Page 38 - NAMAH Oct 2015
P. 38
Namah Vol. 23, Issue 3, 15th October 2015
and vaster and so, holding onto the connection, an island one only cuts oneself off from the
I usually get up and stand in order to vastness and richness of Creation. Thankfully,
experience this new sense of expansion more the Integral Yoga affords full scope for this
tangibly over the physical frame. I then do rich interplay between these two aspects.
some gentle movement to allow the body to
work through any residue of unease or One should never lose touch with this
disruption. The vibration of expansion then essential Oneness. Once we realise this truth
starts to coincide with my body’s natural behind everything, there is no reason to feel
rhythm. narrow or restricted. This is true expansion.
Armed with this knowledge, I believe that
There are many gentle means of expanding pain can be shed once and for all.
the physical consciousness. Each of us can
find our unique way. It can be treated as ‘play’ References
but it truly helps to untie the knots of pain. I’m
sure I’m not the first to appreciate the freedom 1. Sri Aurobindo. Birth Centenary Library, Volume
of weightlessness in water. There is scope for 18. Pondicherry; Sri Aurobindo Ashram
a greater innovation and inventiveness as one Trust; 1970, p. 222.
looks at playful ways of freeing the body from
its habitual constrictions and limitations. 2. Sri Aurobindo. SABCL, Volume 19. Pondicherry:
There is a simple joy in stretching these Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust; 1970, p. 988.
boundaries; there also comes a freedom from
earthly pain. It’s as if the water offers 3. Sri Aurobindo. SABCL,Volume 24. 1970, p.
immunity from it. We always expand when 1652.
we’re playful, we might revert back to our
childhood when we were less hemmed by 4. The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother,
cramping structures. We steadily grow when Volume 8. 2nd ed. Pondicherry; Sri Aurobindo
we explore liberating movements. Ashram Trust; 2003, p. 84-5.
Liberation and Oneness 5. Sri Aurobindo. SABCL, Volume 17. 1972, p. 89.
I find also that pain tends to breed when I 6. The Mother. Collected Works, Volume 10. 2001,
become too embedded in habit. The routine p. 16.
makes the mind cloudy and dull; the body
eventually suffers too. It is a matter of finding 7. Ibid.
a balance between my outer activities and
the richness of the inner life. A dichotomy 8. Ibid.
will inevitably arise if the two don’t match.
We must live our Truth too. If one lives like 9. Ibid.
James Anderson is a member of SAIIIHR and coordinating editor of NAMAH.
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