My Yoga Practice

Vasisthasana

Side Plank Pose

Poses where you aim and reach are always inspiring to me.

A little bit about my practice.

When I was in school, training to instruct, I wasn't expecting to have anything happen but to be taught... to learn and then teach.

My love for the practice was already in me.

I was going to classes and studying with all my time.

It felt so good.

Then out of the blue one day while I was on my way to class,

I had a moment.

It was like getting hit with an inspirational brick upside the head.

The voice: "The Physical, Emotional & Spiritual Muscles are one in the same."

The vision: A contracting physical muscle, an unseen yet very felt emotional muscle and a spiritual muscle I'm unable to describe except "heavy with spirit".

BIZARRE!

I was not, nor ever would have expected that. It was one of those times where you stop and think to yourself, "Did I just hear that???? Did I just see that????"

Was it real?

I couldn't deny it.

So all the way to class, during class and ever since after,

I think on this regularly.

I'm wondering if it's out there somewhere.

If there are people I could talk to and get a better understanding.

It made sense to me in that,

when a person exercises, (yoga, strength training, running, etc.) they always feel better emotionally and spiritually.

When someone gains emotional strength, they tend to have more energy and feel more open and peaceful in spirit.

When someone gains spiritual enlightenment, they always feel better in body and are stronger to stand emotionally.

In my eyes, it goes hand & hand.

I myself have had personal experience with this most my life.

I've heard it from people who have exercised and gotten in shape for the first time.

I've heard it from people who have gone to counseling and made great emotional strides.

I've heard it from church goers, scripture readers and meditators...

but I never thought of it all as a connection in this way.

So as I've looked at this, there are some things that have come to me, and make sense to me.

When a physical muscle is tightened, there is no way for the toxins to get out.

No way for the fresh blood and oxygen to come in. It's all trapped.

Same with the emotional muscle.

When it's all locked up with emotions, there is no way for the those toxic emotions to get out and thus no way for good healthy new emotions to flow in.

Same with the spiritual muscle.

When our spiritual muscle is locked up and we don't exercise it or stretch it...

our spirit gets stuck. Can't flow. Can't feel. Can't love. No hope. No spark.

Once the spiritual muscle opens or exercises, there's life. There's identity. There's a beautiful soul full of spirit.

In my practice working with others, bringing these three things to health is the goal.

My love and desire, is to work with those who know (somewhere in them) they are locked up in these three muscles and are looking for a way to open it all up and find themselves.

When women start crying during a yoga class, it's because they have opened the physical muscle thus opening the emotional and spiritual muscle and are releasing the unwanted to make room for the much needed health to flow in.

My reason for writing this is to show more about my work. This is a big part of who I am and what I have discovered about me and life since being free of my mentor. He never would have allowed me to think this way... express these things. It was his way or no way. I'm free. I'm here and I'm moving on with my divine talents, abilities and hopefully continual enlightenment to share with the world.

Thanks for reading.

Courtney