Fire and Water: Cosmic Powers and Cosmic Clues

Posted on December 22, 2017 by admin

It has been a devastating year for local natural disasters. First was Hurricane Harvey flooding Houston in August, followed in September by hurricanes Irma and Maria leveling much of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and other parts of the Caribbean and a major earthquake in Mexico. When October brought the most destructive wildfire in California to Napa, Sonoma and Santa Rosa, I was thinking enough is enough. Mother Nature had other ideas.

The ability to empathize with another’s suffering usually begins with the personal and the familiar. Our capacity to feel our own pain, grief and loss awakens the possibility to feel the same in another. When it comes to large scale tragedies, we need to awaken a new dimension of our being that can hold the immensity of grief and loss without being overwhelmed. This level also seems to begin personally. I felt sadness at the situation in Houston and Mexico, but because I didn’t know those areas, or anyone in them personally, the grief didn’t penetrate very deeply. But the destruction of St John was personal and visceral and my whole organism went into shock. Anger, helplessness, and guilt intermingled with the grief. But I wasn’t there on the ground, and my safety or comfort wasn’t threatened.

The Thomas Fire, still burning in the back-country, heading toward the condor sanctuary in the Sespe Wilderness took this to a new level. After seven years of drought, the land is devoid of water, bone dry and ripe for fire to run wild. As you can see on the fire map above, the Ojai valley was surrounded by the inferno. The fire, with the help of high winds, did its best to descend upon us, but an extraordinary effort by the firefighting team, (at one point, 8500 firefighters engaging all the fronts) saved most of the town. As of today, 154 Ojai families lost everything. Our neighborhood, just down the hill from the fires edge, and the core of the town was saved. The siege of Ojai, with non-stop flames and smoke, lasted from Tuesday Dec 5 through the morning of the ninth, when it was finally clear Ojai was safe. Much fear, anxiety and surrender poured through us.

After Friday, what will soon be the largest wildfire in California history continued to burn in the neighboring towns of Ventura and Santa Paula and headed to Carpinteria and Santa Barbara, home to many dear friends and their families. It appears that as of today, December 22, the inhabited regions are safe, but the wilderness continues to burn.

Given my highly repressed Irish Catholic background, I have become very good at stuffing all the bad feelings into some deep inner room, but with this wildfire event, those doors have burst open and the stuffers are scrambling about in confusion. The wild side of my psyche has been aroused to a new level and it is both exhilarating and exhausting. It is probably not ironic that my primary response to the fire has been the water of cleansing tears.

I was at a Whole Foods in LA the other day grabbing a sandwich for lunch when I saw my first firefighter since this whole journey began. The tears I had been holding in for two weeks burst through the dam. I wanted to go up and thank him as a representative of all his brothers and sisters who laid their lives on the line for everyone else, but I couldn’t compose myself. The intensity of the gratitude was so overwhelming the stuffers were unable to help. I walked around for 10 minutes and tried again. Fortunately he was still in the store and I somehow managed to mumble a few words about being from Ojai and how thankful I was for our home and the town being saved. Turns out he was from Ojai, his family lived a few streets away from us, and although he was fighting another fire in LA, his family kept him abreast of the local developments. It was a cosmic moment. I know there are still more tears to come for those who lost everything, and the devastation of our wilderness environment, but at least the healing has begun.

A major mentor of mine, geologian and visionary Thomas Berry, articulated 12 principles to help guide the human in coming to terms with their relationship to the Cosmos, and I always return to him for a cosmic perspective. Principle 5 speaks directly to the events of this year. “The universe has a violent as well as a harmonious aspect, but is consistently creative in the larger arc of its development.”

The violence of creation is a given. Stars explode to create the elements that allow life. Our sun consumes itself to provide energy for our planet. Mother Earth periodically balances the energies of the planet by unfolding the macro-phase powers of the four elements, earth (quakes and volcanoes; water as flooding, wild fires and air/hurricanes; all natural, all part of the larger dynamic, but none the less, usually sources of deep suffering for the humans. Attachments are painful, and it is ok to have attachments, as long as we can feel the depths of loss when they are gone, allowing life to flow though us in all her power and magnificence. It is ok for our small selves to feel lost in the immensity because this opens the door for our Cosmic Self’, Atman, to awaken.

When confronting the wilds of nature, we are also reminded of our own energy fields and their needs to balance. One of the great realizations of the Tao’sts, and indigenous cultures everywhere was that life processes of the human, and life here on Mother Earth, are a microcosmic expressions of the large scale dynamics of the Universe. We acknowledge this relationship in our solstice celebrations. As we are now passing through the winter solstice, those of us in the northern hemisphere celebrate both the darkness and spark of life still present, at the fullness of the yin, when the days are the shortest, the nights the longest. In June, we will honor the fullness of yang with the deep support of the yin in the background, ready to continue the endless rhythmic cycle.

In both Chinese Medicine and yoga, the dynamic balance of the elements fire and water determine our indvidual health and well being. In Chinese Medicine, the heart governs the fire and the kidneys govern water. The passionate heart does not want to become a hot-headed fool. The cool kidneys don’t want to become depressed. With the support of the kidneys, the heart is able to feel the intensity of being alive, from ecstatic joy to deep grief, because the kidneys are their to provide cooling and grounding in the background. With the support of the heart, the kidneys can can allow a dropping into a deep stillness because the heart offers a spark of light in the depths of the darkness.

In Light on Pranayama, B. K. S. Iyengar describes Prana, the Sanskrit equivalent of Qi, as the union of two ‘anti-elements’, fire and water. Fire is the yang heating, rising and expanding aspect of creation, whereas water is the yin cooling, descending and condensing dimension. Pranayama practice explores and balances these vital elements. When the two are in a dynamic balance, magic happens. When they are out of balance, disease and disruption occur. Practice that balance Prana is important for healing.

This Yin/Yang non-dual model of reality posited by the Tao’ists offers many more fascinating explorations in growth, awakening and healing for the curious and adventurous. The basic principle is that yin is never separate from yang and yang never separate from yin, but both are very easily differentiated. The dynamic relationship between them is the qi or energy that drives all levels of creation, from atoms to galaxies. Patanjali recognizes masters of qi in the Samadhi Pada:

I-40 paramaanu-parama-mahattvaanto’sya vashikaarah
Mastery (of one who has refined their sensitivities) extends from the smallest particle to the totality of creation.

As humans, mastery is not a onetime achievement, but an endless pursuit, continuously supported by the depths of mystery that is our Source, our True Nature, Brahman to the Vedantans. As stated so eloquently in this non-dual Vedic mantra from the Upanishads:

”Om Purnamadah Purnamidam Purnat Purnamudachyate

Purnasya Purnamadaya Purnamevavashisyate

Om, shanti, shanti, shanti.”

That is fullness: (the infinite unchanging Purusha) This is fullness. (Creation/the world of change, impermanence, Prakriti.)
When creation emerges from mystery, fullness remains: When creation dissolves back into mystery, fullness remains.

Even in our suffering and confusion, we are always, full, whole and complete.

Om, shanti shanti shantih.

Holos: The Nine Limbed Torus

Posted on July 27, 2015 by admin

In our on going explorations in embodying Sacred Geometry, we continually cycle back to the torus, and the corresponding torroidal field, one of the primary patterns of cosmic creation. It is time to add a whole new level of torroidal intelligence to our somatic journey, and to do so, we will bring in my ‘across the street in Ojai’ neighbor Brian Berman, and what he is calling a HOLOS, a symbol for one humanity.

Brian, a spiritually awakened sculptor and peace activist, had an inspirational vision in 2012. It began as the illusion of his separate self dissolving into wholeness, emptiness and deep silence. Only Being/Knowing. Then a thought arose as a spark on energy that then dissolved back into the silence. Then another. Forms coming and going. Then, an image of a torus appeared, emerging from his heart as strands of energy spiraling out from stillness, and then spiraling back into the infinite stillness at the core of his heart. He recognized at once that the torus was a symbol of unity, of many linked as one, rooted in the infinite. From his many years as a peace activist, he realized the possibility of using this image as an international unifying symbol for all engaged in bringing peace to the world. And it did not hurt that, while on a 2014 pilgrimage to Ramana Maharshi’s ashram in Tiruvannamalai, India inquiring about using art in a spiritual way, he got a clear ‘bring this into the world’ message.

The center of the Holos represents the infinite, wholeness, stillness and silence, the Source of all creation. The nine spirals represent the emergence of any and all forms, from atoms to galaxies, and everything in between. Think of the holos as a three dimensional expression of the pranavah, the sacred syllable ‘OM’. The nine spirals can be seen as linking three equilateral triangles, each of the 9 apices being 40 degrees apart on the circle. Nine is composed of a trinity of trinities. According to Michael Schneider in ‘The Beginners’ Guide to Constructing the Universe” “nine is considered thrice sacred and most holy, representing perfection, balance and order, the supreme superlative.”

We are going to take this unique torus and use it to help clear out the chakras and invite it to provide an organizing intelligence for the water and collagen molecules in the Living Matrix of the body. Finding and differentiating the nine strands may take a while, but we are all in this for the long haul, so be patient. Consider this like the Vajrayana Buddhist practice of mandala visualization meditation. Much to be revealed in the future as we play with this!

In any comfortable sitting pose, align yourself with heaven and earth and bring your attention to your heart center. Feel the spherical volume, above/below, front/back, right/left, alive, fluid, spacious. Now convert the sphere to a torus, opening the center like in a bagel, so now the center is emptiness. Stay open to heaven and earth and stillness and begin to notice how the tissue in the heart region is responding. In the holos, ascending energies move clockwise and descending energies move counterclockwise. Let the field and your imagination do the work. Try not to help muscularly. Find where your energy field is weak or distorted, or overworking. (My right posterior quadrant is challenged). Now imagine the limbs differentiating, lengthening or spiraling to help create space. Visualize the empty space between the solid limbs of the holos. Feel it from above and below as in the very top picture. Try moving it around; up and down, right and left, forward and backward. What does this do to your feeling?

If we combine the holos with a hoberman sphere, we can expand and condense both the empty center space, as well as the nine spiraling lines, in a gyroscope like action. This action really awakens new possibilities in the holos. Feel how the centrifugal expansion increase space between the lines as they rotate outward. Feel the spirals rippling through the fluids and tissues as the chakra line stabilizes. Same with condensing centripetal action. For most of us, the heart space (prana vayu) needs more expanding and the belly space (apana) needs more condensing.

The well known sacred geometer extraordinaire, B.K.S. Iyengar, (how many different triangles can you find in this trikonasana?) describes this phenomenon in “Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali”, in his commentary to sutra II-46: “Conative action is the exertion of the organs of action. Cognitive action is the perception of the results of that action. When the two are fused together, the discriminative faculty of the mind acts to guide the organs of action and perception to perform the asans more correctly; the rhythmic flow of energy and awareness is experienced evenly and without interruption, both centripetally and centrifugally throughout the channels of the body. A pure state of joy is felt in the cells and the mind. (For a deeper discussion of this, see Samyama in Asana.)

The holos field is a fractal, so it can be found all over the body. Imagine it to help to open any place that feels restricted. Take it into your limbs, head and tail until it finds its place. The center is always stillness and the energies emerge and dissolve again and again, moment to moment, day by day. Take time to help the larger field and the mini fields also, stabilize. Find the patterns in any pose, at any time. Let them settle and stabilize. No hurry, no worries.

Grounding: Lessons from the Muladhara

Posted on July 6, 2015 by admin

Now that we have landed in Ojai and are starting to grow some permanent (?) roots here, the muladhara, source of all rooting, has begun to reveal many new layers and levels of meaning to me.

There is something about mountains that is very grounding. They announce ‘stable presence’ quietly and elegantly. This view looking north from our front yard shows the Nordoff Ridge, an extension of the Topatopa Mountains, the range that gives the Ojai valley such a powerful spiritual energy. The region provides a habitat for thousands of species of living beings, including us newcomers, the humans. The Topatopas may be 15 -20 million years old, as they were formed as a result of the Pacific Plate first colliding with the North American Plate 20 – 25 million years ago. The collision is still taking place, of course, so even here, stability is relative. Tadasana, mountain pose, is the yogic expression of roots and rooting, and the foundation for all standing asanas. Here the legs, an extension of the muladhara, are trained to channel energy from the body to the core of Mother Earth and back again, like the two prongs of an electrical plug. How, in our lives, can we be a stable presence, as life passes through us in waves of change and transformation?

Trees are masters of grounding. Quercus agrifolia, the California Coastal Oak, is the dominant tree hear in the ‘Arbolada’ section of Ojai. This beauty, just by our front door, is but one of a dozen on the land, and is easily over 100 years old. Because of the Mediterranean climate here in California, the coastal oaks need a deep root system that often mirrors the canopy. I am surrounded by my teachers as I sit here typing away and I feel their presence. They are very patient, stable and mature, and also provide homes for the local birds and tree squirrels. They inhabit the land with grace and elegance, and invite others to join. The oak trees told Kate that this was to be our habitat when she first saw the property several years ago. How can we allow this precious gift of a human body become a safe haven and place of nurturance for the other beings who share our space?

Now, we have have only been here a few weeks, so our roots are not quite as deep as the Topatopas or the oaks, but the sage plants you see above have been in place for only a few months themselves. Like us, they are new to the neighborhood, and also need a lot of nurturing while their roots are getting established. Once settled in they will be quite self sufficient, but for now they need to be watched and watered. What aspects of ourselves need special treatment these days, to help their roots to become strong?

In our asana practice, what does it mean to ‘ground’ this human body we have inherited? What does it mean to inhabit it, to invite in new forms of aliveness, to help it thrive? We can answer this from the three levels of embodiment we have been exploring, structure, energy and fields.

Structure

The structure is simple on the surface. Can we allow the weight of the body to be carried effortlessly by the legs, from pelvis to toes? Every bone, every joint, every muscle and collagen fiber has a role to play. Standing poses are the teachers. They request and teach strength and flexibility, power and elasticity.

As we have inherited our feet from our mammalian and reptilian ancestors, the use of the tarsal bones, especially the talus, navicular and cuboid to transfer weight and integrate movement is crucial. (Remember, the heel bones are secondary when it comes to grounding the energy flow. Quadriped’s heels never touch the ground.) Can we fully inhabit our feet so we can feel and move every bone and joint? Can we open the energy channels of the heel bones without jamming the ankle joints, or losing the grounding through the tarsals – metatarsals – phalanges? Grounding is not necessarily weight bearing. Old injuries of course inhibit free flow, but life finds ways around the injuries if we can only slow down and explore the subtleties. Hands on help, self administered, or from a friend or somatic practitioner can nurture the bony pathways into more life and flow. Nurturing the roots is always a good thing.

On the structural plane, we also have our old friend, the Deep Front Line, from Tom Myers’ Anatomy Trains, as a fascial highway of perception and action, of monitoring and modulating the energy and information flow. As best possible, feel the DFL as a continuous elastic band that can shorten and lengthen as the demands of posture and movement change. When we explore the ‘drop and glide’ in a few minutes, this is the highway we want to travel.

Energy

From the energetic perspective, can our legs channel energy like a river flows into the sea. Can we find flow from core to feet and back again? Can our legs become one with the whole body, including head and hands, and not just appendages that hang out or hold on in unnecessary tension? How would your cells ‘feel’ if your trikonasana looked like this? Can the leg energy liberate the spinal column, so it regains the freedom of a fish in water?

Here, imagining a new tail can be very liberating. There are three energy channels emanating downward from the muladhara: leg, leg and tail. Humans have long legs and tiny tails and that is very confusing to them. The tail energy disappears early on in development, when the anal rooting reflex is no longer being utilized for stability. But infants and toddlers are really good at using the tail energy for staying connected to Mother Earth while being engaged in activity. Adults can use the leg energy, as well as imagination, to awaken the tail aspect of the muladhara. We will use this simple movement exploration to help find this, and also open up the fields.

Fields

“Drop and Glide, or “Load and Lengthen”

To work from the field level, we will add the chakras in the ‘drop and glide, load and lengthen’ movements we have worked on before. One foot/leg grounds with weight as the other lengthens down and out, like a skaters action. Complete the action through the inner back heel, which has a direct link to the tail energy, through the floor, and on to infinity. Do not stop or block the flow when it meets the floor. Follow the energy through the DFL. Because this is a bi-lateral action, we will be feeling the side dimensions of the chakras, and also the posterior, as there is a slight backwards components also. There is a lot of tension and resistance in the structural components here, so awakening the field energy will eliminate a lot of unnecessary strain.

By chakra field, I am referring to all of the energies emanating from that particular chakra. They all overlap, of course, but like colors in the rainbow or notes in a chord of music, each chakra can be differentiated, as can the layers of energy associated with each chakra. As somanauts, we utilize movement to awaken the fields, but we also have to open our lens to resonate with the other possible dimensions. As well as grounded movement, the muladhara is associated with the color red, the sense of smell, the element earth, the physiological function of defecation, survival at the most primal, organismic level. The four petals surrounding the square at the center represent the four cardinal directions. The downward pointing triangle shows the direction of the energy flow. According to tantra, the muladhara’s associated animal is the elephant, the deity, Ganesh. Lots going on here! Have some fun with this.

From tadasana, shift your weight onto one foot (load) and bend the opposite knee to the chest. Lengthen from the 1st chakra field/space as you extend down, back and slightly sideways, in a curving path of grounding energy. Open the tail, legs, pelvis and sacrum. Find space and flow. Imagine the chakra energies are like cars waiting at a traffic light. The ground is across the intersection. When the light turns green, make sure the intersection is clear of tension (relax!) and release the 1st chakra energy down the DFL. The 2nd chakra is the second car, etc. Each car has to wait for the one in front to move. A healthy car length between is good. Make sure they all travel at the same relative speed so there are no fender benders inside. If there are obstructions, slow down, work more subtley. The habit is to fight from the knots at the structural level. Resist this patiently and calmly. Stay in the field level and melt the tension.

Return to tadasana and repeat from 2nd chakra, and then from each subsequent one up through 7. Change legs and repeat. Or, as an alternative, do 1st chakra both legs, then 2nd chakra both legs, etc. Clear out the channels as best possible. Every chakra needs grounding, just as every part of a plant needs connections to Mother Earth through its root system.

You can also recreate this in ardha chandrasana or one legged dog pose. In the classical standing poses, you do this energetically, once you are in the posture; back leg, front leg, and then both, grounding each chakra as best possible. Many of our chakras have weak root systems and need lots of nurturing. The chakras fields are loaded with memories, emotions and stored traumas, as well as light and healing energies. Grounding is an important part of their healing and the integration of the whole.

This is an open ended mystery that we are just beginning to awaken to. And for some more fun, check out ‘our new friend from Ojai’ Meredith’s short video on sacred geometry and sciatica. She is a delightful person with a visionary sense of somatics.

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