the unfolding of lessons

I am not sure what the theme for May will be just yet, but today, Taurus new moon day, I start by reflecting on April. Being away for half the month at Vipassana, and then Easter, and then this Royal Wedding thing made the month seem very choppy, and very short. So there wasn't really time to develop a theme. If anything it was about quiet. I stopped teaching with music and started working more quietly and subtly in myself. I had to. Vipassana truly broke me down in many ways, including physical, which I only now think I am recovering from. Maybe recovering is not quite the right word, moving through, moving with, adapting to...

So last week in yoga, I had a pretty major energetic release, shaking and trembling deeply, and for a long time. The energy that released had been inside for a while, and still is. But starting to move. So I thought the May theme was going to be about releasing. Softness and space in the musculature to facilitate release into the depth of flexibility. But it doesn't ring true at the moment. Feels like there is something else that I am working on, that came out naturally in classes today.

Amongst the work I did in March were two workshops that both focused on the use of the shoulders. I have been reprogramming my own body, especially in chaturanga, but also in backbends like cobra and camel to really use the shoulder blades on the back in a different way. After working the shoulders on the back into the backbends and eventually into nataragasana, there was this sort of spontaneous meditation image that came.

The heart chakra, the heart itself and the energy it expresses is not located in the front body. It permeates the general area of the centre of the chest as it expresses through the entire mind/body network. And in so doing, it is equally radiant in the back body. But what can come from the back body need not be the same type of energy as what radiates through the front.

If someone were to spontaneously make a gesture to express open-heartedness, they would probably extend the hands forward and open the hands. The quality of an open heart expresses itself in the front body. Nevertheless it is impossible to express this quality without the integrity of the back body, the spine and the musculature of the back.

So as I have been working the shoulders differently, there is a new quality of openness that is possible in the heart centre, a clarity and precision and depth.

The last few weeks have also brought back some of the first spiritual themes that i encountered on my journey. So the image I am using for this month is a great bright moon in the centre of the chest, the back body is like the gravity that connects it to the earth in constant movement. The front body is the bright face that shines its light, both as a mirror for universal energy and as a source itself of pure radiance.

It seems like the right theme now for the month. On May 21 I will lead a workshop with the beautiful and insightful Lizzie McCallum, exploring the themes of unconditional love and open heart through the practice of yoga. meditation and creative practice. So this month will build to that. What a lovely journey to be on.
Hari Om, Tat Sat.
Om Shanti.
Peace.