One thing we don’t talk about enough is how a consistent yoga practice can boggle your mind, and open it up for new thoughts, new ways of thinking, which actually resemble the trip of a psychedelic mushroom. I haven’t tried that, but some of my experienced friends have described the openings of the mind and the possibility to see things as if they appeared to you for the first time, like in a kaleidoscope.
Throughout my yoga practice, this has happened to me quite regularly. I become an inquiring child again, asking those very basic questions that we unlearn as we become educated and sophisticated. Sometimes, there is a poem to clarify more my muddled thoughts, as does this famous passage from T.S. Eliot’s poem Little Gidding:
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
A few months ago, I walked my dogs in the park, the leaves were dancing down to the ground, and I suddenly saw the trees for the first time. It struck me that they are all different. Not only are beech trees different from birch trees, palm trees, fig trees and pine trees, but they are all special. Each tree is a unique being. This thought hit me so hard, I had to sit down, overwhelmed and humbled by how ingenious nature is.
So how does this apply to yoga? Maybe a certain elasticity of the body can be translated to an elasticity of the mind. If you’re looking for an extraordinary sense of deep truth, yoga can pave that road. Secondly, for those of us who are not natural meditators, contemplating the uniqueness of each tree opens is one thought which leads to deeper concentration.
As always, I welcome your thoughts and reflections.
Warmly yours,
Emily