5 Acts of Shiva

So, in Kashmir Shaivism they talk about The 5 Acts of Shiva. Or the 5 Functions of Grace (not to be confused with the 6 attributes of The Absolute that John Friend outlines in the Anusara Yoga philosophy) When we talk about Aligning with Grace we actually then have to enter into a consideration of what Grace actually is, how does it function and then how might we align with it. Well, these traditions suggest that there are 5 acts of Shiva and when we behave as the Divine behaves then we are in a process of aligning with Grace. This is so exciting to me because this is really at the source of heart-based themes and our incredible method that perfectly embodies this philosophy. (The Absolute pulsates in an ongoing movement of expansion. Our method is built on a series of expansions and contractions in an over-all movement toward expansion. Like that.)

Today we worked with the 1st act of Shiva as our theme: Creation. Out of the state of Ultimate Fullnes and unbounded freedom, Shiva creates. So to align with Grace in asana we can actually create asana as an expression of our fullness, as an expression of our Highest longings and aspirations. Each asana is a creative act, brought alive through expansion and contraction and through skillfully made choices. We worked on seated twists and forward bends at 4:30 and back bends at 6:00. I realized in the 4:30 class that we need to spend a lot of time on deep hip openers. By the end of the summer we need better success with yogi dandasana. (Grueling pose, huh?) Anyway, be ready for that. I liked the sequence I taught a lot so expect to see that again soon. I did it in my practice today and it continues on nicely into Maricyasana 4, which went very very well for me today. (Binding, both sides, no blanket. )

Also funny was to begin to break my habit of saying that everyone is doing "good" so much. I was talking with Kelly about how I had to really concentrate to not fall into my habit. He said, "Well, personally, I missed all the encouragement!" (Oh well. Christina's classes decimated by taking her teacher's advice! Funny.)

Kelly, Anne, Jeff, Tabatha, Bridgitte, Svetha, Meg, and Jesse all double-dipped.

All right then, time for bed. Off to Corpus Christi this weekend.