Furry and Four Legged - Inspiration for our Yoga Practiceby Donna Amrita Davidge
Yoga Teacher and Co-Owner of Sewall House Yoga Retreat
Animals are so important in yoga practice that many poses are named after them: frog, cat (more than one pose is named for these super stretching beasts!), tortoise, pigeon, rabbit, camel and peacock to name a few.
Also important in yoga is the image of the serpent, that energy which moves along the spine. This is referred to as the Kundalini, the life force energy which when flowing freely and in balance keeps us healthy, happy and whole. The image is so important that it is used as our medical symbol which we see for example on the prescriptions we take to the pharmacy.
We can learn much from our friends in the animal kingdom. Not only do we have stretches and poses that relate to or remind us of specific animals but also we can relate to the traits of these animals in our life and in our yoga practice, perhaps things we are also attempting to develop in ourselves:
learning when being cautious serves us and when it does not!
These are the physical aspects we bring into our yoga practice. By watching animals we also see their ability to be focused, totally immersed in what they are doing in the present moment. Part of yoga is developing the senses and strengthening the nerves.
The cat shows an examples of sensitivity to sound, movement and the benefits of a intricate nervous system, as do birds and many other animals.
Downward facing dog is one of the most telling postures in yoga. Dogs effortlessly lift their tailbones to the sky and touch their heads to the ground, getting a great stretch for the spine and shoulders. For most of us this pose takes time and practice and we rarely get the head to the floor. We have to get the spine, legs and shoulders really stretched with practice to look like the dog.
By observing skills that animals have that we are working to develop we can curb any urge to feel separated from our furry- or scaley or feathery- friends, allowing ourselves to be humbled by the gifts they have at living, both mentally and physically. There are phenomenol stories about the gift of sixth sense that cats and dogs possess. We humans do possess it as well. Meditating at the third eye point between the eyebrows is a key practice in Kundalini yoga and other practices as well that help us get in touch with that sixth sense, the intuition.
Pets can also teach us a lot about love and joy.
Animals, like us, thrive on the air they breathe, the food they eat and respond sensitively to the environments that they are in. My cat is much happier and more mellow in Maine than in a confined city space. Don't we too not feel as well, as calm, as happy when we are in environments with noise and air and even too much people pollution?
Yoga means union of mind, body and spirit but also important is the union, the Oneness, we have with all living beings. Even the scorpion has a yoga pose named for it.
As we learn to love and be loved by our pets often it can facilitate real healing, which is also a goal in our yoga practice. People with pets live longer and couples with pets have healthier relationships.
Remembering again that yoga is more than just the physical asanas(poses) that we name for animals but also yoga is about our relationship with our mind, watching how the mind of the animal works and the wonders of nature, here is a quote from a Buddhist card under the topic of Enlightenment:
"It was said at one monastery that the monks could tell when their head lama had become enlightened. He stopped meditating and started playing with the cat."Donna Amrita Davidge and her husband musician Kent Bonham run Sewall House Yoga Retreat in northern Maine with their cat Westy, a beloved slightly blind mascot(animals show us a lot in how they adapt to things like blindness ) July 3 to Columbus day - will be open this Christmas and New Years in Island Falls, ME. Amrita teaches in NY city winter and spring . Amrita and Kent do workshops on the East coast as well. Visit sewallhouse.com or call 888-235-2395. Yogic furry friends are welcome.