Union within
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Union within
A life fully lived is an on-going journey of going deeper within.
After years of ‘trying’ to practise ‘having a still mind’ (which I assumed meant ‘emptying’ my mind), I had just about given up when I discovered an approach through Esoteric Yoga. Finally, I wasn’t trying to empty my mind but rather create a union between my mind and my body. Now this was something I could get my head around! Not that it was easy in the beginning – to keep my mind aligned with what my body was doing – but I knew even from the start of this practice that it was achievable, whereas I never felt that ‘emptying my mind’ was going to be possible.
Through reconnecting with my innermost self, I found that a ‘union within’ was possible and the key to unlocking the door to stillness. When I first attempted to keep my mind aligned to what my body was doing, in conscious presence, I could only hold it for a short period of time because my mind would race off to something in the future or past.
I would lovingly invite it back to the present moment by focussing on some aspect of my body… my breathing, my hands, perhaps my right knee. It didn’t matter which focus in the body I used, the point was to bring my mind into alignment with my body.
It took a while – but before too long, I would find myself in union not only during an esoteric yoga session, but also while going about my daily business, pegging laundry to the clothesline, while chopping onions, vacuuming, gardening or typing. I discovered I could be in conscious presence, holding union within while doing most anything, including resting.
So, then I began to wonder, but is there even more? Where does the ‘union within’ lead us if we deepen into it?
That’s when I began to notice things like being able to tell what time it was without looking at the clock. I just ‘knew’ what time it was during the day. Not so hard to do, really, if you have a rhythm with how you do things. But then I noticed when I woke in the middle of the night, I just ‘knew’ what time it was. No matter what time I would wake up, I could feel in my body what time it was and realised I was always within a few minutes.
I have heard about the natural intelligence of the body, not just the mind, but the intelligence of the whole body. Since my body knew what time it was, it would probably also know what the weather was like outside. When I get out of bed in the morning and before I even open the curtains, I feel the temperature of the room and feel within myself. I can always tell if it is going to be a sunny day, cloudy, rainy, or windy. No need for a weather app! Our bodies are feeling everything and when we care to listen, they willingly respond.
Likewise I buy much of my food at a bulk wholefoods store. When purchasing, I put scoops of the items into a paper bag. I guesstimate how much space I have in the designated container at home. I began to notice that I always bought exactly the right amount to fill the container. Recently my housemate asked me to pick up a dozen eggs and some dates for her while at the wholefoods store. She gave me $10. So when doing my shopping, I bought the eggs and scooped dates into a paper bag. I rang them up separately so I would know how much she owed me. The eggs and dates came to exactly $10. The intelligence of the body comes alive when we connect within and go by feeling rather than trying to calculate.
These are just a couple of practical examples of how living from a ‘union within’ can play out in a normal day. Thanks to Esoteric Yoga I’ve only begun to explore what this can mean. In the grander scheme, a ‘union within’ allows a flow of movement from one thing to the next. It means I’m always prepared for whatever might happen. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t those unexpected surprises along the way, but even when they come along I no longer get thrown off track the way I used to because I have developed a steady way of being with myself.
Living and moving in yoga (union within) knows no bounds. There will always be more to deepen into. If we look at the origins of yoga, we discover that the purpose of yoga is connection with ourselves, connection with our essence. It may be that forming a union with the mind and body is the first true union and from this flows true union with ourselves and with others. And then, possibly this is the pathway to being in true union with the universe.
If we are energetically all made up of divine particles, then there is much more than just a body-mind connection on offer here.
Filed under
Esoteric, Yoga, Body awareness, Connection
