A Beginning
photo:
Hindu Kush mountains. Taken on a trek near the Chitral Valley.
I remember the Sherpas around the camp fire, singing, laughing and drumming on the blue plastic barrels that held our provisions, the stars popping out to watch.
Our stocky guide poised like a ballerina on a rocky ridge.
We were ants against the backdrop of the mountains.
In the ancient Himalayan foothills of northern India, a lineage of yogis lovingly developed a holistic self care system inspired by life immersed in rugged mountain-scapes and nature.
Rocky crevices where one misstep meant death, formed ergonomic asanas to improve stamina, balance and stability. High altitudes shaped breath-work for optimizing oxygen retention and energy. Night skies illuminated by stars and campfires invoked dream exploration and methods for navigating different states of consciousness. Living self-sufficiently nurtured healing techniques that tapped into the body’s innate ability to regenerate and restore. But above all, the yogis observed that by tuning into their heart’s awareness created a state of coherence where ALL of their life sustaining qualities improved. They became more connected with their environment as well as with themselves. They called their system of practice, Anahata Yoga. Anahata, named after the energetic heart.
With no books or libraries, knowledge was transferred through an oral tradition of sharing through stories, experiential learning and body memory. Emphasis was placed on inner awareness and meditation filled movements called the dances of Shiva (the masculine principle) and Shakti (the feminine principle). The dances of duality.
Unlike most hatha yoga traditions popular in the west, the Anahata Tradition passed through a lineage outside of the higher priestly castes and guru worship paradigm. Maintaining a tradition devoted to our unique Human Path and journey of individuation.
Anahata lore shares a beginning story.
Before our age. Before the ancient texts were written and the ancient verses sung. Shakti who embodied the divine feminine principle, primordial wisdom and the fabric of form called for her lover. A being with blue skin descended to Earth in a chariot of fire. He was Shiva who embodied the divine masculine principle, conscience and intelligence. He was a creator being but not ‘The Creator’. He was not God. He was the first Anahata Yogi.
He lived on Earth with his love, Shakti and shared the knowledge and practices of Anahata Yoga with the people of the mountains as tools to help them in their lives and the evolution of humankind. The Anahata practices are the lover’s creation of dances and dances of creation. In that time there were many different kinds of beings in many different kinds of forms that descended to earth in many different regions.
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How is tradition born? Where do journeys truly begin? What breathed and breathes them into being?
The Anahata Tradition flows forwards and backwards in time, outward, inward, upward, downward and is breathed into being through you and me.
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In a way Anahata yoga may have many beginnings. Each day I practice I find one, a way to begin.
Hari Om Tat Sat
(I see divine creation in you)
