(photo copyright 2022 Shawn Axten)
Concluding a 60-minute Vinyasa Yoga class with one of my instructors, Lauren Anas, she invited us to breathe into our body, our own practice, to savor what we had accomplished. We placed hands together at the heart center and experienced ourselves, and the present moment results. Our breath, the state of mind matching the breath, the state of flow, ease, tension, or spaciousness in our bodies. Then she reminded us, now let’s breathe into the space around us, breathe with our neighbors, and sense together our collective practice. It is our journey together that informs the collective. “Our energy together creates change!”
(Bali Group shared photo copyright 2022)
This simple message landed in a profound way. As I allowed that wisdom in, I noticed, yes, when others do something that I feel challenged to do, it encourages me to apply my will, and stay the course – to breathe through the uncomfortable moments to transform myself – because I see that it is possible. When I feel strong and my balance happens to be aligned well one day, I power through with strength and grace, and this encourages those around me. Our energy feeds each other so to speak. There is a collective rhythm and support. And quite practically, it is a powerful experience to move in harmony with others, with the breath as synchronized as possible. It is a reminder of the power of something greater than ourselves which can be felt, and experienced, but not necessarily seen, described with words, or understood by the mind. It takes the heart to realize.
(Bali Group shared photo copyright 2022)
This reminded me of a story I watched. In, The Highest Pass, a documentary film follows Adam Schomer and his Yogi Guru, Anand Mehrotra, as they take a motorcycle journey along roads in search of Ladakh or Little Tibet. A team of seven bikers agrees to accompany them on what will become the journey of a lifetime. From accessibility to altitude sickness, these mountain passes are full of perils. Their bodies must accommodate to 18,380 ft. above sea level. They also deal with snow, wind, and freezing temperatures, avalanche, flooding, crazy traffic on single-passage dirt roads with cliffs below, and the saboteur workings of their own minds, sometimes corrected by the realization of truth, and pure presence.
The Yogi guide stated, “It is not proving look how courageous, or strong I am, (that I’m doing this)…the biggest courage is to go beyond the mind, …beyond fear.” It is an internal journey. He was referring to one of the students who was hit by a truck on the trek and decided to continue the journey anyway. Before even beginning this journey, each participant had to take responsibility for their own ability, mental state, and determination. Yet, they learned along the way that they were dependent on each other, oftentimes for safety, and always for mutual mental, physical, and emotional support, which admittedly made the difference for many of them.
(Wix photo copyright 2023)
Along the way they came across stones carved with “Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ] (Sanskrit: ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ).” The Guide explained that the stones had no signature, or date. The saying translated as, “may the sacred jewel of my heart shine forth and bring light to the world and to me.” “This is about total annihilation of the ego,” he explained. I remember in a similar journey led by the same Yogi, Anand Mehrotra, participants were climbing to the summit of a peak and to reach the shrine they had to work past their own mental limitations, as well as their physical limitations and the altitude. One of the participants described that toward the top of the pathway was lined by many, many, many yogis, all chanting Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ in unison. Though she had stopped many times earlier to recover her breath, feeling she couldn’t make it – experiencing a horrible headache, exhaustion, and dizziness - she explained, as many participants agreed with her, that where the chanting lined the pathway the vibration and sound almost carried her up the mountain as if it were a current that lifted her and eased her burden. This is the energy that “…together creates change!” The idea is that we are all in this together.
(Wix photo copyright 2023) I like to imagine this collective system of humanity helping each other like birds flocking. One bird does not stay in the lead for long, but cycles back and drafts for a while before it works to the front of the flock again. We depend on each other, and it frees us to allow times of fatigue, weakness, confusion, or fear, and feel the strength and clarity of those around us. We can catch our breath, knowing that the collective momentum is not lost, and dive back in when we are focused. In this way, our practice on the mat in yoga flows out to a greater world, and our energy together creates change. We are not competing, we are in this together. As we practice love, compassion, and respect for each other, as well as honor each of our own rights to express ourselves and move through our practice as serves us and others in the highest good, we all benefit. We slowly become the person we would like to meet one day, and the community in which we want to live.
(Wix photo copyright 2023)
Our energy together creates change; yes, we build change through a multitude of individual actions that cohesively create the emergence of a new and inclusive way of doing things. Our unified breath creates momentum, and an energy that can’t be explained, which helps to carry us up the mountains we find between us and an equal, loving, accepting society. At the summit, we are each an individual on our own journey, responsible for our own body, mind, and actions, but together we feel the Power of our collective practice. Life with Love, honor, mutual respect, joy, grace, and freedom. Our energy together creates change – the change that will allow us to continue.
(photo copyright 2023 Shawn Axten)
Love, Light, and Laughter,
Asha Shawn
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