Duality & Paradox

Duality in this dense dimension can seem unbearable. There is ease, only when contrasted with pain. There is good and bad, black and white, or more appropriately, dark and light. There are such forces at work that when highly sensitive people are exposed from multiple areas, can bring such anxiety. In yoga, this duality is highlighted by the masculine and the feminine, not as gender constructs, but as energetic forces. The masculine, pingala, is the right side of the body, yang, solar/sun/surya energy of action. The feminine is Ida on the left side of the body, yin, lunar/moon/chandra energy of receptivity. Ida and pingala travel along nadis or energy channels within the body of which there are over 72,000 nadis!

Yogic philosophy and it's sister science Ayurveda espouse that where there is pain is simply energy blockage. The prana or chi, or ki is blocked, thus pain or dis-ease. Where in the body can help ascertain what subtle body and/or emotional body needs attention. For example, I have a somewhat chronic pain that the right side of my body exhibits. This is not surprising to me since that is the masculine side and I have experienced the loss of 2 fathers through death. Here is a great example of insight alone not being enough to resolve that pain. Furthermore, this pain has a contralateral component...my left sacrum. So, yes I had a 2 level spinal fusion in 2019 (before I had found yoga) and there are mechanical components to this block in energy. Yet if we delve back further still, it was because of this sacral/low back pain that I ultimatley needed the surgery. I had been a nurse for over 15 years doing direct patient care and not caring for myself very well. All that to say that our bodies are always communicating with us.

The paradox of opposites is that we are whole...and yet divine masculine and divine feminine express themselves quite differently. Yoga is such a great tool in developing a witness consciousness. Noticing without judgment. Witnessing opposites is also incorporated in yoga nidra where we just notice, without judgment or preference. To let the paradox exist. To accept the "both and".

This is an important concept in mental health because anxiety and disconnection may be present and the felt sense of all of it can be miserable. Yet, if we slow down, with compassion for ourselves and look for ease and connection within, then there can be some alleviation. So much of what mindfulness can bring is this witness consciousness. We can notice the fear and anxiety (knowing that is just a part of you) AND we can notice the safety and stability (also a part of you). It's the tale of the 2 wolves...which one is stronger? The one that you feed.