Ascending from the Mud: Earth to Water

We are currently underway with the first round of MENTORSHIP and one month into this container. Since MENTORSHIP has been designed as a nine month journey, we're still just barely getting started. Yet, already, so much has developed. Our second group meeting will happen tomorrow, this Sunday, so I felt like it would be a good opportunity to reflect and contemplate together on what has so far transpired and where we're going from here.

In MENTORSHIP we follow the Elemental Model. If you've read the book, you will have been exposed to the various archetypes that are the pancha maha bhūtas and the ways that we connect and relate to these aspects of us. As you may know, Bhūta Yoga is the methodology that has been formulated around the theory that we are made of these Five Elements and that we can learn how to relate to these constituent parts of us to bring forth balance, well-being and health. And for those in this current container of MENTORSHIP, we have been looking specifically at the Earth Element.

The Earth always seems a very reasonable place start; it's stable, secure, and unmoving. A firm foundation to stand on moving forward, as we make our ascent towards the subtler energies of the yogic path. Firmly grounded in the logic of the Earth Element and the very real, very practical side of us that is the physical body, we stabilize our connection downward. Like roots of a tree, we plug into the great body of the Mother that lies beneath our feet, quite literally never letting us down. Right?

For many people, this initial stage of sadhana comes with a necessary confrontation that reveals to us where we have not adequately slowed down. Now, slowing down can be a physical thing, for sure. Yet it can also be a psychological, emotional, and energetic thing. The good thing is that as I learn to slow my body down, and feel more deeply into myself through my bones and flesh, my mind starts to rest and stabilize. Interestingly, the mind follows the body, and the body acts out the mind. Since we're dealing with prana -- the substrate energy beneath both mind and body -- the prana begins to stabilize internally as the scattered parts of us come home to themselves. Think of it like a magnet that grows in strength, attracting the various iron filings that are laying about into a single central mass. Earth Element is connected to the physical law of gravity, and according to this natural law, as an object gains mass, it pulls things towards it. Unfortunately for the practitioner, sometimes there are things that have been prematurely "thrown out" and yet they linger like debris in our orbit. When we become "heavy" enough to draw this stuff back down to Earth, there can be a crash landing of sorts. Things that we may have forgotten about suddenly come to the surface. Life starts to reveal whatever "stuff" that has been unprocessed from our past. This can be uncomfortable. For some, this confrontation is the evidence needed to throw in the towel. A brave few yogis will stay the course and venture onward.

What I'm describing here is that initial phase of any truly transformational journey; I am simply laying it out in terms of the Elemental Model as a way of looking at it, relating to it, or conceptualizing it. Think of this work with "Earth" as an archetypal or thematic expression of the truth that, in order for transformation to take place, there must first be a certain degree of observation, acceptance, and reconciliation. From a very practical standpoint, what this looks like is our journey into the physical body, and down into the support structures OF the physical body. We're dealing with the base on spine and the foundational currents of energy running from the base of the spine down into the legs, ankles and feet. Muladhara chakra, as it is called in Sanskrit, is considered the "root" energy center (mula = root; ādhara = support). The teaching around this is that our root center is the place of storage for ancestral karma. In other words, the karma that we've inherited or carried forward from the past. Of course, we cannot move forward and create a truly new future (transformation) until the past is resolved, lest we carry the past forward into tomorrow. Working with the root has energetic as well as very real, very physical connections. Perhaps you are noticing this.

I believe it's important to note here that this first stage of the journey is really the set up for whatever is next, AND also to think about this path in terms of its cyclical nature. We will inevitably work through and digest what we can at this moment in our sādhana, manage to raise ourselves to new energies, assimilate, and then eventually come back around the loop at a later date. Only the next time around, since we did our foundational work well, we have a better understanding of the tools involved in the process. This is why we can always come back to the basics. The secrets are really buried underneath the soil, so to speak. Strengthen the legs, feet and root, start to actually feel more stability in the base, allow the energy to make its way upward, enjoy the new vistas for a time, then go back to the "beginning" and try again. Only now, it's no longer the beginning... but you get my point :)

So we're making our way upward. The stability we've worked how to cultivate here is going to stay with us. The Principle of Sthira, as it were, is no longer just a concept but something that we can connect with physically and energetically in a embodied sense of this word sthira. We have created the foundation for what's next.

Que: Water. Ah, what a sweet thing, this Water Element. So nourishing, so gentle, so sweet. Yet at the same time -- watch out! Too much Water can have a terrifying affect. Have you ever been caught in the middle of a torrential downpour? Just look at the devastation that excess water is having in the United States with these hurricanes. I believe there is a wise teaching here for us, and we can think about the Earth Element again for a moment. The banks of a river, for example, are the structures that hold and direct the water, true? And when we have the channels carved out to channel the water effectively, even with a lot of water coming down from above (who really knows where emotions come from), we are able to send that water out and away from our dwellings.

Asanas are the way that we carve out these channels, internally. Our asana training is meant to tell the body where to send the water. When we hold a posture, we imprint ourselves with a blueprint. The more repetition, the deeper the imprint, the clearer the channel. I always think of the asana portion of practice like the installation of the "internal plumbing" . If our pipes aren't laid out optimally, and there is an excess of energy, it either overflows and floods the system OR a pipe can burst and we have to go in and repair it. This analogy points to the importance of asana training as part of the bigger system of yoga. Obviously pranayama and meditation are essential components of yogic technology and yet few people that I have seen focus on integrating all of the limbs effectively. Some get attached to their physical practice and work to "dominate" the body; others get lost in the woo-woo land of the energetics, still others think "breathwork" alone will facilitate the breakthrough they need to suddenly live a beautiful life. Spoiler alert: no. Common sense tells us otherwise. We are multi-dimensional beings. If our body is f***d up, what makes us think this isn't influencing our mind and behavior? And vice versa, if we are habitually thinking low vibration thoughts, what makes us think our body is going to be happy about that?

Hopefully, developing a holistic sādhana -- one that addresses each aspect of our lived experience -- is worthy of our inspiration. If you've read this far, then I suspect you are onboard with that endeavor.

Which brings me back to the Water. As we can see, Water can potentially be a very destructive force. Yet, according to our analogy, with the right internal systems in place (the "plumbing"), we are able to circulate and manage this force without it overtaking us. We can stabilize in the storms of life, so to speak. This doesn't mean that we numb ourselves from our feelings. Oh no, rather we become capable of actually holding them in their entirety. We develop the capacity to feel even more deeply, without getting lost in the sauce. We end up even more sensitive and vulnerable -- both with ourselves, and others. But we cannot do that until we slow down. We slow down, we root into our body, and become as maximally, physically present as we can, and then we can really, truly feel. What's there, underneath the surface? The stem starts to grow up from the murky depths, making its way towards the light... it passes through the mud. That gunk lying there at the bottom of the lake -- sediment from years past. Right?

So we feel more, we feel deeply, and in so doing, we get to know ourselves. We get to know how we actually feel about things -- not the story we are telling, but where that story is living in the body. We start to fully inhabit ourselves once again as the mind makes its descent back into the body. The two (mind and body) start to become filled with life-force; the light starts to circulate. This is the journey towards radiance -- being self-fulfilled on nothing other than one's own essence. It's like we're cleaning out cobwebs in the corner that we'd forgotten about, puttin' a little spit and polish on dusty old countertops. Cleaning, literally, the skeletons out of our closet. Is it not so? And as we do this, we feel more alive, more vibrant, more like... ourselves.

We're coming home to ourselves, learning to be comfortable in our own skin, learning to be confident and secure in our bodies, learning to be strong in relation to what we stand for, being unswayed by the storms of life.

Yeah, it's a good journey we're on. The good news as that we're just getting started.... the better news is that, years from now, we'll just be getting started again ;)

Grant & BYA