Yoga is Where You Go
[Video link to our first 20mins of “Yoga is Where You Go” Session is here — an addition to your personal practice]
Day 4 of 20 day challenge: After two nights of filming firstly another flow session, and tonight a meditation oriented session, I thought I’d write about the motivation.
Tonight we filmed another addition to our “Yoga is Where You Go” Series. A short performance in which we control the video and sound clips whilst performing the practice ourselves. I’m familiar and passionate with the practice, miss the in class experience so here we are.
Neither of us are instructors, this is purely an offering for you and your personal practice. I’m personally missing the time spent in studios with or without music over the past few years. I’ve also struggled to keep up a regular practice myself. Music seemed to help and perhaps for you too. An audio distraction from my current situation, and emotional world… taking me into the world created by the producers.
Yoga was an important part of my internal journey toward mastery of the “Self.” It was through slowing myself and coming to understand the simple, though difficult concept of “feeling my body” that was most powerful.
My body had been in survival mode for most of my life and I was cut off from my emotions. This feeling into my body, through Yoga and Mountaineering allowed me to begin to feel.
Not only did this improve my life and relationships with others, it allowed the years of reading ancient wisdom and philosophy to move from my mind into my body. From the realm of knowing to understanding.
This was a wonderful gift to my life. It allowed me to sense more of me.
I imagine many Yogis and those with other in class practices are feeling at a loss right now. So we hope this brings you some relief from that.
Music is not typically associated with yoga though. For us, this is but one arm of our project as we continue to expand our vision. This edition focused on meditation based on how important it can be. It’s more of an active meditation with music as the focal point. As with Yoga, meditation is not only sitting in zazen cross legged. May you find some freedom from the monkey mind through this.
My experience with Yoga and playing music for it was seeded when Tanya from Shala Yoga in Squamish invited me to play music during a class in 2017. Through my own practice I was able to match the music to the energy created by her instruction. This was a special moment for me as someone with a deep connection to music, and developing an understanding of yoga and it’s teachings.
Arriving on this desert island on which I was birthed last year, I quickly realized things were different. The place I’m living now temporarily while borders are closed are still in the “yoga is stretching” phase.
Friends and lovers have spoken to me about their impression of the different meanings of Yoga. The most familiar to most is asana aka. the poses. Bringing to mind bendy humans making contortions of their body.
Though Yoga as a full practice, to my limited knowledge is composed of the eight elements outlined in the image below — the eight “limbs of yoga”
It is no coincidence that the balance of these elements appear to be quite similar to our logo. With thanks to artseayogi and her art (link here) we have a visual representation of our intention. The brief was to develop something emphasizing the balance that can define a rich life. A balance of the intellect (the mind), body (the emotions), and spirit (the ????).
I’m thankful to the Squamish friend who first suggested I join her to a Yin Yoga class in 2016. With a disclaimer that “Yin” and its long held poses was the most difficult due to the static nature. As a highly active personality both physically and mentally, I was a little intimidated.
Not only that, but I grew up in Australia. The country unfortunately has quite a macho culture and the idea of doing yoga, at that point, felt outside of my comfort zone.
I just ignored my natural reaction and go with the flow (pun intended) by default. Standard practice and one of many instances I benefited from the tendency.
Forever grateful for my first Yin class. For me it was bliss… the opportunity to slow myself down to a balanced breath and increasing pauses between each. Over time I came to experience a deep breadth of emotion through Yoga.
Not only with thanks to the incredible teachers, but often the music accompanying it. So here we are, adding a series of music and video for you to add to your practice.
I don’t identify with any one line of thinking. Mashing together ideologies and philosophies as I find them to build a coherent model of reality that belongs to me.
While I was injured a teacher shared with me a truth.
“Yoga isn’t something you do in class, it goes where you go.”
This was the inspiration for the title of the series “Yoga is Where You Go.”
It isn’t purely stretching, not just breathing, not only meditation – it’s a practice of balancing our selves & existence. You can find similar lines of thinking across culture, wisdom and those who have taken the time to recognize the subtle truth of the torturous human experience.
Regardless, we will continue to tune it. Tonight we introduced a microphone, and a keyboard for the introduction…. adding a custom, intense element to the performance.
Things will change as they do… they’re impermanent, and though there is pain considering potential change. Sometimes pain that is deep, showing us a sign that something is of importance to us… we can only remind ourselves of the nature of our world until we resolve the cause of the pain... however that looks.
With love, take care of each other
— Nullzero
