from sadhakafilm.net
“SLOW COOKIN’” popularly references a more eased step out of
a frenetic approach to living. And
one result of slowing down the process can be a rich, complex and subtle flavor
to the simplest of foods.
The same might be said for body-mind practice. In yoga, slowing down and holding
poses—‘cookin’ and ‘stewin’—offers rich health benefits such as the
optimization of the parasympathetic nervous system and more rapid gains in flexibility,
as validated by research on the effect of holding body position on spindle and
Golgi release in muscle and connective tissue.
For B.K.S. Iyengar, holding poses was a crucial dimension of
yoga that distinguished his approach.
And yet a variety of types of yoga (as well as other forms of exercise)
claim similar or better improvements in flexibility and strength and bringing
the body into alignment.
But Iyengar’s major quest is likely more of a spiritual
aspiration. And stilling and
holding poses—asanas—offers a gateway to the transpersonal. Rather than simply personal benefits
such as respite, physical health, release, centering, and/or the opportunity
for personal insight, holding poses can be an act of surrender—a way or
practice that comes into harmony with and that expresses a greater process. And in the stillness, in the
return to silence, there is an opportunity to experience a larger space and to
shift from a specific consciousness to a more cosmic consciousness.
… a rich, complex and subtle flavor…
Paraphrasing very closely to Iyengar’s words:
Asanas are my prayers. I give my gesture of affection through
my
presentation. I want that each and every cell should
ring the bell
of the divinity.
[Iyengar in
Lindsey Clennell, Sadhaka: The Yoga Of B.K.S.
Iyengar, film documentary currently in post-production. See
sadhakafilm.net or http://vimeo.com/62818591 to see video
clip as well as help fund completion.]
