Atama Yoga & the Republic of Nauru

Once in a workshop, I remember Marj remarking to a student:

"You move your head first because that's where your brain is."

I'd never heard her mention it like that before, and I never did again. But it struck me how accurate she was - it was the first time I'd connected Alexander's discovery with…

Sensory Central Station:

Seeing is there.

Listening is there

Speaking is there.

Tasting is there.

Smelling is there.

Attitude is there.

Love and fear are there.

SO MUCH.

And now there's this group of eager radicals declaring:

Moving is there too!

Well, why not?

It makes sense, doesn't it?

Isn't what you have seen, heard, smelt, tasted or whatever a significant factor calibrating decisions on your next move?

Heads are leaders; bodies are followers. How well do people know this?

I was with a bunch of Yoginis this afternoon, so I asked them:

"How often do you mention the movements of the head when you are teaching an Asana?"

They looked at me as if I had just asked them to locate the Republic of Nauru.

[The Japanese word for head is atama]

Atama? Pardon?

So I asked differently.

"How much do you ask your students to consider the relative position of the head and spine within the movements of the asana you are teaching them?"

Now it was like I was asking them to name the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan?

So I went simple:

"Do you talk much about the head in your classes?"

No, we don't - they quickly responded.

Heads are missing from Yoga.

Which is why I call my Alexscovery brand of Yoga - Atama Yoga.

In fact, heads are missing everywhere. And even more than the head, something else hides like the air around it. The things that don't exist, remember?

That's the joke of the universe; and once you realize it, you can never be the same again.

ThinkingBody Module Two

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