In yoga, we often talk about the ‘felt sense’ of a pose or position—the inner feeling. At first, this inner space is not always familiar to us. We get so used to muscling through, gritting and going, without even realizing how much of ourselves we are leaving behind.
Of course, this applies to everyday life as well. We go through our day half noticing as we work our way through our to-do lists. Having lists and goals are not the problem. The space from which we meet those lists is what could be keeping us separated from interior self.
Philosopher/Poet John O’Donahue used to speak about approach and how the way we approached an endeavor actually influences our relationship with that experience. When we take a moment and gather ourselves, meaning we feel and access as many parts of ourself as we’re able, and then begin from, as best as we can, the central voice or point in this wide circle we call ‘self’, then we have a wholly other experience.
We’re talking about moving from a deep center, yet this center is not a solitary place, it is the center of the hub of who we know ourself to be. More often, we approach our experiences from the periphery—our mind, our emotions or not consciously at all. Our mind and emotions are priceless and we need them functioning to their utmost abilities, yet they are not our deepest informing spaces. They are the transient, ever-changing places. There is a more abiding guiding space, an interior space, that informs us. We can shift everything if we find a way to move from there.
All it takes…ok, that made me laugh interiorly. There’s always a ‘just do this and everything will be fine’ aspect we here, And truly, all it takes is a pause before entering. A pause before responding. A pause before moving. This can be applied everywhere and can take seconds once we get used noticing where we’re moving from. In yoga, it’s fairly easy once we have an established practice. Our eyes bug out, our arms pull our bodies around is space. This is moving from our outer spaces.
In yoga, we take a moment to soften. A pause to find breath, to open and to soften. Then boom, we’re in. It does take practice, just like everything here on this planet, but with practice it becomes a more and more familiar inner landscape. The more we tap into this interior space, the more this space interacts with us. The more we access this space, the more it expands and shows itself to us.
This space is us, it is simply our deeper guiding compass point. In our bodies it is our inner body self that has a wisdom of movement and alignment that most of us are not yet aware of or able to trust. We often seek to work from the outside in, instead of inside out. With practice, we can develop this relationship and find a wider and more whole way of being and meeting the world. With practice, we learn how to move inward and begin all our journeys from this interior ever-widening compass.