The matrix of LIFE.
As in, "Dearly Beloved, We are all gathered here today to get through this thing called LIFE. (Thank you, Prince.)
Prince was onto something.
We are all gathered....and also interwoven and interconnected through a mysterious web of infinite energy which we call the universe. And, if we are lucky enough to realize that we have a direct line to that limitless and infinite energy potential, we quickly realize there's no need to "go crazy" (sorry, Prince, you can't win them all).
Your direct line to this Matrix may be plainly evident to you or more obscured. Your connection might be clearest when you are running, or painting, or cooking. Or, if you're Prince, when you are playing guitar.
My connection comes to me through my hatha yoga practice.
My movement is my prayer, my offering to the Matrix, and when I align myself just so, I am released of my straining and struggling and the Matrix fills me with Grace. I've been studying how to commune with Grace for sixteen years and, over the last two, I've made remarkable progress because of my ability to tap into the power of the bandhas.
You see, there are three bandha (locks) in the body that yogis activate and use to control the flow of prana (life force) in a pose. Imagine this, at any given moment, you have available to you a limitless supply of prana. It is available to you in your food, water, and breath. It is available in every molecule of your environment (the Matrix!).
But, because you are mostly unaware of this abundant, but subtle supply of energy, you rarely connect to it and you are, in fact, "leaking" it, like a pail with a hole in it. It is flowing into and then out of you without you ever having the awareness that you could "lock" it into the vertical axis of your body and saturate yourself in it's magnificent white light unlimited glory.
Grace.
Want to be filled with Grace?
It all starts with mula bandha, a contraction or drawing in of the pelvic floor muscles toward center (similar to a Kegel exercise for you ladies out there). This is where we repair the hole in the bottom of the leaky pail. The perineum is a diamond shape floor of muscle with the pubis bone to the front, the right and left sitting bones to the sides, and the coccyx to the rear. If you sit in Sukhasana (easy pose) with your pelvis neutral, sitting bones drawn back, you can visualize and connect to these muscles. Then use your mind power to control those muscles and draw each corner slowly and evenly to center in a muscular contraction. Center should be the bottom of spinal axis.
This may be difficult to feel at first. No worries, simply stay focused on it without putting too much pressure on yourself. The mind is a powerful tool and the body responds to repetition. Its only a matter of time before you will feel the root lock close and you will know it -- because BOOM! you will feel your initial jolt of upward bound energy.
So, you've locked in the energy and it needs to move -- so it starts traveling back up. This is great! Power pours into the hips and sacral area, but may get stuck at the solar plexus if you don't activate the next lock -- Uddiyana Bandha.
Uddiyana Bandha is performed by focusing in on the muscles located just behind the belly button. We must draw these muscles in and up to activate Uddiyana Bandha -- It translates to "flying up" and truly feels just that way when properly engaged. The energy lifts into the thoracic cavity around the heart and lungs and spreads up to the throat. This was the most difficult bandha for me to engage. I have had to isolate and work with just this bandha in many different poses to figure it out. One tip I can give you is this: if you are seated in Baddhakonansana (Bound Angle) with mula bandha engaged, your knees will move toward the floor if you properly engage uddiyana bandha. (If you want more ideas, comment below or private message me.) Also, if you are truly relying on the subtle energy and not straining your abs, the exterior belly muscles stay relaxed and soft and you feel the deeper abdominal muscles pulling in and hugging the spine -- like a very supportive, but comfortable corset. Additionally, the heart lifts with ease when Uddiyana Bandha is in effect.
Finally, the energy has reached the last bandha -- Jalahara bandha, or throat lock. This is the simplest of the bandhas to perform and is done by moving the chin to the sternum, with the back of the neck kept long. This seals the energy into the spinal axis where it stay and continues to circulate until you decide its time to relese all of the bandhas. Grace.
Effortless, peaceful awareness of your unique place in the Matrix .... empty of struggle, filled with Grace. This is my prayer for you in your yoga practice, in your life, in all your passions and creations.
Namaste~
Tammie
