[A subjective creative expression of the heart]
Power or pleasure, being or doing, co-create or dominate?
For me, yoga serves as a compass directed to truth, which at first seems unpleasurable, that the known way of 'doing' dominates that of 'being' as you are unpleasurable; the comfort and discomfort of a society led mainly by dictators, bureaucracy, and competition, leaving most starved searching for connection through illusionary worlds with friends unseen and unheard.
'Dare I share a little in fear of judgement by others from a fragment of the whole of me? Dare I share too little of the whole of me for the little you share of the whole of you? Pleasing, through fear of displeasing, adapting and moulding the tiny whole to fit in, to navigate many unimaginable paths.
Twists and turns, losses and gains, loves and pains.
Pain that directs the fear to build a great wall or perhaps dare to feel it, to acknowledge it as your own. Pain often runs so deep that separation is the only way to cope, making a home in a future idea of enlightenment or supreme position, fearing the one you hold now? Perhaps even take shelter in the victim archetype, seeking a hero to fill in the hole of the little whole of you.
Searching for love, looking, seeking, reaching for truth, unearthing a simple fact—the path always leads back to the whole of you—the flawed and unimagined beauty that holds as much value as any other living being.
Be it the homeless or the CEO of an organisation, be it a human or an ant, be it a mother who works in the office or a mother who chooses to stay at home, each bearing fruits and sacrificing something to do their best, as the inhale sacrifices itself to the exhale in doing its best to nourish us with life.
One of my favourite quotes by Mark Whitwell is: "The nurturing flow of life, extreme intelligence, beauty, and perfect harmony are active in every one of us. Yoga was developed in ancient wisdom culture to gently reveal what we already have." and has helped to inspire a practice of self-care over self-seeking. Moving, breathing, and contemplating to reveal what already presents you in all your magnificence as you are - no role required.
Imagine what it would feel like to be valued for being you, enough, everything. Knowing your best in all you do, even if you deviate from a standardised norm imprinted by society. Imagine what it feels like to sacrifice power for pleasure. To refresh, enhance, and discover through a lens cleansed of stigma, where people feel safe to share their whole self, not just a fragment. Expressing discerned vulnerability with loved ones and friends, relating, listening, reciprocating.
I stop. ✋
with rest i reveared - the whole of me, one with all
unearthed from shadows, once unheard.
Feel the inner ocean filled with emotion. Perhaps now slowing down to nurture the possibility that rest is too, productive...
Cease the endless external search for completion, for love, seeking, striving for truth. Bearing only witness to a simple truth—the path always leads back to the whole of you—the ordinary and beautifuly flawed, full and complete as natures co-created cosmic rose in full bloom.
To end let's take a moment to Imagine: if the strength of a rose stem overpowered the petels, it would sacrifice the beauty of the blossom. The stem, dominated by a composition of petals, would fail to welcome the midday sun.
Strength and ease. Power and Pleasure. Participation. Harmony.
Inspired literature and encounters:
Whitwell, Mark. Yoga of Heart.
HIERRO, G., & Marquez, I. (1994). Gender and Power. Hypatia, 9(1), 173–183. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3810443
New World Women Collective