An Archetypal Posture
An Archetypal Posture
To be fully human means to balance between heaven and earth.
The exemplary concept of As Above so Below is deeply embedded in the building blocks of our bodies.
Yogic balance, samasthiti and the cardinal posture of tadasana, to be steady, equal, and with ease, are quintessential psychophysiological concepts of STK teaching.
Let’s look at the concepts around the vinyasa of inhaling up onto the toes and exhaling down to the heels as a transformative process from the gross to the subtlest level of self-experience and super consciousness.
When we set our sight, balance the top of the skull, stabilize our pelvic floor, and ground the feet to the earth we can achieve, physical and mental flexibility, strengthening our capacity to become resilient when tackling situations along the yogic path.
TALASANA a refined lens.
Here are just a few suggested and fascinating nuances to look at with that
initial challenge of balancing with the breath onto all the 10 toes, the ball of the feet and then without wavering, skillfully returning to samasthiti (steady and equal).
10 – Yam/Niyamas
There are 10 basic principles to the Yamas and the Niyama’s which are an entrenched universal code of moral conducts on the Yogic eightfold path. This concept of repeatedly cultivating balance on to all 10 toes in talasana can become a fixed sankulpa to these 10 basic principles of becoming steady within and without.
As a Palm Tree (tala)
The palm tree because of its flexibility always survives, it often faces strong blowing winds and storms, it bends in the direction of the wind and doesn't oppose it. This tree can live in salty sands on the seashore with lots of water or in dry sands of the deserts with minimum water and nutrients. Through innate sourcing properties its roots absorb only the required amount for its survival. This palm tree/talasana metaphor can teach us to be content and let go.
Mental and Sensory Perceptions
When the posture is fully cultivated and the body and breath are under full control and able to mitigate minute disturbances physically, mentally or sensory then the mind automatically follows the body - not as a tool of escapism - but as a positive detachment, removing yourself from the surroundings, irrespective of time, place or space.
Correspondence - organs and senses.
We can also look at the same balancing on the toes concept of as Above so Below through the lens of the practice of Reflexology, which implies that we can employ corresponding organs and influence sensory impressions while practicing this simple vinyasa.
For instance (some basic charts differ) all 10 toes are paired with the sinus and toes
#2-3 pair with the eyes (drishti), toes #4-5 pair with the ears (hearing ujjayi) and the big toes are paired with the head (brain-mind).
The nape of those big toes is paired with your neck, just under that are your vocal cords (glottis), and the space beneath toes #2-3 stimulate the trachea (ujjayi).
We also use the large mounds of the feet just below our toes for weighting, and stabilizing, for instance the area between the 3rd-5th toe are paired with the lungs, (stimulation of the breath) and the far outer edge of the foot just beneath the little toe is paired with the shoulder above! (prana circuit).
From these yogic perspectives, talasana becomes a multifaceted practice that is a must for beginners, advance learners and spiritual seekers.