Entering into integrity as the basis of communication and action
Enjoy the short video:
YIELD: Inquire deeply to see what is actually presenting in any situation.
PUSH: Say “no” to what you don’t want.
REACH: Say “yes” to what you do want.
PULL: Draw the needed resources into yourself.
ABSORB: Allow yourself to fully receive the supportive offerings that are given.
TAKE ACTION: Compassionate and effective action arises from the wisdom and grounded presence that is revealed in this process.
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SUPPORT PRECEDES ACTION
“When we don’t know where our support is coming from, the first thing we do is harden and hold.” ~ Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
The principle of support preceding all integrated and wholesome action is a primary basis upon which to develop optimally in our life. Feeling supported aids our growth on all levels: our physical expression, the development of a rich inner world, and our personal evolution.
The principle of support preceding action in Embodyoga® states that if we want to feel connected and integrated, we need to know where our support is coming from before we engage in any action at all. Support is a multifaceted and multilayered moving reality in body and mind. It is based on experience and our knowing that we can trust our experience.
There are many different kinds of supports available to us. We have the support of gravity holding us to the earth and the earth under us. We have the support of the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, the homes that shelter us, and so on. Hopefully, we have the support of loved ones, friends, and community. Yogicly speaking, we have the support of our personal pranic field and the vast Field of Awareness that is the nature of who and what we are.
Support is a product of communication and cannot exist in a single direction. When we investigate support we need to feel ourselves in relationship. It is not possible to feel s1upported in the world without also feeling the elements around us that are offering support. Receiving support is never a one-way street and is never static. In any situation where we feel supported we are also giving back. It always involves an active relationship.
We first begin to explore this when we are very young. One of the processes inherent in our early development is learning to trust that we will receive the various supports that we need in order to grow and thrive. In receiving support of any kind, we are somewhat permeable to our environment, receptive, and aware. Of course, we always maintain choice about how receptive we want to be in any situation, but without some permeability to our surroundings we will not be able to receive their support.
When our environment is not supportive, or even dangerous, we necessarily do not maintain the same level of permeability. In order to preserve our personal integrity, we may need to offer resistance to a threat to our well-being. This is a healthy and important choice to make in the appropriate situations and we honor it fully. Our inherent intelligence functions to make safe and productive choices about where and when to accept and take support and how permeable we should be in any situation. Choice and awareness is the key to this ongoing undulation of when to resist and when to allow.
We need safe laboratories to explore how and when we can accept support. For example, feeling the earth under us is relatively simple exploration. But as life progresses the question of support becomes more complicated. Our relationships become more intricate and interwoven. Do we still notice the ways in which our environment—including the people in it, supports us?
There are many ways that we have all functioned in the world without feeling safe and supported. Without tangible support, it isn’t easy to fully commit to any relationship at all. It is entirely possible to more or less successfully navigate an entire life without really feeling supported. When we find that we need to function without a sense of relational support under us, we many not feel that we are optimally involved or fully engaged in our lives the way we would like to be. We may not quite be able to put our finger on what the problem is. We are going through the motions, doing what we need to do, and interacting, but somehow it isn’t satisfying. We don’t feel like a fully active participant in our own life. This can be a painful way to live life. The recognition of our own lack of full participation can be a powerful motivator to change. The desire to become more present is the spark of the motivation and in itself is very powerful.
To understand this sense of detachment from our life that many of us feel to some degree or another, it can be interesting to explore the concept of support preceding action. Support needs to be present first. When we are supported we feel safe. We need to feel safe in order to push something away from us, to move into a relationship, or deepen an inquiry into something. From where do you receive support? Can you feel tangible physical, emotional, and spiritual support from the earth, your relationships, and your innermost self? Without an underlying recognition of support, it is very difficult to move with grace, either physically or otherwise.
Safety and support feed one another. As we begin to notice and feel our support structures we also begin to feel more safety. Many of us have areas in our lives where we do not feel particularly safe at all. Not all situations are safe! In Embodyoga® our explorations take place in the present moment, usually in a yoga studio or another safe place.
When life has not offered the healthiest relationships and experiences we often need to move within to discover deeper reserves. Finding support, whether it is outside of oneself or within, is basic to development. And since from our perspective, support always precedes action, we ask that you never delve more deeply into yourself than you genuinely have support for. We patiently cultivate a deepening sense of support as we go along, and in all of our relationships, in order to allow our awareness to continue to dive deeper. The building of a support structure underneath our inquiry is absolutely primary to fruitful investigations into our own inner world. Each person is in charge of his or her own rate and depth of exploration. Each person asks himself or herself, “Do I want to proceed deeper with this inquiry? Have I had enough for now? Do I feel safe with this right now?”
We live in a relational world. We cannot do it all alone. In fact, we don’t do anything alone. We are always in relationship. Yoga can be a process of learning to navigate, refine, and explore how we relate to self, earth, and others. Recognizing our support— whatever it is—allows us to become more skillful and clearer in all of our relationships. A freedom of perception develops in this process and frees up a lot of space in our minds. Developing recognizable support structures, that you can actually trust, makes more vital energy available to be productive in your life. When we feel more secure and have provided for ourselves, our own safety and comfort, we are more engaged and able to be creative and energetic in our lives of reality.
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