The Yoga of Stillness – what is that?
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The Yoga of Stillness – what is that?
What is yoga? What is stillness? And what is the sum total when the two qualities are put together?
Yoga is union – union of the mind and the body as one, in the immediacy of the present rather than the repetitive sameness of the past. This union is with God, it is union with the all; it is the return to our divine origins which is not really a return as we cannot in truth ever leave what we are made of, only display behaviours that are diametrically opposed to and a radical departure from our essence and innate beingness.
It is impossible to truly and factually leave our essence. We might speak, plan, think and move in defiance of this essence; we might hide it, bury it, try to forget about it and trample it under our feet with every step we plan and take – but it does not go away, it never leaves us as we in truth never leave it, regardless of the distance between it and us or the level of abuse we shower the world, others and ourselves with.
Interestingly, in the face of this God-given reality, we behave like defiant toddlers, juvenile delinquents and seasoned criminals all rolled into one – we up the raciness, applaud and support function over quality, invest in copious distractions and heavily bank on comfort above all other qualities, in whatever form it may present itself, from misery to elation and de-light, from destitution to the pinnacles of success.
Amusingly, some are even trying to remove themselves physically – as opposed to lesser mortals who can’t but stay put on this planet that endlessly circles the sun – they are plotting to get away and find another home, on another star or planet. Problem is – space is God and wherever they go, they are still in and within God’s body. And as human beings, they still have an inner quality and essence that they also can’t leave behind or surgically remove.
And now to the factor of stillness in The Yoga of Stillness.
Stillness is the livingness of that union – expressed as repose and motion; in the inbreath and the outbreath; in the forever deepening into our essence and true nature. Stillness is an all-pervasive quality and state of being that is not motionless but vibrant and alive; stillness is very, very fast and with lots of space between the particles that make up the human body.
The Yoga of Stillness offers a counterpoint to the myriad semi-conscious if not unconscious actions, the movements and activities of daily life; no more haste and stress as time disappears, but the offering of ease, true poise, settlement and space.
The Yoga of Stillness is a physical body-centred sequence, a session with a motion and a repose component and very few and strikingly simple movements that are delicately performed, to the best of one’s ability. The Yoga of Stillness offers an opportunity to be present with the body, to move in union from the stillness into ever deeper stillness.
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