The Yoga Studio is your Lab; the Poses, your Experiments

"All creative scientists know that  the true laboratory is the mind, where behind illusions they uncover the laws of truth."  Scientist JC Bose

Let us imagine that the yoga studio is our lab; the poses our experiments.  We may try chair pose with our hands at our heart and compare that to twisted chair.  We may make scientific changes to downward facing dog by lifting one leg in the air, then opening that hip, then bending that knee.  We might set the leg back down and try lifting a hand off the ground to reach back for an ankle. We may rest our head on a block in supported dog.  All of these variations the independent variables. But what is the constant?

The dependent variable is the change that occurs in response to the independent variables.  Maybe in traditional dog our mind stays calm but with each added change the mind begins to struggle, to judge, to frustrate.  Our intention in yoga is to keep the mind peaceful and free of ego judgment. 
We initially think the asanas are the struggle, the hard part of yoga. We travel through the "There's no way I can do that" to "Well, maybe I could try" to "Did you see me do that?!"  And then what happens? Once we can do a pose and it becomes second nature, then what? We don't have to think about the pose as much as we first did so where does the mind go?

"All creative scientists know that  the true laboratory is the mind, where behind illusions they uncover the laws of truth." 

The mind's struggle over the asana is maya- it's an illusion put forth by the ego.  Once we put that aside, the truth is revealed. I can be calm and peaceful in this pose despite my body's ability to do the pose or do it with ease.  Yoga is about the mind; more specifically, your mind set...

"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."  Wayne Dyer

And about perspective...

"Are you really sure that a floor can't also be a ceiling?"M.C. Escher

Be a creative scientist the next time you are on your yoga mat. Make changes. Experiment. Keep the breath and mind constant despite modifications you make. The yoga studio may be the physical laboratory but the poses are the experiments.

"How do we know that the sky is not green and we are all colour-blind?" Author Unknown

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