Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Most thrilling pose: spiritual and physical highs of the scorpion pose

I learnt the scorpion in my 40s. I have fallen several times. Hurt myself because I was, as usual, learning this on my own.

But the most amazing experience of my forearm fracture... (the pose totally rests on your forearms) ..is that I have not fallen since the fracture --simply because I can't afford to jerk that arm. It's been only 4 months since the ulna practically broke into 2 pieces in a freak accident.  So intriguingly my mind has entered another layer of body awareness which is more clarified. Very exciting, sort of an out-of-body  awareness. I am sure people who have had traumatising physical experiences have this sense of stepping back from their body.

Interestingly, verbatim similar notes on the scorpion pose' s benefits exist in both Swami Satyanandaji's and BKS's bestsellers
respectively: that just by pointing/or  resting the feet on the head the yogi is destroying the poisons of ego, malice, anger, hatred, intolerance, jealousy. Hence the scorpion metaphor of cleaning oneself up spiritually.

Yesssss. .it is an anti-aging pose, according to Swami Satyanandaji. And especially pumps up the blood to the master glands in your brain. Other benefits are well-known so I won't get into that.

My own experience with the pose has been on how it releases energy. Usually my left nostril is blocked in the mornings.  But when I do the scorpion it just immediately opens up both nostrils. It's as if some big internal switch is pressed on. And some deep psychosomatic trapdoor is released. And I am that little bit more released. So it's an immediate high.
Tips for newcomers to this pose:
* I normally advise practitioners to work up to 3 minutes minimum in the supported headstand
* Then have a complementary practice of the unsupported headstand because this prepares u for the shakiness  u experience in the scorpion.
* Work on your backbends
* Work on your planks

Happy sadhana!!


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