(originally sent 15/06/26)
Have you heard the word “embodiment” becoming increasingly popular in the yoga world? Five years ago I don’t recall it being a term that was commonly used, but now I feel like I hear it all the time.
I have nothing against embodiment; of course not. We’re living in this weird age of disconnection from our bodies, because we spend far too much time gawking at a screen (or multiple screens), and forgetting that we are human beings, not human doings.
I find any yoga practice helpful if it allows me to get out of my head and into the present moment. But I also see the issue with yoga being called a “body based practice”. Because in my understanding, that was never the point.
You are not your body or mind, although you have a body and mind.
~ Sri Brahmananda Saraswati
The scriptures of yoga – the Upaniṣads and Bhagavad Gītā in particular – warn us not to confuse our bodies for who we truly are.
Now, bodies are wonderful – they really are – they allow us to experience the world (it would be very difficult to without a body!), have relationships, shift our prāṇa and move about.
But, according to yoga, your body is not you. You are the ātman, the soul inside. Your body is the garment your soul is wearing, and it is on loan for this lifetime. And like clothing that eventually wears out, your body will too.
This is not meant to be taken as a bleak teaching – quite the opposite. What I glean from this is:
- The body is my vehicle in this life, and I need to take care of it.
- There is so much more to me that what I look like and what my body is capable of, so I need not obsess over it.
- There is a part of me that never changes, and never dies. That is my true Self, my divine Self.
This week, following meditation practice, I’ve been reading the following passage from Eknath Easwaran:
When concentration is profound, there are moments when you forget the body entirely. This experience quietly dissolves physical identification. The body becomes like a comfortable jacket; you wear it easily, and in meditation you can unbutton and loosen it until it scarcely weighs on you at all.
As we all age, experience illness or injury, go through the ups and downs of life, may we remember this wisdom — that although the body gets older, our Soul remains in tact.
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