Yoga for Life by Colleen Saidman Yee

Author:Colleen Saidman Yee
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books

Yoga Sequence: Facing What Scares Us

There’s no guarantee of safe passage in life. Pema Chödrön teaches the importance of not running away from difficult emotions, that if we can sit quietly with them, eventually the expanse of blue sky will appear. This teaching is helpful when fear starts to paralyze me or propel me into frenetic retreat, and over the years I have found the following Buddhist meditation useful.

It goes something like this: Sit down and notice where you hold fear in your body. Notice where it feels hard, and sit with it. In the middle of hardness is anger; sit with the anger. Go to the center of anger and you’ll usually come to sadness. Stay with the sadness until it turns to vulnerability. Keep sitting with what comes up; the deeper you dig, the more tender you become. Raw fear can open into the wide expanse of genuineness, compassion, gratitude, and acceptance in the present moment. A tender heart appears naturally when you are able to stay present. From your heart, you can see the true pigment of the sky. You can see the vibrant yellow of a sunflower and the deep blue of your daughter’s eyes. A tender heart doesn’t block out rain clouds, or tears, or dying sunflowers. Allow beauty and sadness to touch you. This is love, not fear.

Mr. Iyengar believed that backbends help us face our fear—of death and of the unknown. This sequence culminates in backbends, which demand both fearlessness and vulnerability. Backbends open the door to the heart; they are life affirming. We elicit fear in yoga so that we can walk courageously through it.

Mr. Iyengar also said that you master fear by mastering backbends; they pierce the protective shell we think keeps us safe and makes us face the unknown behind the illusion. This sequence is designed to gradually soften hardness or resistance that results from fear. We build up to it. Open your heart and embrace the day for its beauty. Hear the birds chirp, feel the air on your skin, listen to music. Hold your loved one’s hand—all with awareness of impermanence.

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