Aparigraha, non-attachment in yoga is something I have been thinking about a lot lately in how we deal with emotional healing both on and off our mats.
The Western perspective of yoga largely misunderstands that yoga is a healing practice for both mind and body with too much focus on the physical practice.
As I get older, now 60, my physical practice has me in as good or better shape than in my 20s. On the other hand my emotional perspective has evolved to understand how attachments, both material and emotional can have negative effects on our lives. Personally I have let go of many of my attachments, things that I thought I needed.
Unfortunately many people I know have suffered from some sort of trauma in their lives from injuries, disease, physical and emotional abuse. In a lot of those cases that trauma becomes a part of who they are and affects them and how they treat others in their lives, even in some cases becoming abusive themselves without even realizing it.
In yogic healing we need to realize the need for non-attachment before being able to move on to healing. One of the ways that has worked for me and my students is acceptance that there are things that we ultimately have no control over and focus on the things we can control like how we treat ourselves and others.
Our bodies also hold emotions and stress in different places, reminded of a student who had very positive emotional releases when doing asanas/poses that worked into his lower back. In our practices we learn to connect to and listen to our bodies to focus on our healing needs.
By Allen Barkus. Allen has been practicing Ashtanga yoga since 1998 and teaching since 2004. His initial teacher training was with David Swenson and has been the student of Manju Jois since 2004. Manju, along with his father, introduced Ashtanga/Vinyasa yoga to America in 1975. His studies focus on Healing Therapy. He is available in Philadelphia for private lessons and clinics and travels around the world teaching clinics. www.AshtangabyAllen.com
