A Bikram Poem: Savasana

Here we are, feeling

like letting go
submerged in the submerged
layer of the dream
which we don’t realize is strange
until we wake. Multiplicity
forms in waves, pausing
and unpausing the life.
Can you hold open
your eyes? Can you hold,
open, or situate time?
Letting it rest in the way
your body sinks,
and is held,
the floor,

you are held

by your own mind

above the wide pool,

the widening ocean

of thoughts, constant

threat looming.
Leave what isn't meant

for here. Leave what isn't yours alone.

Be here, alone,

where you cannot hold,

open, or situate time,

though you try.

What is meant to be right now

is nothing, is perfect,

is simply you.

Drift Away with a New Sleepy Tuesday Afternoon Bikram Poem

this one's about the experience of floating into deep, deep space during the break between the standing and floor series...

Filament

arms arch upward fingers interlace

of course

I’m stretching of course it’s early morning

summer here upon us

arriving

curved upward haze behind a building

announces

the day coming. of course

I haven’t got my mind yet

haven’t quite found where it’s hiding.

this is supposed to be a day,

a beautiful life,

a wild and precious life,

a centered, kept, contained

moment held.

I’m floating elsewhere

away for now, back in five minutes

that little hand-drawn sign swinging from a string

pastel and ink, dream-like messaging inescapable

if not caught and held, perhaps gone to the wind’s

carefree moving mind-path: the breeze.

surely a life is not a day,

a day is not a moment of course

it can all boil down to just the one

split second,

one big break,

one forgetting,

slip,

breath,

one long fall toward failure.

Enter the room.

Set down your old mat,

bones, songs, fidgets, fears,

expectations, set your old life down

and unravel your very life-threads, your five minute signs, strings,

etched maps for knowing where you are.

Unroll your mind you can’t even find

and be somewhere: only here

is where you are

a corpse, body breathing in place

a two-minute savasana

floating filament thoughts out

the twisting of an untied cord,

rivets disentangling, notion-rope come undone

working loose our own bodies,

lives, days, pulling out the stitches

so that we are in fact of course

nowhere at all.

Never Too Late

Photo Via Bikram Yoga San Jose

Last night at class I was reminded of the power of remembering to stay open-minded in the hot room. Even on days when we feel our practice is strong, there is more we can be doing to deepen the experience of Bikram, whether it means focusing forward, remaining patient with a posture, or letting go of frustrations from inside or outside the studio's walls.

Just think: how seriously do your consider your savasana? With a gentle reminder from my instructor last night -- "Dead body pose, Rachel!" -- I realized (with some shock and a bit of embarrassment) that I needed to rethink my dedication to stillness in between postures. So often we are apt to respond to distractions (squirmy neighbors or the tickle of sweat dripping) or the temptation of gulping water instead of getting right to the goodness of savasana.

Make your new power nap time 20 seconds. See what it can do for your energy level.

And one other thing: stay the full two minutes (or more) after class! There's nothing worse than the disruption of fellow yogis rolling up their mats, clomping around the room, and opening and closing the studio door when everyone should be enjoying final relaxation together. Bikram designed the end of the class with our best interests in mind, so be sure to let your body, mind and spirit receive the rest they deserve after your 90-minute meditation.

Photo Via Sweet Tater.