Purifying Postures

My brain and my body are so peaceful right now, I almost don’t want to write. But I figure I might as well catch the thoughts and sensations while they are fresh.

Today I began a daily yeon-dahn practice with a couple of friends of mine. We decided we would hold one or two postures, any ones we wanted, for 20 minutes a day. I haven’t really done yeon-dahn consistently for some time, so it felt really good. We listened to part of one of Ilchi Lee’s Tao 12 Markers lectures while we did it in the middle of the afternoon. I held sleeping tiger posture for 20 minutes, and I felt so refreshed afterward.

To top it off, this evening, during my team’s usual practice time, we did a stronger variation of Dahn Yoga Energy Breathing (Jung-choong Breathing). I sweat and burnt out a lot of heat and tension. Paradoxically, I can both feel my body more now, but I also feel like I’m floating on air. My spine feels straighter and I can sit in my desk chair more comfortably. My whole body is tingling. During the exercise, I released a lot of whatever is stuck in my tail bone. But of course, there’s more

I really love the mental and physical process of holding a posture for more than a few seconds, even if I’m just doing a deep stretch. When I do that, I really have time to pay attention to what’s going on in my body. I have a chance to practice watching without reacting and staying in my center. The practice trains my body and mind so that it’s easier to watch and stay centered even when I’m not holding a posture or there’s a million other things going on in my life. To me it’s a brilliant training tool. And I feel so solid, fulfilled, and full of energy afterward.

As they say in Korean–Ayshwanada! (please note I don’t really know the correct spelling )