Asana Practice - by Marianne Giosa

In our asana practice we see the importance of posture and counter-posture to maintain balance, equanimity, and harmony. However, this morning I was contemplating something that I'd like to share with you...
I realized that at times my world appears absolutely upside down and backwards!!!

What do I mean by this? In one moment I was completely aware of a beautiful vision of my world and the grace that has been bestowed upon my life.. and in another moment, that which seemed so beautiful and grace filled could be swept away in a flurry of thoughts which was let's say...far from this reality. It appeared that the structures that seemingly allowed one to function or survive were almost in direct opposition or backwards from that which I thought of as grace-filled and beautiful! I then asked the question to myself...Where is my Alignment? and not just in a physical asana...but in Life? (it is the same you know)

The order in which we may perceive this world may not appear as Sat or Truth. We may look into our lives, the lives of others, politics, our daily survival at times we may experience pain and disillusion. Other times our lives may be an abode of pure Joy. This gave me another insight into the practice of inversions. Though practicing inversions, not only do we experience the direct physical benefits of the opposite direction of blood flow, we also shake up our habitual physical viewpoint of our world!. Here we are literally standing "upside down and backwards" Our center of perception is completely transformed for the length of time we our breathing in our inversion. We are literally "short circuiting" a pattern of perception.
So then this contemplation brings us to the next question..
What is the true vision ? AhhHa!

I ask you to explore this idea...if you feel inspired write it down and/or send me your comments. I'd love to hear from you!