brain drain

kim on 8:51 pm May 20th, 2009 / Be the first to comment! »

A reason we avoid asanas we don’t like is because typically we want to avoid pain. This makes sense, as pain could be associated with death, and we have a biological imperative to live on.

Your brain is always going to go where the strongest sensation is, which during yoga class can often be–especially for beginners–the place of pain or discomfort.

This is why breathing mindfully is so radical. Who knew? This process is waiting for you, right under your nose, and yet the breath wafts in and out, sloshes through the lungs and out, every day all day, without ever being noticed.

Breathing mindfully through a strong sensation in class–the hamstrings, the shoulders, and neck as their tightness emerges–will relax the reaction to the sensation and give you more information. Am I really in danger here? Should I back away as though from a predator in the wild? Or can I stay here for a few more breaths and see what happens next?

As you breathe and contemplate these question when “pain” or a strong sensation comes up, the brain goes to that spot through the breath. This is when the practice becomes much more interesting, and harder to avoid. If we stay in the space where we let ourselves avoid the sensations we don’t like, and search only for the ones we crave, growth in yoga doesn’t happen. If we really breathe and inquire, the only thing that *can* happen is change.