Union (Part 1)

If you've ever attended a class with me, you've probably heard me say things like, "Begin the conversation between your breathe and your body." Or perhaps you've heard me preach about the meaning of yoga being "to unite", giving pauses through a sweaty flow to invite the mind to come back to the party. Interestingly, while I was on vacation this past week a friend of mine sent me a link to a video that got to this idea of unification in a much more profound way; something that I believe I've wanted to express for a long time but couldn't find the right words. I'll attempt to share this with you, adding of course, my own spin. I hope this helps strengthen your yoga practice or however you choose "to unite" your mind, body, and soul.

While the yin-yang is a commonly recognized symbol, for many of us its underlying meaning is not as widely understood. I'm certainly not an expert on the symbol, but for the purposes of our discussion, let's begin by getting the basics: yin represents feminine energy and the yang encompasses masculine energy. The combination of them - the black and white puzzle pieces - demonstrates the union of the two energies. Yin, feminine energy is about allowing and receiving and is more passive in nature. It's often associated with emotions - even hidden emotions - and therefore the cool, night moon. In contrast, male, yang energy is more active, action oriented and stands for creation. It is therefore linked to the fiery sun which grows the plants we eat and the trees that help us breathe. When these two forces are in balance life flows easily, but when they are out of balance life may feel difficult, overly emotional (yin imbalance), or anxious (yang imbalance).

Western society (the one that has dominated the collective consciousness for the past few centuries) has not only favored yang (male) but also has delineated and separated yin and yang by gender. Therefore creation, doing, making, etc., is not only associated with men but is also favored over being, receiving, and allowing. Because of this favoritism and distortion of gender traits we see imbalances in our society in the form of aggressive behaviors and workplace gender inequalities as just a couple examples. We also see it in abuses of ambitions and an increase in people suffering from anxiety and depression.

This isn't to say that yang energy is bad but that the distortion has very real consequences. It is only when we understand that the yin-yang energy is not gender specific but rather are qualities housed within each and every individual that we can begin to come into alignment with ourselves and everyone around us. In other words, each of us exists within the spectrum of male and female qualities AND to deny one over the other because we were born male or female is to deny a very real and important part of the human experience, ultimately costing us our peace and happiness.

In order to come back into balance, we have to embrace yin (female). One of the reasons we have misunderstood yin is because it is more subtle than yang and is thus more difficult to see with the eyes. For instance with yang one can see the results of their work such as building a house (i.e. - physical labor and materials equal final product of a house). But when we talk about yin, we're referring to things like intuition or, for example, allowing the idea of what that house looks and feels like to come to us.

Just because we may not be able to see the physicality of yin with our eyes does not mean that it is any less potent or meaningful. Rather, we need to understand that our ability to perceive is not just limited to our five senses . We have things like gut feelings and heart flutters that inform us on a much more nuanced level. And for us to pay attention to those nuanced senses and interpret them correctly means we must be in a state of allowing and receiving and quiet to "hear" the conversation.

Sure there is meditation to quiet the mind, but the mind is the tool of yang. So when we recognize that meditation - the mind - is only one piece of the puzzle we can then make space for the rest of the body to participate....which is why union, said as 'yoga', is such a vital practice. For when we show up to our mats, we show up with all of us - yin and yang. And when we show up in our fullness we can truly create the life we wish to live.

...stay tuned for the second half of this posting where we will expand on what it means and looks like to create in our fullness.

#union #yoga #wonkyyoga #yin #yang #balance #creation