Circles & Spirals: The Center of a Yoga
/Qigong Practice
by Elizabeth
Reninger
zone3
This morning, walking up the hill near my house, to see the mountains,
what I noticed was how the sky was filled with the kind of clouds that (I
believe!) are particular to this sort of geography: places where large
& extensive mountain ranges fall off into plains. They’re the kind of
clouds (I don’t know their official name) that are perfectly smooth flat
spheres, that look like soft-white flying saucers … Because of the
specific atmospheric conditions of the morning, then, dozens of these
inflated communion-wafers were flowing over the lip of the mountains. And
the sight of this ~ along with simply delighting me! ~ brought to mind
this whole topic of the role of circles and spirals in yoga/qigong
practice …
Every yoga/qigong practitioner at some point discovers that circular or
spiraling movements (of body and mind) tend to augment and circulate (in a
useful way) their energy (life-force, qi, prana), while more
linear or perpendicular movements tend to result in a decrease, stagnation
or leakage of energy. This principal is put into action in a very explicit
way in the practice of Aikido. Here, the energy of an opponent’s “attack,”
instead of being directly resisted (a perpendicular action), is received
into a circling/spiraling movement (the “orbit” of the practitioner) which
simply re-directs that force into a counter-attack, i.e. the energy of
one’s opponent’s attack is used “against” them. (At higher levels of the
practice, the entire thing is seen to be a kind of “dance,” in which the
notions of “for” and “against,” as well as “self” and “other,” become
quite transparent and, ultimately, disappear.)
So why is this the case? Why do circular/spiraling movements nourish
us, while more linear actions deplete our energy? If Lao Tzu (a Taoist
sage, purported author of the Tao Te Ching) were here, he might
simply point our awareness to the fact that our bodies (the vehicles of
our yoga/qigong practice) are composed of the same elements as the rest of
the phenomenal world ~ yes? And then point our vision to: the movement of
planets around their sun; the movement of electrons around their nucleus;
the rotation of the earth around its core; the shape of the earth itself
(if you walk to the horizon, are you going to fall off the edge?). All
this in an effort to help us to re-member: we’re standing on a sphere,
which is circling its core, as it orbits (circle/spiral combination) our
sun, as the solar system itself spirals within the Milky Way galaxy … and
on and on! And, finally, the ancient infant (Lao Tzu’s nickname) might say
to us: there is a universe (perhaps the only one) similar to this within
your human body!
As we allow our movements to be circular and spiraling we’re bringing
ourselves into alignment with these truths, and opening a gateway to
experiencing them directly, at the level of our human body. We’re taking
steps in the direction of “finding” that universe within us, of actually
embodying the Truth of Who-We-Are …
And to end (this, which is simply the beginning of whatever you do next
…) here’s a poem by the great mystic-poet Hafiz, which explores a similar
theme:
Circles
The moon is most happy When it is full.
And the sun always looks Like a perfectly minted gold coin
That was just Polished And place in flight By God’s playful Kiss.
And so many varieties of fruit Hang plump and round
From branches that seem like a Sculptor’s hands.
I see the beautiful curve of a pregnant belly Shaped by a soul
within,
And the Earth itself, And the planets and the Spheres –
I have gotten the hint:
There is something about circles The Beloved likes.
Hafiz, Within the Circle of a Perfect One
There is an Infinite Community Of Light.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth Reninger holds a Masters degree in Chinese Medicine, is a
published poet, and has been exploring Yoga - in its Taoist, Buddhist
& Hindu varieties ~ for more than twenty years. Her teachers include
Richard Freeman and Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. To read more of her
yoga-related essays, please visit her website.
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