Yoga in Your Hands

Creativity begins as an inspiration, a desire to express ones personal vision and connection with the creative force from within. How does this relate to the practice of yoga? I have been thinking about this all month in preparation to write this article for the Hand to Hand market, a place where creativity, community and abundance come to dance together in our fair city of Greensboro. What I have come to understand is that we all have the powerful ability to share our gift with each other on many different levels, sometimes this shows up as a hand made birthday card or a sweet scarf that was knit with love and we all know the feeling of receiving such a special treat from a friend or loved one. It is a feeling of connection, care, thought and over all love. Our creativity is something very special and unique to each and every human, we all have different gifts and abilities and when these are used to create something it has a deeper meaning that we all can relate to. An offering of ourselves, our time and our talent to communicate the deepest connection to what and who we really are. That which can’t be expressed through words. This creation expression shows up for me in many different ways but the most predominate is teaching yoga. I recently fulfilled a long time dream of opening my own yoga space, Free Spirits Yoga at 337 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. This came at a time of great challenge and difficulty in my personal life, a time when I could have decided to sink into the energy of being defeated and sad but the Inner Voice spoke clearly. “Now is the time to share, to move this energy into something positive for all including yourself.” I had the distinct feeling that this life is but a moment and fear and challenge is always an opportunity to grow in strength and wisdom. The healing that I have witnessed in myself since listening to this inner prompting has been amazing. The intention of my classes is to share this with others, to come together in a open, compassionate, non-judgmental environment to explore our sacred and unique personal paths. No two are the same, nor should they be. Now I come to the subject of the hands, these beautiful tools that have the ability to express the vision that is birthed in the mind and heart. The connection of the wisdom and ingenuity is powerful. With out our hands, minds and hearts it would be very difficult to express ourselves in the material world. How we express with our hands is a direct expression of our internal environments as well as our relationship with the world around us. Yoga is a practice that helps us to better understand this relationship of the internal environment and the outer world around us. Yoga translated means Union or to yoke, bring together. In this context it is clear that creating what I like to call sacred objects is just this, a union of the material, physical and the energetic or thought form into creation. In some traditions such as the Native American there is a practice called creation ceremony, this is the act of setting the intention to create something with the hands that is an expression of connection with the divine. The practice is mean not only to make beautiful artifacts or sacred objects but also to learn about ourselves during the process. In this ceremony there are always two bowls set out, one has corn meal and the other is empty. The practice is to take a pinch of corn meal and place it in the empty bowl anytime we observe the mind becoming distracted with negative thoughts, egoistic thoughts, frustration, anger or another emotion that we do not wish to imprint our creation with. Our thoughts are extremely powerful and learning to control them and recognize that they are not who we are is very important. Realizing that what ever we are thinking about when we are in the act of creation is then energetically apart of that object. We put ourselves into all that we create in the world. All aspects of Yoga are apart of the Science of Self Realization, what does that mean for us in this context? It is believed in the Yoga System that all aspects of our lives are part of our practice, each moment an opportunity to practice and remember that it is Spirit that flows through all things at all times. We are never separated from Source but there are times when we feel more connected. When we are recognizing the Divinity in Ourselves and all that surrounds us. Creating with our hands can often take us into the place of one pointed concentration that is need to still the mind and allow the silence to inform our being. When we find this place we may experience bliss, peace, or a sense of deep rest and relaxation. Thus the more opportunities we afford ourselves to find this space the deeper sense of Self Knowledge we come to know. Helping us to see through the illusions of the material world that can often create suffering and self doubt. I see the Hand to Hand market as a place where those who create and have the courage to share that creation with others come together to celebrate these gifts. It also cultivates that practice and understanding of abundance. When we exchange money or energy for those beautiful treasures of creation to be adored. So I ask you now, step back and look, how are you creating? What are you creating? How do you use your hands to share you gifts with the world around you? Honor this, celebrate this, share this and know it is these acts that remind us of who we really are.