A distillation from Prashant Iyengar’s class — 9 February, 2017. RIMYI. Zoe Stewart & Bobby Clennell.

The qualities and identities that we attribute to ourselves, such as “I am Indian/American/Chinese” or “I am a man, a woman, old, young, healthy, sick, etc.”, are gravitational pulls on our bodies.  They are like parasites.   

Ordinarily, we live our life in a bubble.  This bubble makes us insular as we cling to particular qualities that exert their influence over us. Through pure coordination you let go of that bubble. We enter into a dimension of ourselves that is universal and all pervading.

There are many sarira (body) kriyas (actions) that can flush away this heavy baggage.  For example, exhale with awareness from the lobes of your brain, the muscles of your back, your pelvis, your eyes. In moments of such coordination, you will find you have a very different experience of yourself.

Yoga is not about the action of the pose – turn your left foot in and your right foot out. It is using sarira kriyas to enter into the sanctuary inside yourself that is universal.

Prashant Iyengar