Child's Pose: Learning to Feel

We begin each session in Child's Pose. In this pose, with our body prostrate on our mat, we transition from wherever we were to where we are right now.

The intention of yoga is awareness, and Child's Pose is the first step. The purpose of yoga, to me, is not about breaking with our past or rejecting the world we live in, but rather being curious and open: noticing the stories that we personally and collectively live in that might be limiting or confining us. These stories keep us from taking new pathways of exploration. They keep us from being open to being changed. They are where we get stuck.

Our stories take on great meaning in our lives. Here is one of mine: If I express my feelings, I may be teased, laughed at, called out as naive, and be taken less seriously. For years, I bought into this story, masking my emotions and letting them instead burrow deeper. I would rarely share how I’m doing, even when you asked. I would tell you I’m fine, even when I wasn’t. And, over time, I slowly forgot not only how to express my feelings, but what feelings were actually there. When they crept out of their hiding place, I stuffed them down.

I can tell you where this story came from, but it’s no longer important. What’s important is it’s just a story. I actually feel very very deeply. And by stuffing down feelings, I’m not in alignment with my true self. I also know now that if I stuff down sadness, I can’t help but stuff down joy. It all goes together.

If you’ve been to a guided meditation or yoga class, you may have heard this: “The mind is the wind and the body is the sand. If you want to know what the mind is up to, watch the sand.” Connecting to my emotional state - how I'm feeling - is sometimes tricky. I don't immediately have the skill, the language or the ability to plumb deep and know. But I can start with my physical state. As I take the first pose on my yoga mat, I notice my body -- maybe it's tired or creaky, and maybe it's trembly from stress or fear, and maybe it feels alive in anticipation of the poses to come. This is something to notice and just feel: step one in coming into “here.” Step one into a different type of awareness and care.