first there was the word

This past weekend, angel teacher Jessica Kung taught a beautiful Tibetan Heart Yoga workshop at Lotus. She raised the interesting point that Eastern practitioners believed that the body was a holy machine for enlightenment. The yoga asanas were considered to be ways to move and pose your body to magically transform it into light. The practices were realized in deep meditation, and Eastern medicine developed language that reflected this magical, sacred view of the body - channels, chakras, winds, and elements. In contrast, the language Western medicine has developed for describing a living body was developed from dissecting cadavers. When we think of our bodies, we think of flesh, blood, bones, guts, muscle, etc., and not of light, energy and a vessel for realizing the divine. Jessica challenged us to change the way we view ourselves. Instead of thinking about a tight hamstring, envision winds of energy in the body. Envision finding the element of earth -- stable, grounded and supported -- in the legs as they make contact with the ground, and then sending the elements of wind and water to the back of the legs as you stretch forward.

For me, a person who is always suffering from one physical ailment or another (sore knees, tight rotator cuffs, etc.), this was earth-shattering. I was able to use my mind to transform the way I see my body, and my body responded! Lama Christie has said that the objects of meditation are like blank paintings; however your mind paints the object is how you will see it. And we can use the paintbrush of our concentration to change our ordinary view of our lives.

The use of language defines how we see our world. It is not accident that the bible says, "First there was the Word." (John 1:1) Before a baby has learned the word "pen," that object can be a dog's chew toy, a stake to support tomatoes, a sword, or any number of things that we can't imagine because our perception is limited by the word "pen." In yoga, the use of the language of Western medicine can define your practice in a way that doesn't serve the purpose of yoga. Think about the power of the language you use in all aspects of your life. Change the language; change your experience.