You might think that this has been the only life your body has lived….But just like that recycled soda can, we have had many lives; that is how our body remembers things. When my daughter was very little, I found it so cute that she packed a purse where ever we went. I mentioned this to someone else, and they thought it was because I carried a purse; aka, like mother like daughter, but at that time in my life, I did not carry a purse. I believed she remembered from another life, that is what you do.
It’s best described like this. Your body remembers everything, EVERYTHING that has happened to it. Hurtful discussions, old injuries, death of oneself, and unending sorrow of losing others. Let’s say each and every act is recorded on a piece of paper in a big room. Some things are not that hard to get “over”, like classmates calling you names. Other things, big items, like losing friends, your death, family members are recorded on big scrolls, because they are big “events” that are body will remember. Lately, I’ve noticed that my husband only likes to use one hand. He favors that when lifting, or really doing anything. Why is that? The other hand is perfect, in fact a very useful tool. It’s not hard to imagine, that in a past life, the unused hand/arm might have been injured, or hurt. His body is remembering that, and favoring his other hand.
So when we come to yoga, we are really working on that mind and body. Those recordings of events are logged into our fascia ( or connective tissue) and muscles, bones, ligaments, organs and glands. That is why sometimes with yoga practice, we cry, we laugh, we let go of those emotions that have built up. With the physical practice of yoga, it is very balanced; what we do on the right, we do on the left. We start a new recording, and in my husbands mind, after a yoga practice of working your right arm, we do the left arm, and the brain or tissues can release that previous arm injury and realize that I can use both arms, and can forget about that “old injury”.
This is how yoga heals us. Our families pass down different beliefs and emotions, and their bad shoulders, become our bad shoulders, but it is a proven scientific fact that is not always the case. We are choosing to believe what they did; remember those pieces of paper in that room? Well, each and every practice we are able to remove a piece or two of paper, and begin to rewrite our body’s past, and change the chemistry of the body down to a molecular level. Other modalities, such as meditation, right balanced movement, awareness therapy among other do some of the same things. As our body lets go of the past, we become lighter, happier. especially when we first start yoga practice. However, ask any long time yoga practitioner, and sometimes it takes awhile to rid the body of knee, hip, shoulder or any kind of pain, so persistence, joy, and being kind to oneself, along with a good teacher to guide you is essential to yoga.
So, smile when practicing yoga. Enjoy each and every time of letting go, releasing, and becoming a better, healthier you, down to a molecular level.
Cheers to rewriting the past, Cheers to a new body!!
See you on the mat,
Paula
