Bound in Love

Embracing this body with love

Aloha! Welcome. I’m thankful you are here.

Do you believe in a higher power? If so, in what ways do you connect with Them? If no, do you feel the charge of energy you get when someone gives you a hug?

Good morning and welcome, My name’s Mae and today, we are sliding into week six of our eight week yoga program. Our theme this week is binds and how we use them in yoga to connect to a deeper stretch and a stronger grip on reality.

As the sun rises over the sleepy hills of Kerrville, its warmth charges the air with divine energy. The beams radiating from the center of our solar system travel almost 92 million miles to give us life and keep us from freezing.

There is no deviation from the path we take around the sun. We are suspended in space, linked to a giant star that keeps us from spinning out into the abyss. Sunshine is the perfect example of how one majestic body can be bound to another in order to transcend any obstacles that darkness may hide and contain the joy we are meant to experience in this life.

Every time you hold something or someone, you are sharing your energy with them. Yoga means union with the Divine and we believe that when we bring the hands together at the heart center, we are connecting to the One who makes us glow.

While we hold a bind, some movement is restricted so that we can get laser focused on what is happening energetically within the body. By holding our own limbs, we loop our energy from the mind back to the heart. This balance of force and grace teaches us that when we focus on the little details of our body, we are also focusing on the bigger picture instead of getting caught up in the distractions happening around us.

What distractions do you find yourself bound to? What pulls you in this direction or that?

Just as we are bound to the sun so too is the moon bound to us. While the Moon directs the tides of Earth, it is not the one holding the balance. Earth’s gravitational pull keeps the Moon in orbit.

We are just like Earth. We have a body that needs heat. We ride the waves of emotion created by the different phases of our mind. By practicing yoga, we unite the moon, stars, and planets together with the chaos that created them. The Spirit is who we are bound to. Whoever created hugs, that’s Who.

We are hugging each other, bound in love, when we hug ourselves. So let’s practice giving ourselves a hug.

GIVE YOURSELF A HUG

Deep breath in, open the arms out wide.

GIVE YOURSELF ANOTHER HUG

And change whichever arm is on top, give love to both sides of your body.

Yay! We just did our first bind! Do you feel the connection to yourself? That’s the power of a yoga bind.

What qualifies a yoga pose to be a bind?

To understand binds you have to understand the different stretches you can achieve.

Ballistic stretch: We do not perform ballistic stretches in yoga because they can lead to injury. Ballistic stretching takes you out of your normal range of motion. Think of stretching a rubber band beyond its elasticity so that you briefly get a bigger band. If held for too long, the rubber band will snap! We want to avoid this. Nobody is going to press your shoulders down while you’re trying to get into splits.

Dynamic stretch: In a dynamic stretch, you are gently, but forcefully, swinging your limbs around. In Breath of Brahman, we practice dynamic stretching by using the momentum of gravity to work with us and against us to create a change in how our body responds to the movement. These kinds of movements can be practiced up to 10 times or until you get tired.

Active stretch: An active stretch is a mentally guided movement where you can tell your leg to kick back or your arm to reach overhead and it does to its intelligent range of motion. This is predominantly how we stretch in yoga.

Before we practice the bind, we will explore the active variation of the pose to ensure that our body can go there safely.

Passive stretch: A passive stretch is where you use your own force or some other force to assist you in the stretch so that you can relax. When we bring the legs up the wall, we are practicing a passive stretch.

Static stretch: For a static stretch, you’ll need the help of a teacher or machine to take your joints through their full range of motion while you lie down, completely relaxed.

Isometric Stretch: Finally, we come to the isometric stretch which involves using your own limbs or another object to help you achieve the stretch. Unlike passive stretching, isometric stretching requires you to stay active in your movement instead of relaxing into it. There is always a small amount of resistance involved in an isometric stretch.

One more thing! There is a new kind of stretch in town called the PNF stretch.

PNF stands for proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation. This involves doing an isometric stretch followed by some rest and then repeating the movement and was originally developed as a way to help stroke victims find ease in their bodies again.

If you’ve ever taken a class with me, you’ve probably heard me say that proprioception is my favorite word! It means your body’s awareness of its relationship with space. That’s exactly what we’re talking about today, yall!!! It’s so important! Not only physically but mentally as well.

How does our body relate to itself in space? How are we connecting to ourselves and each other? What things are we doing to ensure we feel at ease in our bodies?

I’m so glad you’re joining me for YOGA!

Smile at your body

May you be at peace

May your heart be always open

May you awaken to the light of your true nature

May you be healed

May you be a source of healing for others.

Namaste

<3 Mae