Your Energy - Your Responsibility

One of my favorite books is My Stroke Of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard trained neuroanatomist that chronicled the massive hemorrhage that struck the left side of her brain one morning before work.  Although her book is worth your time to read, if you only have 18 minutes watch her powerful TED talk where she describes this stroke and how it gave her a level of insight that we all want but rarely achieve in this life.

If you're a student of yoga, this book should be required reading because it categorically and empirically provides the proof of what yogis have know for thousands of years.

We are energy.
We are interconnected.
We are part of the collective. 


Our yoga mat is simply the place where we attempt to rediscover this truth.  Through the yoking together of our mind, body and spirit via solely focusing on the breath, we become one and as such, realize the enormity of all that we are.  At least that's the plan until we allow our negative inner critic and other aspects of our "monkey minds" to get in the way. The beauty of Dr. Jill's book is that she explains in anatomical and physiological detail, how and why our brain either enhances or distracts from our innate ability to connect.  Or more specifically how through the quieting of our left brain we can unleash the interconnectedness we can only experience via our right brain.


In other words that quip about going to a yoga class to "be one with the universe"?  Turns out that isn't a sarcastic, offhanded remark after all - It's an actual option available to you not only on your mat, but throughout your day.  All you have to do is switch out from the "doing consciousness" of your left brain and focus on the "being consciousness" of your right brain.
Specifically she describes the right brain as, 

Our right hemisphere is all about this present moment. It's all about right here right now. Our right hemisphere, it thinks in pictures and it learns kinesthetically through the movement of our bodies. Information in the form of energy streams in simultaneously through all of our sensory systems. And then it explodes into this enormous collage of what this present moment looks like. What this present moment smells like and tastes like, what it feels like and what it sounds like. I am an energy being connected to the energy all around me through the consciousness of my right hemisphere. We are energy beings connected to one another through the consciousness of our right hemispheres as one human family. And right here, right now, all we are brothers and sisters on this planet, here to make the world a better place. And in this moment we are perfect. We are whole. And we are beautiful.

Of course it's not that simple to tap into this your right brain because your left brain is at this very moment hard at work reading the words on this page, decoding their meaning, and assigning value to the concepts I'm writing by comparing my opinions to the opinions that you value and hold true to yourself. You're also touching a mouse and taking in tactile information through your hand and fingers, processing background noise and adjusting to the bright and contrasting colors of your computer screen while processing this information.  You're also judging the validity of this information as well as my writing style.  If this information is brand new to you, you're deciding what you think about it. Whereas if it's familiar then you're retrieving information you've previously stored in your brain on this very topic.  Maybe you remember seeing Dr. Jill on Oprah, so a visual image of her has popped into your head.  Maybe you remember the above TED talk and a video clip has been retrieved from your memory.  Maybe your negative inner critic is reminding you that "You've heard this all before, you big idiot. Why the hell haven't you used this information to your advantage when you heard it the first time?"  


It's a wonder that your energy sensing, all encompassing, intuitive, creative, non-verbal interpreting, only wanting to focus on the present moment, non-judgemental, allow-me-to-swim-in-this-vibrating-sea-of-conscious, connected-creativity, right brain even stands a chance against such a linear, logical left-brain powerhouse. Unless of course you attend a yoga class with the intention of giving your right brain, more free reign to explore and expand your consciousness.  Simply focus on the breath and without judgement, use your practice to slowly train yourself over time to silence the chatter and enter the flow being offered to you.

That being said, your left brain is a hard worker and not going to be voluntarily silenced.  It's a wonder anyone can take even one step towards Nirvana let alone reach bliss completely when you consider how much there is to process in a yoga class like:  

• Music; 
• The teacher's instructions and alignment cues; 
• Strange Sanksrit words; 
• The look and feel of your mat; 
• The sensation of your clothing against your body; 
• The smell of your neighbor's body odor; 
• The cool taste of water as it spills over your tongue and into your throat while you swallow.  

Beside teaching that the right brain is all about energy, Dr. Jill teaches that we are also responsible for the energy we carry with us on a daily basis.  We must be accountable for the energy we bring into our homes, places of employment, family dynamics and even yoga classes.  In her book she talks about how immediately following her stroke, when the left, logical, linear  side of her brain was at it's most damaged and vulnerable, she only had the power and insight of the right side of her brain to process her environment.  In lieu of encoding and decoding the expressive language, non-verbal cues, tones of voice, and choice of words around her - she could only assess and decode the energy of those that were visiting her hospital room and it told her a lot.  Since she could only communicate with the world on an energetic level, she was strongly affected both positively and negatively on the innate energetic levels exhibited by those that came into contact with her.  


I mention this because when you're on your mat, sometimes in very close proximity of other yogis, it's imperative that your energy by positive and add to the collective rather than taking from or tarnishing it in some way.  Leave your negative thoughts at the door of the studio and be mindful of the vibe you bring with you not only to class but everywhere you go.  


This is an important and often overlooked concept that I was reminded of this week while watching The Oprah Winfrey Show finale.  Twenty-five years of ideas, concepts, thoughts, and AHA moments were at her fingertips for the final broadcast and Oprah chose to feature Dr. Jill teachings as one of her greatest lessons learned over the past quarter century.  Specifically she said, 

"Dr. Taylor sent me a sign that I have hanging in my makeup room. It says,'Please take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space.' And I ask the same thing in my home and at my companies. Thank you, Dr. Taylor, for that simple but powerful lesson.  

If it's a big enough concept to make Oprah's last show - it's a big enough concept to play around with on your yoga mat the next time you hit a class at Sol.  
Namaste,
Linda