“We can make our minds so still like water that beings gather around us to see their own images and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even with a fiercer life because of our silence.”
~William Butler Yeats
When I read this quote, it reminded me of how I feel around my favorite Dahn Yoga Instructors—the ones who have practiced long enough that they are always in their center. When I am near them I automatically feel my energy flowing better, my heart opening more, my thoughts quieting, and my center growing stronger.
What a precious gift to give someone I think. By being healthy, happy, and peaceful yourself, you can help others understand what it feels like, just by standing next to them (or even talking to them over the phone). You can help inspire them to quiet their own mind by keeping their focus in their lower Dahn-jon (lower abdomen).
I feel the same way about my ‘favorite’ instructors, but I also think it is very important to remember they are people just like us. But it’s true: some instructors change the energy around them just by being.
Ever read that article in Body & Brain several years ago about Dahn instructors, the one that tried to debunk a few myths?
Yes, in fact I have that issue on my desk. It’s a good article. I think what it shows is that with practice any of us can change our energy so that it is healing to ourselves and others.
You know, I wrote the editors about a year before that article suggesting such an article. I got tired of all the misunderstandings about instructors.
I really miss Body & Brain. But I suspect it wasn’t ‘economically’ viable (just guessing).
I really enjoy the ideas your talking about on the site. We need increased awareness on the phenonemon of stillness in yoga and the transformative effects it has on those around us. John B. http://www.theashramyoga.com.
Yes, I agree John. I think we can be still inside, even while we’re in motion. That’s what something like Brain Wave Vibration can create. With your focus, even while you are shaking you can feel the stillness in your center