STRIKE THE POSE

Exercise and I have a tenuous relationship. We are like angry lovers moving about the place, knocking stuff down, swearing and cussing, vowing to leave and never return, all the while knowing that neither of us can survive without the other. It's a good thing I have good genes. Weight has never been an issue for me, even after two children who each added over forty-five pounds to my small frame. I try to commit myself to it but it seems to resist me, laughing like a hyena in the wild. No harm though, because I tell it that it is a waste of my time. Hmpf! I'd rather be writing anyway. And off to the desk I go, sweatpants and t-shirt in tow. There's only one form of exercise I can and do willingly commit to and that is my yoga. Yoga and writing are, for me, branches of the same tree.

Last Sunday (having committed Sundays as my official Wellness Day wherein I commit to the study and pampering of my Self--aromatherapy, herbs, QiGong, etc) as I was reading up on Chakra Balance and Color Energies (orange = creativity, desire) I stumbled across some very useful information about Kundalini Yoga, the Yoga of Awareness.

Kundalini, a Sanskrit word meaning "curled up," is one of the mechanisms for concentrating the movement of ultrapotent Prana. Tradition says that Kundalini resides coiled in an area called kanda at the base of the spine. It awakens in one's life only infrequently, if at all; uncoiling naturally, it usually stirs gently but might upsurge toward the brain like positive charges in a lightning bolt's return stroke.

If you've ever experienced sudden inspiration, the ability to complete complicated taks easily or a sudden clear insight which gave your life direction and meaning, then this is Kundalini. If you've written a beautiful poem that was seemingly effortless, this is Kundalini. If a page or two of your novel seems to be transmitted from some Higher Place, this is Kundalini. Christians call it the Holy Spirit. Tibetan Buddhists call it Fire Gtumo. Taoists may refer to it as Chi. Any which way you call it, do know that it exists within each of us.

So anyhow, there are poses and colors and stuff and one of the greatest poses for the stimulation of Kundalini flow is the Warrior Pose. Now, of all my poses, Warrior is indeed the most challenging. I can do it, but I shake and shiver all the while. The other day, I asked myself why this pose is so difficult for me. Why am I able to master Cobra and Tree and Downward Dog and even the Triangle poses for goodness sake. What's up with Warrior? Why are my thighs burning and knees aching? I ain't that old.
And then it came to me. I was trying to strike the pose of something that I was not believing I could be. I was posing but I wasn't being.

Umpf!

So I dwelled on it a bit more and sure 'nuff I've been recoiling in areas where I shouldn't be, closing up my Chakra number five when I should have it wide open. I've been constantly lamenting the assault on my time and it's effect on getting my novel edits done. And instead of crying about lost time, I should have been planning my days the night before and sticking to it. I should have been walking away from situations that are nothing more than distractions. I should have been demanding and commanding that, Hey! This is my time for writing and though I want to, I cannot meet you for coffee and I cannot chat with you on the line. I got a deadline to meet. I should have been telling people, No you cannot touch my hair even though you've never seen curly locs like mine, even though you're amazed at how fast my hair is growing, no you can look but you can't touch. I should be speaking instead of not wanting to hurt their feelings and in the process negating my own beliefs about people and their energy. I should be saying something to someone, writing a fiery email to someone about the gas that is costing me two-got-damm-dollars and nine cents a gallon instead of complaining to my spouse. I should be online ordering those Seventh Generation cleaning products for my home that are gentle to me and my babies and the Earth, rather than getting in bed with all these companies that are filthy-fying my drinking water. (Is filthy-fying a word??)

And so, the thing about Warrior Pose is that you have to be one. You have to know that you and the Creator are one and together you share a limitless power. You have to know and clutch within your hands, the vision that you hold for yourself. You have to believe and furthermore, you have to do. If time is trying to get away, grab it by the balls and make it step in line. If people move out of their correct space, put those suckers back where they belong. If there's a book to write, movie to produce, children to rear, then hey, just do it.

And so today, I go home to light my orange candle, write, and strike the pose like only I can do it.

May the force of Kundalini be with us all.

Namaste,
ANGEL