Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice

consciously strengthened during practice. Downward moving energy, aided by gravity, tends to take care of itself. Gravity is essentially a compressional field. Our bodies are being pulled down, or compressed, by gravity, and the structure of our physical bodies has evolved to lift and extend against gravity. Many asanas create an extensional field of energy and movement that works in opposition to, and in concert with, gravity. Gravity is a major factor in aging and the slumping and sagging of the body, but itis not our enemy. We have discussed how our dependence on gravity has been demonstrated by some of the physical problems astronauts must deal with in a weightless environment. Through prolonged periods of weightlessness, their muscles would atrophy and their bones would decalcify unless they work out with springs and isometric tensions. Our bodies require a dynamic field to work against and take root into in order to function properly. Gravity is our friend.
    A simple experiment will show you how to begin to become aware of how you function in the gravitational field and how upward and downward forces work together. Come into a basic standing position with feet parallel and a couple of inches apart. Slightly bend the knees and slightly curve your spine forward, allowing the shoulders to stoop and the neck to bend. Take notice of how you feel and of the increase in the downward pull; also take careful notice of the change in consciousness. Now begin pressing your feet down into the floor. This
pressing
is actually a lifting of muscular energy created biomechanically. Use this lifting feeling to straighten the knees and continue bringing this lift up through the hips and spine until you are standing as tall as possible. Finally, lift your chest and let the shoulders roll backward. Again, notice the difference in consciousness and in how you feel. Hold this standing position and continue pressing your feet down to increase the upward flow of energy. Even if you stop pressing the feet you should still be able to feel the upward flow.
    As an additional experiment, add Mula Bandha, the contraction and lifting of the anal sphincter muscles, to the pose. See if you can notice the difference in the upward energy. Now add conscious breathing. When you inhale, feel the lifting; when you exhale, maintain the lift while allowing energy to circulate. Using ujjayi breathing will further increase the effects. These techniques can be applied in the practice of many of the asanas. Holding this standing position statically while creating an inner, upward flow of energy creates what I call a “standing wave” in the body.
Standing Waves
    Standing waves are an underlying dynamic structural pattern in the universe. Standing waves are nontraveling waves of energy or vibration that maintain fixed wavelengths and frequency. In other words, they have lots of energy moving through them but they look like they are standing still. When a river drops over an irregularity in its bed, or over a large rock, a standing wave develops with its curl facing upstream. This standing wave will look like a large mound of water and appear to be relatively still and stable, but the river is literally pouring through it. When a strong wind lifts over a mountain top, a standing wave in the air flow develops across the peak, often expressed as an elliptical shaped cloud.
    Asanas themselves actually are, in a sense, standing waves. Energy can flow dynamically within the body even as a pose is held statically. Standing waves appear to be still but have constant movement within them. Standing waves demonstrate a delicate interplay of static and dynamic opposites balanced in time. An ancient yogic text states, “A yogi is one who sees movement in stillness, and stillness in movement.” Generating and riding standing waves and
surfing
internal waves of energy in asana practice is one way to experience this. There is the stillness of asana with the internal dynamic movement of energy. This is contrasted by the stillness of attention and awareness within the dynamic movement of asana and energy. Physical standing waves can be created by balancing opposing, internal tensions and by bringing equilibrium to the interplay of strength and flexibility. They create feelings of inner power and well-being, bringing a sense of wholeness to the posture. Discovering this is a revelation and brings a forward leap in one’s practice.
Lines of Energy
    The concept of lines of