“The journey of life is a mental one, which is taking place in a sea of illusion.” – Neville Goddard
Weekly Focus: Maya (Illusion)
Maya is the illusion that the world is as it is perceived. This is the idea that things are not as they seem, and that our personal perceptions shape our reality.
Illusion is all around us, shaping our narratives, our perceptions, and our realities. Often, illusion can contribute to a scarcity mindset A scarcity mindset is believing there isn’t enough to go around, or that we ourselves are not enough as we are. These false notions lead us to self-identities and habits that can be harmful, encouraging feelings of jealousy, inadequacy, or discontent.
When we pull back the veil of illusion, we can choose to see these narratives as our reality, or we can set them aside and view the truth with clear eyes. The world is plentiful, bountiful and abundant. Beyond that, we ourselves are plentiful, bountiful and abundant on our own. In Yoga, we recognize that we are whole just as we are, and do not need to strive to be anything more than our beautiful Self. As we come to know ourselves better, we can find a comfort in this space of abundance from within.
How can we shift our perspective to see through the mist around us, shrouding our reality and beliefs?
Here is a simple practice in seeing past illusion:
- Practice Self appreciation — recognizing, respeting and appreciating the Self is key to accepting our inner abundance. Intentionally allow more time for this space. Close your eyes for 5 minutes, and ask yourself – what do I appreciate about myself? Get deep.
- Take notes to set it in stone — on a clean sheet of paper, write down everything that came to mind. Make it clear and orderly, easy to read. You might title this page “Inner Abundance,” “Personal Wealth,” or anything of that nature.
- Revisit you appreciation weekly — set aside time weekly to spend 5 minutes reviewing what you wrote, and add anything else to the page that comes to mind. Keep this practice for 4 – 6 weeks and observe any changes at the end. Can you find a sense of more fullness from within?
Passive Pose of the Week: Quad Stretch or Ardha Dhanurasana (half bow pose)
Ardha Dhanurasana is half of bow pose, but can also offer become a softer position taken as a quad stretch. Both are abundant in their sensations. The backbend awakens the mind to see more clearly, and the quad stretch allows us to soften and turn back to ourself to meet our personal needs, rather than the desires of the outside world.
- Begin lying on your belly.
- You might prop up onto your elbows as you set up, similar to sphinx pose.
- Bend your right knee towards your seat, and reach the right hand back to grab hold of the foot or ankle. Draw the foot closer to the body to any degree that feels comfortable.
- Stay here and imagine directing breath down the front of the right thigh. If it is comfortable, relax the forehead down to rest.
- Stay here for 5 – 7 breaths before switching sides.
This quad stretch can very easily move into ardha dhanurasana or half bow pose, a nice variation of dhanurasana (bow pose). To layer in the back bend, after spending several breaths in the quad stretch, begin to press your right foot into your right hand, as you pull the foot back towards you. Allow this action to act like a lever for the upper body. As you find the push and pull you might feel the upper body being to lift into a big bend. Stay as long as you like before slowly coming down.
Active Pose of the Week: Lightning Bolt Pose
Lightning Bolt Pose helps to strengthen the muscles of the back and encourages the bracing of the core. This pose allows us to focus on integrating the full body. This pose is big and forward reaching, a metaphor for sifting through the falsities of life.
- Begin in a standing Mountain pose (tadasana).
- Step your left foot back about 3 – 4 feet, like Crescent Warrior.
- Reach your arms overhead.
- Begin to lean forward and hover the torso over the front thigh.
- Hold and remember to breathe!
- Hold for 3 – 5 breaths and switch sides.
Sometimes the position of the arms in lightning bolt pose can distract from keeping a strong and engage torso. If you feel yourself starting to sag in the middle, try moving your hands to your hips (this will give the shoulders a break), to press together at heart center, or even to interlace behind the back of the head. This last option will allow you to press the had back into the hands, to encourage the torso to stay floating and strong! Remember there is an abundance of ways to experience every pose, there is no definitive variation of right or wrong!
Join us in class this week to practice seeing through the veil of illusion. See the full schedule HERE.
To get weekly updates from our parent brand, Myriad Fitness + Yoga, follow our weekly podcast “For Time.
