, I find great solace in the practice of yoga that enables me to soften my sense of alone-ness and connect into the “grand array”. In those moments I am not alone on a profound level which has nothing to do with how many people are with or around me. My sense of self expands beyond my strengths and weaknesses, my personality and shame. I am fulfilled and content just with myself. It is that experience which I long for.
In our
classes this week at Shree, we’re teaching two Universal Principles of Alignment,
Kidney Loop and Shoulder Loop, which invite us to soften into and open up to
that larger whole.
Kidney
Loop:
starts in core of abdomen in line with the middle of the lumbar and spot just below the navel. It is an energetic flow that moves up the back from just below
the kidneys to the bottom of the shoulder blades, forward through top of the
diaphragm (heart focal point) to base of the sternum, then down the solar
plexus to just below the navel.
Shoulder
loop:
starts at center of the palate (skull focal point). It is an energetic
flow that moves down the back of the neck and upper back to bottom of the shoulder
blades, forward through the bottom of the heart and the top of the diaphragm,
then up the chest and throat from base of the sternum to the palate.
The
invitation of these loops is to soften and open the back body towards the
experience of connection and inclusion while opening up the chest and heart to
embrace what shows up. As Whyte writes: Put down the weight of your aloneness and
ease into the conversation. Below is
his poem in its entirety. I hope it
helps all of us feel more connected and less alone. Join us in class to practice these principles
and explore what it could mean in your life to know you are not alone and
everything is waiting for you.
Love,
Chaya
Everything
Is Waiting For You
Your
great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice. You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice. You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.
Put
down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the
conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.
conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.
