Rivers

Extend the energy of the asana out through your extremities. Let the river flow through you.” B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life.

Rivers have been part of my being lately, partly because of re-reading a short story ‘A River Runs Through It”, (Norman Maclean). “It was a beautiful stretch of water, .. each … would have focussed .. on a different point. It was a barely submerged waterfall. The reef of rock was about two feet under the water, so the whole river rose into one wave, shook itself into spray, then fell back on itself and turned blue. After it recovered from the shock, it came back to see how it had fallen”.

The Yukon River

I was fortunate to spend time in the Yukon this past weekend, where the green Yukon River looked upon my gaze kindly and stirringly. While in the airport at Whitehorse, waiting for my flight to return back home, three conversations around me are about rivers; how riverbanks change from year to year, the feeling of currents under one’s feet inside a kayak, the surprising wild beauty around a familiar corner, as fresh as if one has never seen it before.

Could our practice be “..a beautiful stretch”.., where we experience different points of view and where we observe activities that are “barely submerged”? When observing our breath, do the banks of the breath river change shape during practice? Is there a high point in the breath cycle, where the wave peaks? Does the breath have colour? Does the colour change? Do we feel currents under the souls of our feet when we practice? Do we look back and see what happened during pranayama practice?

The bottomless nerves

When asked about whether yoga was an antidote to stress, B.K.S Iyengar responded affirmingly “Including Śavāsana, but only a person who knows how to stretch fully knows the art of full relaxation. A casual stretch only brings casual relaxation. So, to enjoy Śavāsana, I say try to get the full extension of the system so that in Śavāsana it is extended like a river where the flow of water is uninterrupted by any obstacles. Keep your system in such a way that the energy in Śavāsana flows uninterruptedly and supplies energy. With stress we create a bottom on the ends of the nerves. Yogic practice makes the nerves remain bottomless so that you can take any load. (Laughter).

Timeless raindrops

Today’s message ends with a quote from A River Runs Through It. I want to be haunted by what is beyond and underneath. You might not, but pranayama practice will likely lead all of us somewhere.

“Eventually all things merge into one and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters” (A River Runs Through It).

^{Louie is a Canadian Iyengar Yoga teacher based in North Saanich on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. She owned and operated The Yoga Space in Vancouver for 20 years, helping establish it as a leading hub for Iyengar Yoga in the city before moving to the island. With 45 years of experience as a practitioner and 37 years of teaching and mentoring, Louie considers herself a beginner in yoga, embracing the practice as a lifelong journey of learning and discovery.}

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