Steady Orbit
My first lesson in body-mind centering happened at the Merry-go-Round. I was only six when I mounted one of the horses while the carousel was still in motion. I gripped the horse’s neck tightly as there was no strap to really hold on to. The acceleration hiked up, and I got very dizzy. In an effort to adjust my grip better, I lifted my hands and flew right into the center of the structure. There was a tiny circle suspended above the ground to which the rest of the circular piece was attached. Luckily, I was holding onto the central pillar. I could see the carousel spinning around me, but I noticed that I was no longer dizzy. When the spinning disk finally stopped, I jumped in my father’s arms. Of course, he warned me to never ever do this again. But what was really fascinating to me was why I never got as dizzy at the center as I did, while riding.
Once we got home he demonstrated the centripetal force I had just experienced by placing a ruler stick on the rim of an old-fashioned record player. As he played the record we could see the ruler shrinking, and then when he placed it in the center – it remained the same. So the outer circumference moved faster than the center which was almost stationary. Similarly, the surface of the merry-go-round was no longer flat, but curved. In a way I experienced both the centripetal and centrifugal forces as I rode and stayed centered.
At junior high, I remember my physics teacher explaining how the two opposite forces of a magnet are found united only at its very heart. Years later, while attending a whirling Derwish workshop I noticed that in order to master the technique of prolonged spinning around your axis, you had to make sure the axial leg was anchored firmly to allow perpetual pivoting and swirling. If you manage to pin yourself into the Earth you open the arms naturally as an extension of the torso, and you no longer need to spot like a ballerina in order to turn in space. Your gaze moves inwards and the rooted leg provides the steady axis for your orbit.
I applied this same principle later in my yoga practice, to discover that the alignment in every asana asked for an oppositional pull. There was a constant negotiation of polarities that taught me to feel the interplay of opposites in an effort to strike a state of radical balance. As I learned to transition skillfully from one pose to the other, I noticed that although both the negative and positive poles were present in the center, they remained unexpressed or virtual. The center knows that it can both repel and attract, but it is not disturbed or concerned whether it does or not. It always stays the same. It knows its own power and is not overshadowed, or defined by, what it attracts or repels.
By remaining centered in ourselves, we can clearly see the importance of all aspects of our personality, our relationships, and our actions. This is where judgment, or the need to define oneself ends. When both the extremes of duality make perfect sense to us, there is no more preference of one over another. Being anchored into the center of opposites puts us into a state of fearlessness, which dissolves the basis for all judgment. Each aspect of duality is essential to develop and maintain the other. Opposites will always remain opposites and there is no use in trying to avoid or favor one or the other. Problems of every kind are caused by the play of opposites, of one thing seeming to be better or stronger than the other. It is for this reason that a problem can never be solved on its own level. You need to get to the core issue that caused it, move into the essence, and realize that staying in the center is the best possible solution. Likewise, a good physician does not attend to the symptoms of a disease but to its root cause. As we practice yoga we become skillful jugglers of paradox. We face the inevitable dilemmas and contradictions in our experience and learn to allow other points of view to balance our perspective and initiate fresh approaches. It is through our struggles to reconcile these polarities that we develop a healthy psyche and a coherency for authentic expression. Mirroring the brain’s emphasis on hemispheric synergy, we allow reciprocating dialogues, inner and outer, to expand our awareness. We learn integration through expressing attributes of both sides. We learn that there is a common ground to all problems and that is to stay centered. By attending to this center, which is our permanent source of duality we learn to accept all of our human characteristics, including our shadow parts, without judgment. All self-denial peels away and judgment has fulfilled its purpose, which is to make us see the world in the light of oneness, love and unity. And seeing it this way will create it this way – from the heart, from the center.
When you next see an image of a whirling Derwish, recall the physics the “merry-go-round” designed to take you into orbit around your center, as you see your potential expanding from your center into the world.
Yogea Centering Routine: Steady Orbit
This Yogea sequence brings you back into alignment with you essence as it integrates a variety of poses that provide a steady anchor and inspire you to radiate from the center outwards. Grounding breathing techniques are practiced while standing and twisting to facilitate a smooth flow from head to tail and create a sense of graceful weight-shift. Kneeling and semi-inverted poses emphasize the quality of grounding through every surface of the body. Core strengtheners and standing hip-openers alternate with neutrally rotated poses to provide a steady base for rootedness and expansion into more complex binds and twists. Seated and reclining poses pair with deeper gluteus stretches and releasing forwards bends to ensure physical centeredness and emotional stability. Inward movement is encouraged as you cool down through a series of introspective and calming poses. A final relaxation takes you back to the seat of your soul.
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