The Sufi meditation retreat was oshemmm! It’s always amazing how just a few days, or even, just a moment, can change your whole life! The practice which blew my mind was the one which did not really interest me in the beginning: Gurdjieff movements. The very first time I watched a Gurdjieff movement performance on YouTube, I was like, ‘What. Da. Fuq.’ *rolls eyeballs emoticon* It came across as a very robotic, & emotionless dance which made no sense whatsoever. It did not appeal to me at all. However, now I understand the real purpose of these movements. Dayuuummm, son…I stand corrected…it is a tough practice, yooo..! Our teacher said, ‘It’s not about learning the movements. It’s about learning about yourself. Watch your habit. What is your learning style? Do you depend a lot on others, or are you able to learn by yourself? How do you react when you fuck up?’ Okey lah, he did not say the f word…but you get what I mean…heheh… Watch your habit. Those words are still ringing in my mind till today. We learn the movements in parts – hands, legs, then combine both. Each movement needs to be precise, & you cannot add any shimmies nor sashays as you like. Which explains why it looks robot-ish. No expressions either, & you are to look straight ahead throughout. The movements challenge your coordination & awareness. Even one tiny moment of distraction & bye bye, you’re out of sync with the rest of the group! Distractions? Ain't nobody got time fo dat! Oh yeah, did I mention that some movements require stepping forwards & backwards, & therefore even though looking forward, you still have to make sure that you keep in line with the others??? In my mind I was like, ‘TEACHER. My eyes so small, how???’ All those years of piano lessons, Girl Guide/Vanguard marching, yoga, weeks of drum circle & dancing FINALLY add up! Sheesh! For me, it wasn’t that difficult executing the movements separately. But when he said, ‘Now arms & legs’, I would go into a state of half shock...sometimes I wouldn’t even attempt to combine both movements, because if I did, my mind immediately went blank! Something which totally relates to my life, because I’ve always been afraid of trying things which seem daunting. Watch your habit. Each moment, watching, watching, watching. I find that this is one of the juicy things of life I have been searching for. I guess I had taken for granted this thing called awareness. Thank heavens I have been reminded & brought back down to earth. Watch your habit. When you can do the movements, how do you respond? When you make a mistake, how do you respond? Do you criticize yourself, or do you immediately try to get back into the groove? Where is your attention? What’s going on inside? So. Again, I stand corrected. On the outside, it looks like a lifeless dance. But inside each & every dancer, who knows? I see the similarities of Gurdjieff movements with yoga. In yoga, we call this looking inward: Svadhyaya - self-study. Many say that yoga is boring, too slow-paced for their liking; when in fact, a practitioner needs to be aware of a multitude of things – alignment of every body part, breath, external stimuli, internal ongoings…aiyooo..! Tattoos carry deep spiritual meanings for me. I got this one in January 2015, a few months after completing my first Yoga TTC. The intention I set into it was:
Risk everything for awareness, but never risk awareness for anything... This is the commitment of a sannyasin: that he is ready to lose his life but not his awareness; he has found a value which is higher than life. There is no other value which is higher than awareness. Awareness is the seed of godliness in you... - Osho - Lost my way, but glad that I am back on my path. Grateful for everything.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
About Prabh LehriI am a yoga teacher based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I am passionate about yoga as a form of healing on the physical, emotional & mental level. I have been on a yoga journey for almost a decade and have been formally sharing my experience in the last 4 years. Archives
December 2017
Categories |