The wonderful book given to me by a friend as reading for our travels and time in Tokelau: ‘How Yoga Works’ by Geshe Michael Roach & Christie McNally, is proving to be very enlightening, and the story, with such gentle and kind words, has a great way of unveiling the Yoga Sutras.
The breakdown of How Yoga Works is perfectly paced, and ideal for students at all stages of the yoga path. I’ve just finished chapter 13 – Silent Sitting, and the metaphor used was plumbing! Basically you can ‘plumb’ the channels in the body to create health and strength in one of two ways: 1. By focusing on the outer body using asana practice to unlock physical conncetions; 2. By focusing on the inner body using the mind to create feelings of space and freedom. This makes so much sense I’m sure most yogis will understand how the two practices, combined with the breath can heal the body and mind.
The next chapter of the book is entitled Learning How to Sit, which suddenly seems very poignant. Last night we visited the house of a family who lost a child to a hereditary illness. When we entered the main living room, the family and a large proportion of the village were seated cross-legged on hand woven floor mats around the body. Paying our respects, we sat with the group singing songs for most of the evening. Leaving at the end of the night I felt humbled by the attitude and atmosphere of the village. It was a true lesson in learning how to sit – together, with compassion. And even though yoga was far from my mind at that very point, I now realise that compassion is the key to healing of every kind, including yoga.
