We create a pose, a limitation if you will, so we can be in a relationship with it. The process of understanding this relationship is your yoga practice. Consistently practice Tree Pose and you have in fact, created a relationship with this pose. The more you practice the deeper the relationship. Every time you step into Tree you create a definition of you being in Tree Pose; you being in a relationship with – you guessed it – yourself.
In a pose, a self-created border or limitation we hold inquiry, entertain curiosities, and make shifts into and out of alignment. In this space we can be accountable to the mental processes, the emotional spectrums and of course the workings of the body itself. Your pose becomes in essence your mirror and the relationship is one you create with yourself.
When you are first new to practicing Tree, you are concerned about some big things; like trying not to fall out. In this place you find the strength of your legs, the determination of your will and in time, you get more skillful. In longer more steady holdings you begin to see the subtle layers of thought, emotions and waverings. You get the chance to delight in your sense of balance before coming out. And then the next time you come into this place of delight you have a different perspective. You’ve been there so frequently that now you get to watch and see what pulls you out of balance. This is the practice. This is the process: watching, learning, and deepening the relationship.
As your capacity for witnessing widens you see all manner of tendencies rise to the surface. Is it the taunting of your mind that makes you fall out? Is it the fire in your ankle finally calling it quits, or is it the giggle that bubbles up to throw you off? Perhaps none of the above, but in fact something from yesterday, or yesteryear slides in unawares and poof – you’re done. Not only are you the body, mind, emotions but you are also your experiences in this life up until the very moment you stepped into that Tree Pose. You bring everything with you, including all your good habits and all your odd tendencies into your relationships. Now ain’t that the truth?
This is your yoga. It shifts, it moves and it creates a setting; a mirror for viewing yourself. You look into a pose and you find yourself. You practice your yoga and you show up. You place yourself in a relationship with who you are being at the very moment you are looking for yourself. And that changes. And you change. And pretty soon you realize that getting to that Tree Pose is way more than the strength of your legs and the shifting of your ankle. It’s exciting. It’s a discovery. It’s a place to share your joy of being you with the finest relationship you can develop in this lifetime: a relationship with yourself.
