The camel is the symbol of devotion. But instead of bowing forwards, forehead-to-earth, face planting into the ground, we see the opposite. We are bowing backwards. Not simply a backwards bend, the camel is a backwards-bow, with the spine rounded, daring to be open, exposed. The head hangs back, our sense-organs open into space, our thinking powers brought into quiescence. To fully experience this back-bow, to experience the spine rounding almost of its own accord, you have to give yourself into the space and allow feelings of being untethered, unprotected. Living in this state of openness in Life -- with its messes, its uncertainties, pain, not just the pleasurable parts -- is devotion or ksama.
The rounded spine of the camel begins with the arms, in the preparatory phase. In general in this type of yoga, we spend time preparing as it helps bring an order to our bodies and our soul capacities - thinking, feeling, willing -- for the main event, the end pose.
So, begin by gliding one arm after another from an upright kneeling stance. One arm lifts in front and overhead, and as it circles back we experience a further openness into space but with a twist in the spine. The arm moves out in a big curve to work through the spine in the heart or thoracic region. You could simply move the arms in flowing, circular alternation, if that's enough for you.
To reach the end pose though, you land one hand after another on your heels, but do not lean back from the knees or waist. Do not put all your weight on your hands. That's a common error. Instead, guide your body forwards, over the hips. The hips remain stable. So, actually we are not as unmoored as we mightfeel in the pose. We are actually in a safer place than we might feel when all the contours of Life hits us. We are able to indeed bear our consciousness through all of it -- not just the happy, pleasurable parts of life but all of it -- ksama.
The rounded spine of the camel begins with the arms, in the preparatory phase. In general in this type of yoga, we spend time preparing as it helps bring an order to our bodies and our soul capacities - thinking, feeling, willing -- for the main event, the end pose.
So, begin by gliding one arm after another from an upright kneeling stance. One arm lifts in front and overhead, and as it circles back we experience a further openness into space but with a twist in the spine. The arm moves out in a big curve to work through the spine in the heart or thoracic region. You could simply move the arms in flowing, circular alternation, if that's enough for you.
To reach the end pose though, you land one hand after another on your heels, but do not lean back from the knees or waist. Do not put all your weight on your hands. That's a common error. Instead, guide your body forwards, over the hips. The hips remain stable. So, actually we are not as unmoored as we mightfeel in the pose. We are actually in a safer place than we might feel when all the contours of Life hits us. We are able to indeed bear our consciousness through all of it -- not just the happy, pleasurable parts of life but all of it -- ksama.
RSS Feed