Picture curtesy of Roman-Pohorecki
Learn to Canoe – Yogic lessons 3
Sometimes it is easier to understand something if we compare and contrast or use a metaphor to enhance the picture. Canoeing is one of those things that allows us to consider a concept in a different way. Upon waking from sleep there was one word in my mind and that was
Canoe.
When we are given true spiritual messages, they are only ever one or two words. However, what they deliver is a whole lot more. Just like a physical yoga position, it is just the delivery system for higher knowledge to help us refine, improve and find peace and contentment. It is our envelope. https://lifebalancestudio.co.uk/envelope-yoga/
What does canoeing mean to you? There are a few interpretations. Are we paddling against the current, are we up the creek without a paddle, we can change direction quickly. There are many ways to look at it.
Those who read our other articles should now be linking these words to other topics and finding their own answers. The answers that we can find will illuminate other aspects of knowledge. Understanding the canoe can help us question ourselves but also, to trust ourselves, our decisions and our actions.
-Learn to Canoe-
A canoe can be difficult to navigate when we start, it takes time to understand the controls, the positions and what to do if we fall in. No one wants to be cold and wet but sometimes, it is just the case. For our readers, the more of our articles that are read, the more the reader will understand, each new article illuminating the previous. In some cases, things we have written years ago will help us understand new lessons! (Check the archive).
Believe it or not we are all in a canoe, some are good at navigation, some better at steering, some good at recovering when we fall in. What about the waters, are they still or choppy. Are we all out at sea battling waves, swells, rain and wind.
How does the outside environment affect our canoe?
Whatever way we are going, how do we know it is the right direction, how do we know if we are going the right way. If we are not sure or lost, then we HOPE and have FAITH that we have made the right choices.
Kayak or Canoe
To help understand in a different way let us consider that a kayak is a closed deck vessel whereas the canoe is an open vessel. Let us think about a closed vessel. Sounds a lot like a human being, a closed vessel with a spirit within.
The canoe is just the case. A yoga pose is just the case. Our human form is just a case, it is our canoe,
our VESSEL for this earthly incarnation.
We are spirit, encased in a physical body.
Now that we have the right word to describe our canoe (Vessel) we can ask some interesting questions. What can our vessel hold? Is our vessel seaworthy, Is our canoe a worthy vessel? But how do we become worthy. If our deeds are not worthy, is our vessel worthy? Will unworthy deeds put holes in our vessel, will we sink lower into the waters! The more we lower our own vibration by spiritless deeds, the more we damage our vessel by sympathetic vibrations.
Actions, words and deeds of a lower nature put holes into our vessels, it becomes harder to steer through troubled waters. We become more affected by the physical world.
Yoga is about demonstrating poses to bring around positive change. It is a system of control to help our canoe navigate and reduce the effects of the waters of life, https://lifebalancestudio.co.uk/the-reality-of-yoga-poses-part-2-demonstrate-the-pose/ by using our abstract nouns to keep our vessel afloat. Having the qualities and characteristics that make us seaworthy are not always there to start, we just practice!
Yoga is like Canoeing, Life is like Canoeing
Canoeing it is hard when we start, but after some time we may be like a duck to water. Ducks? This gives an interesting spin to our Pigeon and Swan articles. When we practice, we learn, we improve, our posture, our pose changes. None of this is possible without hope. Where hope is the canoe, her sister faith is the paddle. Now that is lesson for another day, but where do we put our faith, who do we put our faith in! Where is Faith?
A paddling technique is the same as a yoga pose, it helps us gain control.
For us on a yoga path, why is the understanding of the canoe useful to us? It helps us to consider we can be subject to the outside elements, foul weather, foul behaviour. Fear, emotions, finances, illness, death. These elements all effect our vessel, outside forces that influence and change how we operate, navigate or behave. Only through practice and training can we find Grace and poise on the water. We become buoyant, move gently, skip along, calmness, we find balance and serenity. We stay afloat, a lot like yoga, is it not?
We know Yoga by another name, we call it Spiritual Development
We may think that we have no control in turbulent times but what is inside is protected, it will steer us. To become seaworthy our deeds and actions should be upright, honest and good. When we become right minded, we can be helped. We hope our pilot, our guide, the captain within will help steer us through troubled waters.
We will leave our readers to think on this,
When is a vessel not a vessel, when it’s a jar, and why do we keep things in jars?
We wish you all unity with your spirits.
If you wish to know more about these topics or learn about yoga in a different way then get in touch. You can join Lisa at Absolute yoga for a class or come along to our next Day of Healing on Saturday 13th of April at Crosby Library. If any of our readers are struggling with their canoes and feel they are paddling up river with no rest or direction, then come and join our self-healing group at Crosby Library.
