Journey of Transformation

Hello Fightmaster Yoga/MyYogaPal Community,

It has been a powerful month of renewals in celebrating two “New Year” events: Ethiopian New Year (Enkutatash) which happened on September 11th and of course recently, Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashannah) on September 25th.

Renewal is a journey of transformation.  Transformation is an alchemy on many levels:  physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.  On a physical level, it is the reorganization of the molecules at the cellular level whereby the same organic substance have been transformed from something “old” to its “new” form.  What is the catalyst that triggered the change?  From the perspective of yoga, it is “tapas” alternatively known as “heat”.

Fire is a powerful catalyst for change.  I remember my first introduction to this concept during chemistry lab in high school.  Mr. Hopkins put a flame to a beaker of water and described the transformation of liquid to steam.  It was the change from room temperature to its boiling point of 100 degrees Celsius that caused the water molecules to separate and dissipate from its liquid form to evaporate to air.  Take away the heat by putting the liquid to its freezing point of 0 degrees Celsius and the liquid turns to solid - ice.

It’s the same but not the same.  It’s still water - H20 in its various forms - solid-liquid-steam.  Another dimension of water is it takes the form of its container - ice cubes, a pretty blue vase of water to snow flakes and the ocean.  It’s all water, sometimes mixed with other substances like salt, but still we call it a body of water or the shape of a cloud. It is the “tapas” that transforms the liquid.  The intention of removing the “heat” from the liquid is also tapas, because it takes energy to think and act to change liquid into solid.  What precipitates the thought or idea for change?  The inspiration can be motivated by pain or joy (fear or love).  I expand my imagination to the evolving drug culture.

There has lately been a growth in publicity on the increasing occurrences of accidental deaths related to Fentanyl.  This was a drug intended for anesthesia and pain management. This purposeful medical use has expanded to recreational drug, but also Fentanyl can be introduced unknowingly to most users in drugs they believe they are familiar with (cocaine, heroin, etc.) effectively producing not a drug but a potent, poison. While it's associated with recreational drug use, it is now recognized as something as an unmitigated toxin. In expanding the arc of transformation, this concept is used in the journey of the hero/heroine who responds to the “call to journey” (Joseph Campbell) in fulfilling their destiny.  At the beginning of the story the substance is the same as the substance at the end of the journey.  What’s changed is the perspective, or in other words the relationship of the hero/heroine to the dragon he/she has gone out to slay, tame or befriend.

The dragon is the master, because it is the part of the consciousness that drives the obsession about what he/she thinks as perhaps ugly, loathsome and undesirable.  In the battle with dragon, the hero/heroine is consumed with willing power over the dragons that in actuality is controlling the warrior to be consumed at all cost to win, and seizing to paralysis the ability for the hero/heroine to lose “sight” of his/her divine nature. The loss of “sight” is the lack of awareness (or shining enough light from dim to bright) to illuminate the truth. So, the battle has to be fought as this is the tapas.  Daily, hourly and ticking minutes of the clock the sword is cleaned, wielded, soiled and put back into its sheath until the moment that the hero/heroine recognizes the face in the mirror as the dragon wanting to be loved and befriended.  Hero/Heroine and the dragon are one and the same, but with a new relationship of respect and love.

To be whole we also need to love the parts of ourselves that we perceive as unlovable.  I came upon this in meditating about renewal, because I’ve also come from a place of despair wondering why am I not good enough and trying too hard to please others when I really need to please myself.  It’s not even about spoiling myself to any excesses of anything, but just recognizing that “I am” is enough.

Words of wisdom from Lesley:
“Practicing gratitude and thanksgiving are wonderful ways to increase those positive neural pathways in your mind and they make you feel happier.”
“Find that feeling of gratitude in your body, the sensation of it. Think of something that you are grateful for within yourself.”
“You have something that makes you very special; connect with that.”
“Find that feeling again, that feeling of gratitude in your body, and breathe into it. Notice how it shifts your energy. All of a sudden you start feeling a little more joy in your body, your mind, and in your life.”