Alignment & Activation

In this week’s Torah Portion of Tetzaveh we learn the importance of alignment and activation. The extensive descriptions of the Priestly garments and those of the Kohen Gadol, or High Priest, show and signify the sacred geometry and importance of the garment textures, the colors, the crystals and stones of the breastplate, and the necessity of alignment for activation of the divine.

Within our own Yoga asana practice we too focus on the importance of alignment and activation. We make sure our hips are squared in certain poses versus stacked in others. We pay attention to our tailbone being tilted or tucked. We breathe through our nostrils versus our mouth. We understand the focus on structure, alignment and boundaries or the Kabbalsitc principle of gevurah, as key to activation. We purchase bolsters, blocks, speciality mats and more to aid us in this activation.

Question: Am I disciplined enough to be a free-spirit?

Practice: In your Warrior 2 this week, play around with your back leg alignment. Move your back foot 5-10 inches forward and then back, adjust your back foot from a 90 degree angle to 45 and back to 90. Notice the subtle differences these movements allow or inhibit in your energy flow and prana (breath). Then check your pelvis and tail bone, has it moved? Is it still tucked under, are your hips still opening? Finally, how do you move your front leg, deepening or lifting your knee, when you adjust your back leg and foot? Are you able to maintain your knee at a 90 degree angle and over your ankle? Your back leg represents your past, your front leg the future: How does your relationship to your past impact your future?

Meditation: I activate my tiferet (beauty) in my practice by balancing chesed (loving-kindness) and gevurah (boundaries). In harmony, I access the divine.