Destruction & Choas: Third of Three Installments on Love

Photo by Will Ceurvels, models Elgar Pichler & Sam DiSevino

The line of skeletal trees against a later sunrise suddenly seem vulnerable without their covering of snow, or darkness.  They remind me of an old photograph of women, stripped of their clothing, their small hands desperate to cover naked pain, running between two lines of laughing soldiers, How does the mind layer these terrible and tender disconnected images?  What are we to do with un-accountable polarities? How are we to synthesize being human/inhuman? I was about to write, ‘animal,’ but  animals treat their own that way.

With relationships, we have all been privy to the polarity of those painful times when after the first rush of romance, we are faced with cutting bait or being cut. We are forced to look more closely after sweet, intimate years of a partnership grow stale and stagnate. There are painful betrayals in friendships that bring us right up against ourselves, our expectations and behavior. When we are exposed, vulnerable to our flaws, or the flaws of those we thought wonderful, we run naked, unable to be who and what we wish to be, or thought we were.  We are at the mercy of…everything love and friendship are not supposed to be. Humans are not supposed to treat one another with carelessness, brutality, or cold indifference. Are they?

 How else are we to learn? If we have chosen earthly lives in order to grow soul-mulch, how are we to grow into greatness if not through pain? It is only those who are able to re-create love out of a broken heart who really understand how to love, It is those who have expanded their compassion from an illness who glory in the gift of each day of health.  It is those who have irretrievably lost a best friend through carelessness who are able to attend and honor a true friendship.

Dissonance comes with this territory.  It is like aligning religion and science, or romance and marriage, somewhere in our marrow lives the DNA of redemption. Without it we cannot align or survive.  This time of year, when trees are unable, yet long to bloom, they appear broken by winter’s frozen indifference, When we face our vulnerable moments, our clothes ripped off, let us stand boldly, despite pain.  When we are naked, in the depth and death of our winter, we shall remember that spring always comes. We will leaf out, scarred, but more lovely, as we have redeemed the heart to love again.  No small task.

Pose & Seasonal Notes:

Asana: Practice trust by doing partner poses. Back to back headsands, such as Salamba Sirsasana is a wonderful way to not only gain greater personal perspective, but to share with a friend or stranger.  Learning to physically support, and work with another grows muscle to be at the ready when we need it emotionally and spiritually.

Health Notes:  Finding new ways to work with old poses brings a fresh perspective to our Practice. It grows friendships from strangers, and we come to learn there are many surprising people we might lean on when times are tough.  You can find the how to, plus physical health notes by  writing-  Salamba Sirsasana in search box.

 Astrology Notes: This is the last week of Aquarian energy, and we have it in spades. Not only is the Sun in Aquarius but Mercury, Mars, and Neptune are travelling with the Sun, which is about to face off in a Leo/Aquarius Full Moon.  What does this mean? One thing could be that the strong potency of the heart/Leo and the mind/Aquarius have opportunity to project a new vision. Think Egypt. Think brotherhood/Aquarius with heart/leo.  As with any full moon, we all have greater capacity for wider sight generated under its brighter light.

 Ayurvedic Notes: Kapha imbalances of sluggishness, weight gain, and congestion tend to worsen in the winter. If you struggle with these imbalances/doshas, you want to make your Yoga Practice strong and active. A lovely treat after a vigorous Practice is to massage with warm oils, perhaps with mustard, ginger eucalyptus or cinnamon in the oils.  Kaphas may prefer sweet and flowery fragrances, like their love of sweets in general, but they aren’t as good for them as the sharper, spicy scents.