Astro•Yoga is an original fusion of yoga, meditation, breath work and cosmological insight. This concept is designed as a mind-body journey through the zodiac realm. The elemental energies of fire, earth, air & water are explored, as well as the human connection to each.
The parallels found between the human body and the greater Universe are endless. On a micro level, we share the same atomic composition as the stars and planets. In the development of Astro•Yoga, I have created a way to sync the physical body with the rhythms of our surrounding solar system. Each astrological constellation rules a different part of the human body. Through yoga and meditation, we can activate these specific muscles, organs and systems, thereby strengthening them for maximum health and happiness.
One major benefit of Astro•Yoga is that it systematically engages every part of the body. This is really the greatest gift of any yoga practice. But yoga, as it is often said, is hardly just a physical practice.
Yoga is a way of life. You never really stop doing yoga once you start. This is why yoga is called a “practice.” In yoga, we practice for life outside of class. When you learn to sit quietly with yourself and your thoughts, you create a template procedure for stressful moments. Many of us hold grandiose ideas about what meditation should produce within, but its most practical purpose for us modern folk is simply as a tool to cope. Imagine being able to remain totally calm and detached the next time someone belittles you, cuts you off or forgets to do something for you.
Astro•Yoga offers meditations for all moods and seasons of the human complex. When you have options, the pressure to sit down and meditate the same way every time is absolved. No matter your emotion at the outset, there is a method which can properly deliver you to a higher state of peace and awareness. Most of the time we are so absorbed by the external world that we are not able to ascertain what is happening in the physical or subtle (mental and emotional) body. This is what mindfulness means on a personal level, and meditation helps us achieve this. Sitting quietly and doing nothing reveals a vast inner world.
This is what I hear from people over and over about yoga: “I just don’t have the discipline.” The truth is that even yoga instructors don’t always have perfect discipline. We are human! I encourage everyone to use this as motivation, rather than let it stop you. Just sit with that thought in your mind: I don’t have discipline. That’s uncomfortable, isn’t it? But that’s exactly why we have to do it, because it is uncomfortable. Something extraordinary happens when we meditate on what we perceive to be “flaws.” We notice the cacophony of voices inside the mind. Some of them are outrageously critical and cruel. We say things to ourselves that we would likely never say to someone else.
Yoga and meditation are effective because they lead us to a universal truth: we cannot be happy until we are happy with who we are, right here and now. And the most beautiful thing about yoga is that we can learn how to love the Self without ever getting into a handstand. It doesn’t matter how “well” you do a pose or what it looks like. It doesn’t matter whether you meditate for 5 minutes or 2 hours a day. The only thing that matters is whether or not you show up and do it. You can even just sit and say to yourself: “I’m afraid to show up and do it.” This, too, is meditation. It takes courage to admit that you are afraid, as it does to engage in honest enquiry, or to feel a resounding no when you ask yourself if you are truly happy.
It’s important to parcel your practice into easily digestible sessions, both in the body and mind. I am continually amazed by the fragility of human perception. Try this. Tell yourself: tomorrow I am waking up at the crack of dawn to practice yoga. Now tell yourself: tomorrow I am waking up and practicing one yoga pose. There are distinct responses that arise to each of these statements. If you say them a few times, you might even notice small contractions in certain areas of the body. Yoga and meditation are meant to be joyful and should definitely not feel like a chore. Start small: one pose in the morning, one minute of meditation, and no more! Eventually, naturally, one pose leads to two, one minute leads to five, and before you know it, your body and mind are actually craving more.
The craving for more – that is the real fruit. Who cares whether or not you can do the splits? By all means, set goals for yourself, but poses are not a final product or proof of anything. In the Yoga Sutras, the oldest known documents on yoga, it is written: the purpose of yoga is to quiet the mind-chatter. And that’s it! In its most original form, yoga was nothing but meditation. There were no poses at all. So the poses are a means to an end, and that end is peace and happiness with yourself. Allow this to be your true goal. Anyone who practices yoga purely to achieve mastery of asana is not really practicing yoga.
From a health standpoint, it is very important to move and stretch every day. This we all know. What is often forgotten is meaning and purpose – these are equally important. Your health is compromised just as much by poor diet as it is by a dreamless existence. Astro•Yoga is a cosmic practice that can help you live according to your intuition and highest expression of Self. Move your body, and the mind stops.
With love, Ren
NAMASTE