Divine Recognition; Gods and Goddesses Unite

yogic man or yogic god?

 "Hey man,.. YO, you are such a divine god! I was talking tonight about the use of the word 'goddess' in our yogic world and how women will sometimes refer to themselves and each other as 'goddesses'.  It's always been nice to hear this. To see a woman displaying her natural, feminine essence, radiating love and sensuality in subtle and intricate ways for the world to be witness too in mysterious moments. On the other hand my curiosity speaks; What's up with that?

 It got me thinking. Why haven't I referred to my buddy Drew who practices yoga as a god? How come men aren't recognizing each other in their divinity and saying, "wow, what a god." What started out as as just a joke is now turning into an inquiry.

Sexism, gender stereotyping, post-feminist revolution and divine recognition comes to mind. Is it some kind of feminist revolutionary language women will say to empower themselves with?  Or, is it just divine recognition of each others' truest qualities coming forth through language and being that women are comfortable with in showing and recognizing in each other?  What is the dark, shadow side of this? Is there one? Is it a way of demonstrating a gender power shift? What if a man referred to another man as a god? Would that be too sexist or macho for women? Or would it be too radical for how men are supposed to act towards each other in our aging Piscean world. Hmmm...This is getting interesting.

In any case, I still find the whole sociological breakdown funny. We've all gone through this life together, from the beginning-man and woman have walked the earth side-by-side, have we forgotten this? I wonder if sometimes we have and think that maybe we really are from different planets. Even Venus and Mars in Roman mythology speaks to our differences, it's not just a book.

Mars being the god of war who was married to Bellona but had a lover in Venus. War is synonymous with destruction and in todays current, brutality, selfishness, greed, capitalism and in mythological terminology-deceit and even adultery, the savages! It's easy to blend the connotation of man/god/Mars together and drop it in a not-so-friendly box of stereotypes. Venus on the other hand represents love, beauty and fertility. Today women celebrate and are celebrated for their ability to procreate and shine out in the world, at least in the West. But it's funny how we as men don't refer to each other as gods. Could it be b/c we are still enacting a 'boy psychology' as authors Moore and Gillette coin in their book, 'King, Warrior, Magician, Lover?'  In this case why would we want to be referred to each other as god's when we are clearly acting like mortal boys.  So, yeah, whew.  Us men being called god's.  And I'm not even pushing for it to happen.  But to hear it out there in the world, well that would just be weird, wouldn't it?  'Yo man.. Drew, he is such a god, so powerful and handsome!' Never happens. Maybe cool or smart or something?

But who am I to be the world's authority on divine recognition? Maybe men do call each other god's? Maybe in remote places around the world like some Polynesian islands or California men are cultivating a new way of referring to themselves and each other in the transformed dialect of 'God'? I mean why not? Women are goddesses, right? Wouldn't that by default equate a man to be a god? Actually, now that I am writing this I remember my friend Patrick, who lives in Burlington, VT. Patrick has a section of his house where prayer, yoga and meditation take place. That room is called the 'GGIT.' An acronym for 'God's and Goddesses In Training.'

Ahhh, I see now. As long as it's an all-inclusive affair for Zeus's and Hera's we're kosher. It's been an imbalance of power all along! The goddesses need the gods, and the god's need the goddesses! It's a call to action for men all over to become more godly and step into their natural essence themselves! Right? Women have been referring to themselves as goddesses b/c they secretly want their male counterparts to step up and do the same so they can too be recognized by men as such and so that men can become the idyllic personification the women are so longing for,... yeah?

Is this what divine godliness looks like?

Men have for years played out the terms; cool, hip, trendy, manly, smart and handy with each other. 2012 is upon us! We are reading David Deida! We are becoming (or supposed to becoming) more collectively conscious! So, isn't it time as we further dredge into the age of Aquarius we- as mature and masculine leaders, fathers and husbands, maybe even boyfriends and single guys refer to each other as gods? Or would that just be pushing the envelope a little too much?



B~

I-anger (Iyengar)

That's another term for Iyengar, an alignment based yoga method taught by the renowned, late, Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois. I went to Yogaworks last night for a class and while it was amazing to be there with all the state of the art, posh-bling features that the studio possesses. I couldn't quite move past my own judgement.

Ok, ok, whoah.. hold the phones here. But Brandon, YOU are a yoga teacher and why the heck were you judging in the first place (Oy, this may take a while). First, I'm still practicing, learning, practicing, learning. Second, I'm a human being and let's face it, we ALL judge, everyone, even YOU, the person reading this right now. But so what if we judge. What comes first and foremost as my own practice is discernment. I judge, then discern, then the judging wanes and opens to being compassionate. That's been my own path. I can see that I am judging and when I do this what gets cut off is love, self expression (my own), affinity, laughter, lightness, being, breath, all of it. But it's natural to judge so naturally we must notice this and move into a space of looking at where the judgement is coming from, what we are getting from it and what it's costing us.

Back to last night's Iyengar class. Where was the connection of posture with breathing? It didn't show up. "Open your chest by lifting your ribcage, tuck your tailbone in, suck in your stomach." I was dying to teach that breath will naturally move everything into alignment, how could he be missing this and more-so teaching this! 'Move my body into a dome?'-What the heck does that mean? 'Make my leg a square?'-Huh? Then when the teacher taught us to outstretch our arms from the socket by pulling our shoulder blades in, I have to say I killed him off, right then and there in that moment. But why?

I noticed myself being a statue of grey toned stoicism hiding all the thoughts, including 'externally rotating the shoulders at the joint is what holds the arms and shoulders in the socket so why are you teaching this way b/c it's wrong.' But again, not important b/c I was still portraying a grotesque Rodin-like statue, yogi in disguise, and that's not who I want to be.

In yoga and in our lives, what really is important here. Getting it right? Probably not. Teaching it correctly? I would say yes but then what is it to teach 'correctly?' So maybe not that either although it's still important. Being with breath, present, alive and inspired. Come on, totally yes.  At least for me it is. And maybe this is the yoga that I realize I want to teach?

I could understand that the teacher was doing his best, giving his all and only knows what he knows. So why should I judge silently pretending to be happy? Ok, I gave that up. I wasn't too happy in class last night. I allowed the cynicism to come out. I didn't like it. But I didn't hide it either, and that may have been the gold. To me I conceptually get that everyone and everything is my teacher if I am willing to be open to the lesson. Whethere I get the lesson or not is a different story. I was willing last night. I learned that when I allow myself to be true to myself, even if it's by showing resignation and cynicism, I will eventually move into a compassionate place. Eventually, it passed and I began to consider all the different styles and ways one can learn, practice and teach yoga. There are many, especially in New York. I began to see the teacher in a new light where I could be compassionate and a contribution to his class just by being present. And what came next was the best. I saw my deep commitment to teaching yoga and how I am at the next level of the journey as a new teacher and what I am sure to bump up against as a teacher.

Because if I was this way in this guy's class, someone is sure to be that way in mine. So how can I empower myself as a teacher and my students? How can I teach so everyone is taken care of? I'm not sure exactly, not just yet. Although, I'm stoked to teach this lineage and modify my own teaching practice to empower students with movement and breath with what inspires them and how they can remain more present and compassionate with themselves. Ready?

B~