Yoga is like the proverbial onion: it is simple on the outside, but within the many translucent layers lies a deep elusive core. Each layer in itself consists of numerous micro-layers, delicate fibrous sheathes of practice, philosophy and knowledge — all waiting to be peeled apart and explored.
Peeling the Onion
If you have or are willing to accept the challenge of peeling the onion that is yoga, you can expect to gain a much richer and delicious yoga experience each time you step onto your yoga mat.
For your yogic pleasure, here are 5 micro-layers for you to explore and peel away in your asana practice. You can apply these 5 interconnected skins to any and every yoga pose you practice. Just remember: it’s OK if you cry. We all do, sometimes.
Cleansing and Release
The following model is designed to profoundly deepen your yoga practice and facilitate experiences of cleansing and release.
Breathe
The first layer you will find when you come into a pose and are ready to sustain it is your breath. Ask yourself, “Is my breath deep and even?” It is surprisingly common to hold your breath or let it become short and shallow when you are concentrating intently on a pose.
Bring your breath back into its fullest expression, and keep this seamless rhythm throughout your whole yoga practice.
Relax
Did you notice anything else lingering under your breath? Peeling back that top layer of experience, you might have already begun to see the deeper causes which shifted your breathing pattern.
Your breath is like your emotional barometer, when you are upset and agitated, your breath will become shallow and quick. Conversely, when your mind and body is calm, you will be able to sustain full yogic breathing.
Invite your body to open any spots of resistance or blockage, and ask your mind to surrender effort and thought.
Feel
The ‘feel’ layer provides an immense challenge once revealed under your efforts to relax. This is because now that you have relaxed, you will find a whole host of things begin to bubble up. Sensations, memories, emotions and thoughts will all flood your mind and body at this layer of asana experience.
No matter how difficult or intense, try to stay in this place of feeling, where you are actively engaging and inviting these mental and physical sensations to arise.
Watch
Now that you have ventured deep into your innermost layers, your task is to gently watch what comes up.
This means that you stay with it, no matter what surfaces — anger, jealousy, grief or insecurity. Observe these sensations and emotions with non-judgmental awareness.
Allow
As a good yogic watcher, you will naturally peel back the final micro-layer of your asana experience and simply allow yourself to be.
Allowing means there is no right or wrong, no good or bad, just softly seeing the elements of your yogic opening as it is without the need to change or control it.
Let your yoga experience be what it is without needing to change or even understand it.
Emotional release and personal transformation happen, ironically, when we surrender all efforts and control, and simply trust the wisdom of the process. That wisdom is contained within the layers.