Now I find myself all these years later teaching people how to find their light inside, which often is hidden. Every day in some ways is like a game of hide and seek. Some days we wake up feeling disconnected from our bodies, from other people, from our own radiance. Yoga is a powerful way to deepen the connection to our own divinity.

Class today was on the theme of concealment (vilaya) and revelation (anugraha). In Tantra the one energy which pervades everything has different expressions: creation, sustenance, dissolution, concealment and revelation. We are always feeling aspects of each one. So there are moments when we are supposed to feel cut off, dark, alone. Then when the revelation comes in, grabbing us into the present moment we can truly revel in the joy of feeling part of everything. 

After all these years of intense studying, practicing and meditating, there's now a point when even at my darkest times I still know that I'm not alone, that I'm supported, that everything will be all right.

Today in class I focused on how the back leg in every pose does more Inner Spiral, and how the front leg in every pose does more Outer Spiral. How one hip has to widen more, has to become more revealed while the opposite hip has to contract more, conceal more, if you will. I used the example of how certain parts of the body have to "hide" (ie, the head of the armbones) so that others can "reveal" more (ie, the heart).

We built up to the peak pose of Natarajasana, King Dancer pose, since Siva Nataraj embodies the dance of the universe and all its energies. Since I knew the peak pose I wanted to do, I just figured out what poses I needed to do before, to get there. Again, sequencing a class is in some ways like a game: the class at first is concealed from me. I figured out the peak pose and the theme, and then the other poses slowly start to reveal themselves... I like this way of building a class. 

So much of our lives is like a game of hide and seek; certainly so much about teaching yoga. It reminds me of the oft-mentioned phrase in yoga which is that all poses stem from Tadasana; all poses are hidden in Tadasana. It reminds of me of how Tantric philosophy says that the one energy becomes many, the one light refracts into a rainbow of color. And our work in both yoga and day to day life is to keep looking for the one light hidden in others and in ourselves.

Feliz Dia de Pascua!

Anusara Poster Pose Project: Finishing with the supine poses form Level 1 Syllabi