subject: Why Yoga Works, Pa Kua Chang, And Your Right, Big Toe [print this page] Have you ever considered the question of why Yoga works? It's a great question, and I haven't seen many good answers for it. In fact, some enterprising, young gal puts the question to some oriental sage dude, and I see a lot of circumventing and philosophizing...and no real answer.
I was trying to make yoga work the other day, and I was listening to some gal on a Yoga CD course and trying to relate it to the Pa Kua Chang that I knew, and the gal on the CD suddenly said something that made me blink. Smugly, she stated, 'It took me three years to be able to do this yoga asana.' I paused the CD, and ruminated over her statement.
It took her three years of hard work and discipline to make her body do something. She was proud, which is probably the sinful version of satisfied (with job well done). And she wasn't really doing Yoga.
She was being a contortionist. She wasn't talking about becoming aware as a spiritual being, but rather being 'over satisfied' about being able to do weird things with her body. What she was saying had to do with holding her body in a yoga asana, and nothing to do with the spiritual side of the subject.
One of my more bizarre pa kua chang practices is to practice my karate kata in a dark room with no lights and my eyes closed. I do this because I began my martial arts practice with Karate, which means 'empty hands,' and I recognized that you couldn't have empty hands without developing an empty mind. I am merely trying to reduce distractive sensations, and generate awareness concerned with the single and concentrated practice of the martial arts form.
To utilize this in Yoga, close your eyes and be aware of your right, big toe. You must be aware of your right, big toe without the use of perceptions. You must become aware, as opposed to being aware with body perception devices (eyes, taste, touch, and so on).
If you can hold the body motionless, reduce sensation, and just become aware, then you are on the track of real yoga. If you can understand the different between being aware through body perception tools (sight, smell, etcetera), and just being aware, then you are on the track of real yoga. If you can become aware of yourself as a spiritual being apart from the body, then you are doing real Yoga.
You don't have to pretzelize your body and contort it and suffer through painful postures. You need merely assume a position...doesn't even have to be an official yoga posture...and stop looking through your senses, and let awareness grow. The difference between perception and awareness, this is the key to why yoga works, why pa kua chang works, and even why your right, big toe works.
