RELAXATION AND MEDITATION WITH THE SPACE ELEMENT
The space element has no physical representation in our world, it is the most subtle of the 5 elements. It represents connection, presence, awareness. It is the blue behind the clouds, it is the silence between the sounds and dominates at the level of the head. In yoga we solicit this element by activating our concentration and our presence in the present moment through breathing and meditation. We learn to inhabit our body through the breath and to feel the full and the empty in the body and the mind.
In this session, we will relax the neck and head to better place the body in space and focus our attention to minimize fluctuations in the mind.
The priority of yoga is mind control. Patanjalî affirms: "Yoga is the cessation of mental activities". Control of thought is equated with stillness, stillness of the body, of breathing and of thoughts.
Posture is the stillness and firmness of the body, the stillness of the breath, the stillness of the mind.
The technique of this sequence to obtain stillness of the mind is to seek to place the head correctly in space as this requires exclusive attention by occupying the mind over a period of time.
To become aware of the immobility of the mind, it is necessary to alternate movement and immobility of the body thanks to the postures. Suddenly being in a posture and breathing in it allows the breath to rest and “When the breath is stirred, the mind is stirred. When the breath is still, the mind is still. The yogi attains fixity. that is why one must stop the breath ”(hatha-Yoga Pradipika, II, 2)
Certain postures such as inversions help stabilize concentration, mental discipline, energy and attention. Once all this is balanced, the concentration is an integral part of the being and the fluctuations of the mind disappear over a more or less long period according to the habits of practices.
The ether element has no physical representation in our world, it is the most subtle of the 5 elements. It represents connection, presence, awareness. It is the blue behind the clouds, it is the silence between the sounds and dominates at the level of the head. In yoga we solicit this element by activating our concentration and our presence in the present moment through breathing and meditation. We learn to inhabit our body through the breath and to feel the full and the empty in the body and the mind. In this session, we will relax the neck and the head to better place the body in space and focus our attention on our breathing and the fluctuations of the mind.
VIRASANA on brick
- chants of OM
➞ SIDE NECK STRETCHING (R / L)
- catch elbows in front of bust, roll shoulders back and down
- turn head to one side without moving shoulders
- once the head can no longer turn, move the head back slightly from the chin and add a hint of twist in the neck
➞ JALANDHARA BANDHA
- place the fingertips of the 4 large fingers around each ear, the thumbs on the low point of the jaw
- roll the head forward from the ears with the fingers, the 4 fingers go down as the thumbs go up to the sky
- the bottom of the throat is contracted without straining but not compressed, stay 7 breaths
➞ NECK STRETCH (R / L)
- turn your head to one side and look towards the ground
- place the hand on the skull as if you were combing the hair backwards by sliding the fingers from the base of the forehead towards the back of the skull
- push the skull into the hand and squeeze the hand forward, find a challenge of the skull against the hand, hand against the skull to stretch the middle of the neck
- raise the opposite arm to the sky, place the hand flat on the upper back, roll the biceps back to stretch the middle and bottom of the neck, stay 5 breaths
PLANK to gently stretch the backs of the knees one after the other
Preparing to go to Adho Mukha Virasana
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