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Health & Fitness

This is Not Your Average Yoga-Cat Meme

T.S. Eliot was a childhood favorite in my family. What could be better than poems about cats, unless it was a collection of poems about cats illustrated by Edward Gorey? And what could be better than poems about cats illustrated by Edward Gorey, unless it was a collection of poems about cats illustrated by Edward Gorey that, thanks to a certain notorious Broadway musical, YOU COULD NOT JUST READ, BUT SING?!?  (Altogether now: Jellicle Cats come out tonight, Jellicle Cats, come one, come all…)

It took me almost two decades to find an even better reason to love T.S. Eliot, but a few years back, I was given a copy of his Four Quartets. If you have never read them, I highly recommend you look them up. First of all, they are beautiful. They are some of the loveliest poems in the English language—they sing themselves, without the slightest bit of assistance from Andrew Lloyd Webber. Secondly, they contain the most exquisitely eloquent description of yoga, and what it is like to become so completely involved in a pose that one gets a little taste of the stilling of the mind, of what is known as integration:

 

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At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;

Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,

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But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,

Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,

Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,

There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.

 

Integration in yoga is when the lines that seem to so clearly demarcate the boundaries between body, and mind, and soul, or between “I” and “not-I,” become blurred and overlap, and yet instead of creating confusion, this overlap brings clarity: the still point. In Iyengar yoga, we can see this happen directly in the poses because in Iyengar yoga we often hold the poses longer than in some other styles, according to one’s experience and capacity, and we work with what are called opposing actions. So for instance, in downward dog (adho mukha svanasana), we work to stretch the back of the legs not just down toward the heels but up toward the hips at the same time. We extend and straighten the arms all the way but draw them back into the sockets at the same time. The resulting pose is “neither arrest nor movement,” and cannot be called “fixity.” It is strong and stable but at the same time fluid and dynamic, and brings the “turning world” of the mind back to the still point.

 

And that, I would say, is even better than poems about cats. Edward Gorey notwithstanding.


Each week one of the teachers at the Yoga Space shares her thoughts and experiences in this blog. Kirsten Brooks is a Teacher in Training at The Yoga Space, a studio just east of Dexter serving Dexter, Saline, Chelsea, Manchester and Ann Arbor.  We have been helping people with their flexibility, strength, focus and stress management for over 14 years. Summer session is underway--check out our schedule and come give it a try! Our next free class is this Friday, July 25, from 6-7 pm.www.yogaspaceannarbor.com  180 Little Lake Dr #1 Ann Arbor, MI, 48103.
734-622-9600
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