I have the right to be here.
It is impossible to demo a posture on social media and celebrate its fullness. The idea that a single asana lives alone as a "pose" or as an external physical structure is only one millionth of the truth...
In the moving in— the where I just left— and the moving out —where I might be going next that matters most. Poses are living, breathing, feeling spaces.
Yoga is skill in action. The journey of the self, through the self, back to the Self. So we may be purer, clearer, conscious of the makings of who we are and what motivates us, and even better, to understand others. And most importantly, how we contribute to the greater good of all.
For me, downward facing dog, adho mukha svanasana, is a return to home base. The A-frame of my home. Firm foundation, it is the walls of my inner temple. The pose reminds me of who I am.
This posture has been with me all along. It is the pose I took hundreds of times as a baby as I went from crawling to standing to walking on my own two feet.
When I practice it, I imagine how the posture exists, with or without me. All I have to do is breathe and reground into my innocent baby-self and meet the pose, wherever I happen to be that moment, whatever mood I am in.
When I relax with the pose, it strengthens my sense of belonging. It reminds me, I have a right to be here.
