expressing ourselves through bold action
This week we embark upon a part of this practice that calls for action. In order for the pursuit of freedom and lively energy to be sustained and fulfilled, we must do. In honor of that very freedom we practiced last week, we explore our abilities to be bold in the ways in which we move so that we can fully experience our freedom and ourselves.
there is a quiet but deep revolution that takes place every time we take a step [toward something] for the sake of what is in our hearts. it’s a bold move. a spiritual power move that ripples beyond the action itself. to do for you in honor of you. brave.
in the tiniest decision to the biggest life choice exists the potential for our soul to be lifted. choosing is our heavy gift. the gift often taken for granted and often abused, pulling and draining the energy away from the source of power- ourselves.
take it back. give it back.
one choice leads to the next.
there’s nothing stopping our revolution. nothing. so move. do. for you.
If choosing is the heavy gift, the action is the transformative energy that spreads throughout our organism physically and viscerally and circles the gift straight back to our soul.
the dare in this practice is to be honest. through our truth can we dare to be who we are. we are looking to present within each moment a version of ourselves that is, in as much a way as possible through time and practice, unabashedly true to ourselves. we are given a finite amount of time to be whoever and whatever we are and to grow into that person and hopefully allow that person to flourish within our bodies. Nature is bold. Which simply means that we have the capacity to be bold as well. And through this natural and, in our case, consciously nurtured bravery to choose and move with high regard for who we are first, we begin to encourage a blooming and blossoming of self, akin to the flowers and our other living friends in Nature.
The actions we make have the power to either be true to our hearts or not. Being bold is not a quality of being dramatic, though it definitely can be. Being bold, at least in my opinion, means doing consciously. The actions we make become expressions of who we are. Actions made without awareness or without intention are no less actions, but lack our full presence. Actions that shun our energy or are taken without high regard for ourselves quiet the spirit and builds a fortress around it so that it-we- express glimpses of our truth. It takes a level of bravery to be so honoring of oneself. A bravery that is commended but often not given the highest amount of encouragement. The main stream of thought, action, behavior become diversions to the true well of unique energy that each of us encapsulate.
Speaking to the physical body, main stream of behavior translates to our most experienced ways and most utilized parts. An action taken consciously with the intention of creating new streams allowing for a more full and honoring expression of ourselves becomes that deep revolution all throughout. We not only know within. We not only decide. We not only speak our motives. We follow through with an action that is performed and begins to highlight or embolden more than had been expressed before. We blossom. We unfold. We expose ourselves a little bit more and bare our hearts through posture and life circumstance. And perhaps we stand out a little bit. Perhaps we bare our hearts and it feels a bit like we’re somewhat naked. Our uniqueness, the things that make us who we are and maybe different from others- even if not written, spoken, detailed, or shown-feel exposed as we move with conscious, intentional motivation. Bold action is action performed directly to put ourselves in there and put ourselves out there. But as we do that we take the things that we both unconsciously and consciously hide about ourselves out of fear of what the outer world will do with our truth, and we wear it and own it bravely. No other version of us exists. And part of this particular concept is about embracing that.
On The Mat:
This week’s asana focus is centered around binds and focusing our physical practice on how to create and maintain our presence despite having our hands and arms wound and tied around us, sometimes forcibly or unconsciously getting tucked away when we do them.
Our poses become a platform to study ourselves, how we express or alternately how we hide. We learn to choose ourselves repeatedly while performing action after action to embolden our posture and showcase what we are and what we hope to be through them. The parts that make us feel naked because they are believed to be unfit or untailored for the occasion become intricate detail that makes the expression itself all the more brave and the learning all the more deep. Upon continuing to move for ourselves & learning how to access strengths that are innate to increase the bold bravery within, there forms an understanding that could not elsewhere be found leading to postures that we genuinely feel connected to. And in this practice, that genuine connection is what begins to separate our doing for the sake of doing with our doing with the intention of understanding and expressing who we are.