Balancing on the paradox

The 12 segments of the Zodiac keep turning and we find ourselves deep within the Cancerian section of the zodiac. I take a peek at star signs occasionally to see what I can learn. Cancerians are known for being a bundle of contradictions, living life on the turn of their emotions. The yogi learns to balance these contradictions in the eternal paradox that it means to be human, which is: how can we be in the body and yet be free? That’s what spiritual practice is for.

Because, if we can find a place where two seemingly contradictory things meet, we have found the place of balance. And that’s the place where freedom resides. This is quite literally why we do yoga poses. The further away we take ourselves from where we feel centred, standing upright, to turning ourselves upside down, eg handstand we completely change our perspective and have to move into where it feel uncomfortable. That way, we can find our way back, whenever we get taken off centre, by whatever life throws at us. I love the quote by T.S. Eliot, one of my favourite explanations of this eternal paradox:

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.

Everything and nothing

Once you’re been practicing for a while there comes a point at which you commit a little more strongly, want to go a little bit deeper and start to enquire a little bit more. I reckon it’s at that point when you tip over the edge a bit and something else, something way more important than anything else starts to come into play. It’s at that moment when your life is never going to be the same.

I caught myself saying “yoga’s changed my life” yesterday and I meant it, completely, from the base of my heart (Anusara gag there for the geeks). Thing is, now I know what it means, it’s not quite how I’d have described it if I had to project forward a couple of years and say how my life would be different because of yoga. I guess that’s because externally not that much has changed, I still live in Hertfordshire, I still live in the same house, with the same partner and yet everything’s changed. Everything.

It’s only when I take a moment to reflect back that you see this and realise how different my whole outlook on life is now that even a few months ago. It’s not to say that stuff doesn’t come along to trip me up but now that doesn’t keep me down for weeks on end, I know how to deal with it and move on. The inner monologue which was so prevalent in telling me everywhere I was going wrong is quieter and not so insistent and the Self is there to put it in line when it needs to. It’s pretty special, get on your mat and see J