Let us face it. It’s December, the month that typically includes festivities full of family and friends, colors, lights, music, and a myriad of stimulations intended to bring Joy To The World. This year feels different as we start our Shelter-in-Place for the second time. I feel some sadness. When I find myself heading in this direction, I often use the Three S’s during my yoga practice, Silence, Stillness and Spaciousness. The Buddhist Master, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche explains them as, a practice for finding “the refuge within” (Tricycle Magazine, The Light is Always Shining). What does this actually mean?
At the start of a yoga class, I ask students to begin the process of acknowledging their external circumstances by becoming aware of prominent thoughts and emotions as well as, sensations in the body, such as agitations and/or tensions. Slowly we can move from that place to a deeper place inside where ideally it’s quiet, but often it’s not. You could experience this by simply closing your eyes and noticing what happens. How quickly does your mind start listing what needs to be done? This process of finding silence in the mind is like asking your mind to give you a break. Silence the chatter, just for a bit, please. A yoga practice creates the time to allow for this to happen.
We start to move the body slowly, moving the joints, awakening the muscles, stretching the soft tissue and feeling the affects of those actions. While this movement is seemingly the opposite of stillness, it provides a backdrop from which to feel stillness. For example, imagine flowing through a sequence of poses and then resting in Child’s Pose or Mountain Pose. It’s here where we can feel a shift towards stillness in the body. The practice builds and we can feel the body moving more freely. Perhaps we feel the kinks smooth out, tensions soften and our strength increase. It is here where we can imagine (and feel) spaciousness in the body. Maybe we can feel the breath (energy) flowing more freely.
As we know, yoga is about the yoking of mind and body. The quality of the relationship between the two, mind and body, directly effects the quality of our health. As we employ the Three S’s, the intent is to benefit both the mind and the body resulting in equanimity. When we live in a balanced state, it is easier to imagine a greater realm of possibilities, void of hindrances and distractions. We can make decisions with openness and clarity.
By the end of a yoga class, ideally we are better prepared to experience our inner refuge. The body is relaxed and the mind is clear having had a respite from its normal duties. If I’ve done my job well, my students experience a connection with this feeling during Savasana or The Corpse Pose, the traditional pose signifying the end of the formal practice. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche says, “When you connect with the inner refuge, you can rest in that space just as a child rests in his or her mother’s loving arms, feeling protected, safe, secure, complete.” That sounds nice right about now, don’t you think?