DAILY How big does our ‘Big Daddy’ live within us? How did his dreams forge our days? Have we come to terms with his mythos? Do we hear his voice in our own? When that young man, freckled and feckless or freckled and faithful, decided to have a child, was he ready? Or did he haplessly create life unconsciously, sweetly, accidentally, remorsefully, angrily? We, in our turn, continue that sacred ancestral dance: mother/father-child,father/mother-child.
How do those patriarchal-steps go? Be we fathers or not, if we cannot find a way to have our father live handsomely within, we cannot change the patriarchal two-step and it becomes impossible to enter either the outer world, or the inner as the good king, the good husband of the feminine. Without Daddy holding correct alignment in our psyche, we struggle to understand true power, to feel success of our relationships, or to attain ‘peership,’ for these constitute the role of true fathering. “Big Daddy” energy leads the successful way out only when our full relationship with him dwells consciously within. Bringing that tangled relationship to the light of understanding is a lifetime’s ‘onion- work’, peeling layers year by year.
Few of us have the dreamed-for-father, and I suspect those that do, have as difficult a time as those with impossible fathering. Cutting that over-sweet, binding, umbilical cord can be as daunting as for those with the fathers they never thought to choose. It is our responsibility to bring them into inner alignment so we do not spend our adult days arguing, fighting, resisting, weak, blind, chewing away at the old childhood relationship.
This Father’s Day, as we face our fathers, alive or not, as we call the myth of the father we have created, let us practice our Yoga… be still and accepting, breathe belly-breaths, become alive to our father’s presence in our cells, and observe. Stand back from the cloying emotional ties, sweet and sad, angry and resentful, and without attachment, observe the man who gave us life. See him despite himself, see him despite ourselves, see him as he would wish to be seen, see him as you would dream him. With knowledge and forgiveness side by side we can observe cleared-eyed and open-hearted. Would we not wish the same if roles were reversed? Indeed.
Asana: Pasasana/noose or cord: With feet together, squat, and lift buttocks slightly to turn the trunk as far as possible to the right, bringing left arm over thighs. On the exhale, turn the right arm from the shoulder reach back and clasp hands behind near the left hip, using the arms as a noose to hold trunk to thighs. Turn gaze over either shoulder. Repeat on other side.
If your hands do not reach, use a belt. If you cannot keep your heels down, roll your mat up and place under the heels. After clasping the hands becomes easier, reach for the wrists.
Health Notes: This Pose works the ankles, and helps those who must stand for long periods of time, for it rejuvenates the feet. The spine and shoulder girdle become more elastic, the chest expands fully. and it is a good pose for reducing fat around the belly. The internal organs are massaged, supporting the spleen, liver and pancreas. It helps those with indigestion and diabetes.
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