Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice

satisfactory balance.
The Nervous System
    The nervous system is a vast network that conducts vital information throughout the body and consists of the brain, spinal cord, nerves, ganglia, and parts of the receptor and effector organs. Yogis pay special attention to the nerves in the spinal cord, which is seen as part of and an extension of the brain. Nerves traveling through the spinal cord control and affect many organs and muscle systems. These nerves exit the spine through small openings called spinal foramina. As disks and ligaments wear, these openings get smaller and can restrict the flow of energy through the nerves to the corresponding muscles or organs. When we see elderly people walking with canes, often the weakness in their knees and leg muscles is a sign that nerve flow from the spinal cord has been impinged.
    Asana practice works to lengthen the spine, maintaining and giving more space to the nerves. Nerve flow can also be improved by breathing and by the practice of directing energy flows along the nerve channels through the use of imagery, intention, sensate awareness, and even by subtle movement in the intended part of the body. In asanas like the Seated Boat, and in standing poses like Half Moon and Balancing Warrior, learning to direct and extend nerve energy out to our extremities, especially into the toes, will keep the nerves active and alive. Yogis can develop a lot of control over their nervous system and can learnto manipulate displaced nerves back into their proper channels. Learning to energize the nerves to keep all parts of the body active and dynamic improves mental capacity, attention, and mental power.
The Pranic Energy System
    In earlier stages of learning Hatha yoga, more attention is placed on physical aspects of the posture such as position, strength, and flexibility. Simply put, in the beginning we are mainly concerned with how to get into a pose and, just as important, how to get out of it. With progress, we begin to develop more awareness of subtler levels.
    Prana
(prah nuh) refers to life force and to subtle flows of energy. Learning to create and direct flows of energy is essential in yoga and in learning inner control, self-healing, and self-development. We discuss the energy body and the breath more extensively in later chapters.
The Mental-Emotional Systems
    Many practitioners consider Hatha yoga to be primarily a mental discipline directed toward the understanding and expansion of consciousness. Developing mental awareness, mental clarity, and insight are at the core of yoga. Although Hatha practice is very physical, it involves a great deal of mental conditioning and development. We learn to expand our attention to all areas of the body while simultaneously directing focus to specific parts. This ability improves powers of mind. Concentration, mental fortitude, and endurance are developed by holding difficult asanas for long periods. Discipline and strength of character come from creating and maintaining a regular practice and all of these qualities are carried over into other areas of life.
    The mind and emotions affect one another and are closely related. It has been shown that the nervous and muscular systems store emotional tension and trauma. Massage therapists and body workers often assist their clients in releasing stored emotional tension. Yoga practice is self-directed body work that releases these stored gestalts.



T he principles, hints, and insights shared here have been gathered and distilled from many years of study and teaching. I hope that they inspire broadening perspectives and open doors to new levels of possibility in asana practice. These insights and the perspectives they invite can be applied to learning Hatha yoga and they are applicable to many other areas of life as well. They are offered to enrich and add new dimensions and nuances to your yoga experience.

Presence: Start Where You Are
    Time is the movement from timeless to timeless within timelessness.
    ATTRIBUTED TO ARISTOTLE
    One of the first questions yoga teachers hear from new students is, “How long will it take?” The question not only refers to how much time will be necessary for practice, but also to how long it will take to actually learn and master yoga. Time has been called the poverty of our era. The hurried pace of modern life drives us to feel we have little time for the things we want or need. Time has always been precious but too often we allow our lives to become frenzied