by Helen Simkins, Alstonville, Australia
My relationship with Esoteric Yoga is always developing. I have attended many group sessions and practised at home by myself since 2008 and each time the experience is unique and revealing. Each session rewards me with a deeper appreciation for my own body and what it can teach me, and an increasing sense of what the joy of true freedom feels like.
This modality has supported me enormously in reducing stress, anxiety levels, nervous energy and the relentless drive of my mind. It has given me real relaxation, increased presence and a much greater sense of freedom in my body. It supports me to deal with the intensity of whatever may come up in the day without losing my connection within.
Sometimes, during the sessions, it seemed unbearably uncomfortable to be still in my body and have to feel the physical results of what has driven my mind, and sometimes a desperate need to “check-out” resulted in a snoring session on the mat! At other times there was excruciating pain in various parts of my body as they became less numb, or as I began to connect to them – never had simply sitting still (or even lying down) with my body seemed so agonisingly difficult!
There are also times (more frequently now) when I experience the ‘exquisite, nurturing stillness – described beautifully in another blog – throughout my being and body, confirming for me my level of connection with who I truly am and showing me that there is no limit to how deep and vast this stillness can be. This experience of real stillness is absolute freedom to go as deep as I am willing, and complete support for where I am at: it is hard to describe adequately in words…
Esoteric Yoga inevitably delivers to me the truth of how I have been living and presents an opportunity for me to become more aware of how much my body can tell me if I take the time to be with it. It gives me the space to release energy and emotions that have been locked deep into my body and supports me to continually connect more deeply to the truth of who I am.
Esoteric Yoga is about developing quality – my quality – of union with me, which is then reflected in everything that I do. It is so, so simple and yet SO powerful. There is absolutely no need to be a contortionist or super flexible (phew), and certainly no straining to achieve anything. The only requirement is my own commitment to being prepared to be present and experience whatever is revealed through my body without pre-conceived expectation or judgement.
Esoteric Yoga is a truly amazing modality.
The Truth about Universal Medicine 
Judgement is an act of evil for love is observant and allows the free will for other to choose the truth or not.
The word freedom evokes very different things in people. There are lots of images attached to this word. Many of them are not true; they are just images. The truth is that freedom has to be related to the body and to feel deeply settled in it by free will.
I agree – sitting/lying still with my body can be so agonizingly difficult, and in saying that I get a sense of turning it into something I could have a relationship with to conquer and achieve if I manage not to fall asleep during a session.
As it is for you Helen, “My relationship with Esoteric Yoga is always developing.” And the depth of how far that development goes is totally up to me. Each session I attend is always so very different from any other, but what is the same, is that I am always being offered the opportunity to deepen the connection to my body and to then take that out into my life. The session does not end when we get up off the mat, as this is a living modality, one to take out into the world as we move through every moment of our day.
‘…no straining to achieve anything.’ It feels like with a lot of modern day yoga, it’s just as competitive as any other sport, whether you’re competing against the more flexible person beside you, or simply yourself by trying to prove from one week to the next you’re ‘improving’. But what are you improving? your flexibility or your connection to yourself? with the preoccupation of being able to do what the practitioner can do, is not missing the point completely? This is why I feel the difference between how Esoteric Yoga is presented to what I’ve experienced with other yoga classes. There is no expectation and the purpose never changes – it is first and foremost about the union of your body and mind – connection.
I appreciated these words “exquisite, nurturing stillness” – it’s so true, the more I connect to my Stillness, the more I can move through life in a very self nurturing way. My other way was to push, rush, feel frazzled and stressed, not to mention anxious. That all still comes up because I’ve got well worn grooves to be with my body and life this way, but compared to where I was when I started Esoteric Yoga, the Stillness I now experience daily is exquisite.
Esoteric Yoga allows us to develop our relationship with the innate quality within, so our movements align to that which is divine.
Esoteric Yoga is a living testimonial of the power of simplicity. What is so simple allows us to be aware of so much, there is no need for any complicated moves and thus the only distraction is not wanting to be in union with ourselves, which is what Esoteric Yoga brings us back in commitment to feeling our body.
In the union with our true self, is found the communion with all others.
I concur wholeheartedly Helen – Esoteric Yoga is an incredibly powerful modality. I realised whilst reading this how much esoteric yoga teaches us about life itself – and a new way possible for how to be with life. It is a way that does not have any expectation to perform or achieve, accolades are not handed out for amazing feats, and there are no people better or worse than – it is a way that knows the equalness we all are and come from. This way of living is available to all of us. Esoteric Yoga is a divinely sent modality that reveals to us the awe-inspiring simplicity that we have right within us for the taking by developing an honest and very living relationship with our bodies. From there life itself becomes simple and magical.
When I first experienced Esoteric Yoga, I was really fidgety and couldn’t understand the purpose of it. I had no desire to do it again for at least another couple of years and then I had the pull to participate again in another program and I felt the difference. My body had been so racy and in the doing, it had been conditioned to be in constant stimulation and if anything continually functioning on nervous energy. The difference between the two was striking. It wasn’t the yoga sessions or the presenters, it was ME – who was I, back then compared to now? Where was my body compared to now?
I have more connection to my body than ever, I know I can connect deeper and I look forward to a more loving relationship with my body and “experience the exquisite nurturing stillness.”
The moment I said yes to Esoteric Yoga was the moment I chose to deepen the union with self and hence with all others. This is a moment to appreciate and a foundation to build for all future moments. Beautifully expressed Shushila.
Esoteric yoga is very good as a practise to keep our mind with our body – a very real example is laying down, something we every day do before we go to sleep is lay ourselves down. How often have we layed ourselves down not even realizing laying down or having a million of thoughts about something else whilst being in the action of it.. And so it is by establishing a connection in the yoga that you than take along in the movements that you are doing. Hence yoga should be our living, our true form of living… Not only a thing or hour to do. Beautiful sweet short but valuable blog.
One of the things I struggled with the most in my first few esoteric yoga sessions was the idea that it wasn’t going to give me anything, or relieve me of anything. I noticed that I slept through quite a number of them. What I love most now is that it reflect back to me exactly how I’ve been living – how exhausted or checked out I’ve been, how aware I’ve been of my body, how anxious, etc. Stopping and feeling is a moment that puts the brakes on, makes me feel how I’ve been living, and re-connect to something much greater than the surface level emotions or day to day distractions. It is an awesome modality in its simplicity.
“This experience of real stillness is absolute freedom to go as deep as I am willing,” When we feel the inner stillness with Esoteric Yoga we know that this stillness knows no bounds.
This is well written and leads me to look and see what other quality of Yoga presents this to you in this way? I see Yoga all about certain stretches that give you a certain feeling but not one like this which is just about supporting you to feel you. There is a huge but some may say subtle difference here, for me it’s huge as it allows everyone to be equal and the dedication is about feeling and awareness no matter what they may look like, where you are at and how long it takes to come about. It’s not a fixed focus on having you do something, to get somewhere or to achieve a certain grade. Simply about feeling what is already there and allowing more and more of the same.
Esoteric Yoga is so far from the rigorous Yoga that I used to practice daily, but I never, ever experienced any depth of stillness or quality like I do with the Esoteric Yoga, and the amazing part is (as you so beautifully share Helen) that there is no limit to how much we can experience this exquisite stillness.
‘Esoteric Yoga is about developing quality – my quality – of union with me, which is then reflected in everything that I do.’ A true union with our inner self.
SO true Helen – this modality is super simple but so powerful in the way that it offers a pathway to connect back to the body. To me, the agony and discomfort of simply sitting in a chair being aware of a particular part of my body is very telling of this power.
Esoteric Yoga is a wonderful reflection of the whereabouts of our quality. It is a very still moment that reflects the permanent movements we go through.
A great definition of Esoteric Yoga and Yes, I would like to feel someone, or as many, put words into describing Esoteric Yoga. I love the stillness too and like your go at presenting it Helen “This experience of real stillness is absolute freedom to go as deep as I am willing, and complete support for where I am at.” Totally confirming – something we all need a daily treat of in the body.
What you have share here Helen describes so beautiful the relationship I also have with Esoteric Yoga. Never before had I experienced such a deep sense of knowing who I am, what I feel like through my connection to my body and being, and how I can live in connection to this quality throughout my day. I discovered that it is through our bodies that the truth of who we are is revealed, a stillness that is ever-present, where we are offered the choice to surrender to being more of who we are, bringing awareness to the choices that hold us back from our true way of being.
I just love how powerful Esoteric Yoga can be if I am open and willing to feel what the body presents me with at times. I can feel a restlessness in my body at times, my mind tries to take me away, at times, as was recently I slept through the Yoga to awaken to the most warmly exquisite feeling in my body where every cell felt alive and at other times a deep sense of stillness and surrender.
Thanks Helen, all of your positive feedback with regards to Esoteric Yoga is the same for me. It’s has had a profound effect in every area of my life, and supported me to return to a natural state of stillness and steadiness, hugely reducing the anxiousness, nervous tension and stress I was living in. It’s also changed my relationship to myself, I’ve become so much more understanding, gentle, accepting and caring of myself – that in itself is gold because low self worth is crippling, as is self neglect and being harsh with myself that comes with it. My quality of life, health and wellbeing has profoundly changed thanks to this simple and very powerful modality.
I know this is going to sound so horrible and silly but when I read this blog I felt jealous. Jealous that you have been able to commit and make time to actually do Esoteric Yoga and have allowed yourself every experience along the way without bunking out. I remember a time in my life, about 6 years ago when I was 3 children lighter than now and didn’t have 2 business, I was committing to yoga and experienced some of the same things. These days it feels like I am too busy to fit it into my own life, anyway, jealousy is poison but so is dishonesty, so now I have been honest about my jealously, ironically, I have let it go! Haha, and I feel inspired to roll out the yoga mat again! Thanks for sharing.
Love your honesty Sarah – very refreshing to read. Perhaps with this nomination space has made its way to your day and Esoteric Yoga is an option…? You know, even just committing to a few minutes as you wake up and go to sleep can make a huge difference… in fact, I’ve just inspired myself to do that!
Totally Rachael,
It reminds me how sometimes I don’t want to go out to something and I tell my husband; “I’m sorry but you will have attend that dinner alone.” As soon as I have expressed that I don’t want to go, I feel fine and want to go. There is a huge amount to be said for expression. No pun intended haha 😂
I can relate to everything that is written and offered here in this article. I remember starting Esoteric Yoga and just finding keeping my eyes open difficult. There is and was always something to see, no matter if you were awake or not. I love what was presented and to be honest the first few times I did Esoteric Yoga my body was in a high level of pain. Just sitting down with my legs stretched out in front was a struggle even though I considered myself to be flexible. It wasn’t so much the stretching part but more actually being asked to connect deeply to what my body was feeling was the ‘struggle’. I had done all manner of exercise and yoga but never had I actually been asked to sit still and just feel. Now I realise this is where everything is born from, stillness and your personal relationship to it. Esoteric Yoga is not only an important part of my day but it’s a huge support for my life.
How to truly be a student of oneself, encapsulated in a nutshell Helen Simkins: “The only requirement is my own commitment to being prepared to be present and experience whatever is revealed through my body without pre-conceived expectation or judgement.”
Esoteric Yoga is a modality that offers us this grand opportunity – to develop an intimate relationship with our own bodies, and all that they continually reveal to us, as to what is Love and what is not. Agreed that this is oh so simple, and yet profound beyond measure.
I loved reading your blog Helen, it reminded me of my first Esoteric Yoga session where I started dropping off to sleep in the middle of it and then spent the next few days of yoga sessions fighting against myself to not checkout and drop off, now I find the sessions a great support to reconnecting with myself, and a chance to check in with my body and how it truly feels.
I can relate to all you have shared, instead of checking out from your body into your mind it allows you to check into your body to really feel how you are feeling and what’s going on. Sometimes it is extremely uncomfortable to feel but this is still great as it then gives you the opportunity to make changes.
A wonderful testimony Helen, thank you. I have not practised Esoteric Yoga much but can relate to what you share through learning the Gentle Breath Meditation. With this very simple breathing technique I experience both exquisite stillness and also times when I desire escape. It seems to me that when we allow ourselves to become truly still, we also allow things that are ‘buried’ to come up into our awareness and be healed or released. It’s been a great thing in my experience. I look forward to learning more about Esoteric Yoga and feeling the benefits of it soon.
I find that every time I do a 6-week program with Esoteric Yoga I get the opportunity to slow down and be more reflective on how I live my everyday, and thus how I can learn to bring more quality and integrity to it.
Helen, I can relate to all you write here about the simplicity and power of Esoteric Yoga. It is a wonderful self-healing modality that, as you say, supports developing one’s quality that becomes a solid foundation to live from in everyday life.
Through this modality “Esoteric Yoga is about developing quality – my quality – of union with me, which is then reflected in everything that I do. It is so, so simple and yet SO powerful”.
Complication dis-empowers us, while simplicity empowers us. Simple.
Yes Helen you have been truly masterful in your inspiring description.
“This modality has supported me enormously in reducing stress, anxiety levels, nervous energy and the relentless drive of my mind. It has given me real relaxation, increased presence and a much greater sense of freedom in my body. It supports me to deal with the intensity of whatever may come up in the day without losing my connection within.” This modality is so deeply needed within our society right now as I feel our world spinning out of itself in a mad rush towards the future. Esoteric Yoga allows us to feel the future within our bodies and to step out onto our path with stillness and steadiness embodied. Such a great gift to the raciness and drive energy that predominates humanity.
One of the things that I love most about Esoteric Yoga is that we are our own practitioner, like we are through the course of our day and our life. It is no different. We are responsible for all of our choices and when ‘doing’ Esoteric Yoga, it highlights everything beautifully. Whether we are feeling the pain in our body or whether we are feeling super lovely and exquisite. Nothing that our body presents is there for us to judge for there is no goal or nowhere to get to. It’s all there for us to feel, connect to or let go in the understanding that often what we can feel is not who we are. I recall once sitting on the mat and realising then and there how lovely I felt and that I had missed out on that lovely feeling for the whole day. If it wasn’t for this modality I would have continued on with what was going on in my mind, which was nothing like the loveliness that my body was feeling.
It is such an amazing experience to surrender deeply and allow your body to be. At times when I have struggled to do this the sessions can be quite painful and then when I do let go I get to experience a great stillness that is always there under the tensions I can carry and get involved with.
Our bodies are so honest and they simply reflect everything back to us without judgment or critic. Esoteric Yoga allows us to feel all this if we so choose. There is a wealth of wisdom we can access through our bodies and this is ever expanding.
I couldn’t agree more Helen, ‘Esoteric Yoga is a truly amazing modality’ and one which shows us very clearly how we are, and I love how you capture it here, how it allows us to feel and see clearly how our bodies are as a result of how our minds are driven, and over time it allow us to deepen our relationship with us, and in that with the wider world and others. It allows us to come back to the stillness within.
“Esoteric Yoga inevitably delivers to me the truth of how I have been living and presents an opportunity for me to become more aware of how much my body can tell me if I take the time to be with it. It gives me the space to release energy and emotions that have been locked deep into my body and supports me to continually connect more deeply to the truth of who I am.” – how priceless is that!! I do know it can be confronting sometimes to connect with the truth of how we have been living and what our body is communicating with us but if we stay connected we can see it as a learning and opportunity for change rather than judging ourself.
So I feel the simplicity that you are sharing is also so, so true for every aspect of the esoteric. Thank you Helen, I also feel that Esoteric Yoga has been such a joy-full experience for me over the last 14 years.
It is through the practice of Esoteric Yoga that I have learned what creating space is all about, it supports me to clear any emotions I have been carrying in my body creating space for me to embrace and reconnect more the true qualities of stillness and tenderness that I am, thank you.
The stillness reveals so much. Each time I allow myself to just be still it exposes by contrast the many untrue energies I have been living in, giving me an opportunity to make new choices in my daily life. Stillness is definitely one of the gifts Esoteric Yoga restores to us.
Well said and very true Helen, after spending many years doing a strenuous form of Yoga it was difficult for me at first to be so still and hardly move in a session, but the feeling after doing an Esoteric Yoga session was completely different for me – a deep surrender and stillness in my body that was beautiful to feel.
Thank you Helen for a beautiful sharing on Esoteric Yoga, I too have felt the effects in my body of how I have been living and an opportunity for me to let go and feel all that my body is sharing, this presence can then bring healing to my body in a deep and beautiful way.
When Serge Benhayon first described Esoteric Yoga as Union with stillness and stillness as an essential healing quality within us, I had never heard of this before even though having practiced and taught Yoga for many years. But it felt to me to be a missing ingredient of my search of peace of mind through Yoga. For the first time, I began to understand how Yoga was for everyone, irrespective of physical condition and spiritual inclination, because it was about connection with a deeper aspect of ourselves that every human being possessed regardless of their choices. And from this I began to understand how simple Yoga needed to be, so it could be lived throughout each day. As Helen relates, this beautiful, precious and above all true understanding has only expanded and been confirmed over and over through many courses of Esoteric Yoga.
Beautifully said Simon, I agree, Esoteric Yoga is truly unifying and stillness is a quality of being that we can all equally re-connect to.
Thank goodness Helen! It’s great to read about your experience and how parallel it is to my own. The pain of numbness coming back and my connection to different parts of my body, it’s so intense! I know there is light at the end of the tunnel and I’m feeling inspired to commit to a program again. It really exposes the agony of not being with my body.
So true Rachael, I think I slept through my first 10 sessions of Esoteric Yoga as the numbness was so deep it was the only way it could be delt with.
I’m so impressed Helen with your commitment to doing Esoteric Yoga on your own. It’s clear how much it has supported you and continues to help you go deeper with your own connection. I want to be able to say that I am inspired enough to do this, but I know I won’t as I avoid going there with myself to a certain degree. But what is awesome is that I know I have the choice to go there when I’m ready!
Something I love about Esoteric Yoga is that no matter what I’ve been doing (or feeling) my body always has the same tender, delicate yumminess to it – and it’s just there waiting for me to notice it!
“Esoteric Yoga is about developing quality – my quality – of union with me, which is then reflected in everything that I do. It is so, so simple and yet SO powerful.” Absolutely Helen. At first I did not like Esoteric Yoga one bit as it was nothing like I knew yoga to be, however, over time and with much perseverance, I finally started to connect to the stillness of Esoteric Yoga and how truly amazing and powerful it really is.
“Esoteric Yoga is about developing quality – my quality – of union with me, which is then reflected in everything that I do. It is so, so simple and yet SO powerful. ” Thank you Helen for sharing the quality of stillness and connection that Esoteric Yoga brings.
Esoteric Yoga gives us the stop to feel what our body has to say if we are willing to truly listen, like you say Helen; “The only requirement is my own commitment to being prepared to be present and experience whatever is revealed through my body without preconceived expectation or judgement.”
Not only an ‘impact’ but a huge shift in the way I can now feel through feeling in my body the areas that I connect to, and deepening my awareness from that area to feel different aspects of myself. For example, when I feel my cheek area under my eyes, I can feel how my whole body is then in the feeling of true intimacy.
Everything about Esoteric Yoga has had a huge impact on my life.
Helen,
Esoteric Yoga has become an integral part of my life, for I am beginning to feel how being still in my body does not have to be reserved for the time I put aside to attend sessions. The growing and immense joy I feel in any moment that I choose to live fro my stillness is paramount to my life as living from my stillness brings a steady, solid, deeply knowing way of being. A way of living that leaves for dead the constant tension of living racing ahead of life, trying to be prepared for tomorrow, next week, next year. In my stillness, life is simple, anything that arises is dealt with in the moment.
I absolutely agree Helen, esoteric yoga is a truly amazing modality and it has given me so much insight in my body and how I treat my body on a daily basis. It made me aware of the power we have when we connect to ourselves via the body, the beautiful wisdom we all carry and that it is all there waiting for us the moment we choose to be present.
This is a gorgeous summary of the power of esoteric yoga and the support it offers in connecting to and developing a true union with ourselves to take into our day. I love that it asks absolutely nothing of you other than to just be and feel what is there to be felt.
I have done a few Esoteric Yoga courses over the last few years – sometimes they are exquisite and sometimes they are unbearable. I’m coming to realise that neither one is god or bad. It is what it is, it is where I am at and wherever that is, it is being revealed to me. The revealing is a beautiful thing as it brings awareness, which no matter the pain or the beauty is honest. I far prefer the uncomfort of honesty than the comfort of blindness.
‘Esoteric Yoga is about developing quality – my quality – of union with me, which is then reflected in everything that I do.’ Beautifully said and very true Helen, the Esoteric Yoga modality supports us way beyond the yoga mat to deepen this stillness.
If individually we understand our minds are driving our bodies into overstimulation and leading us astray, we all need to stop and realise not only the ripple effect of this on ourselves and others, but the collective ripple effect of all of us doing this together on each other. Ouch, no wonder it feels like some days we are all just bouncing off each other with our reactions and the world is running at such a fast messy pace – it literally is, and it’s all because we are being run and driven by our mind. What a blessing that esoteric yoga reconnects us back to the fullness of our body, which is quite obviously an absolute godsend in this day and age.
Helen I too can appreciate how my esoteric yoga sessions ‘delivers to me the truth of how I have been living and presents an opportunity for me to become more aware of how much my body can tell me if I take the time to be with it.’ The wisdom of our body comes alive when we connect to it and literally can support us to let go of all that is not true in our lives while equally allowing the grace of our stillness to not only shine but to expand and develop.
Thank you Helen, I love Esoteric Yoga too and your blog has inspired me to incorporate this more into my day. Our ability to connect to stillness can be challenging when we have been living with push and drive but by surrendering and listening to our body we can deeply connect to our stillness. If we choose to listen to our body it certainly does expose how we have been living and sometimes this could be uncomfortable if we have been living with hardness and have been abusing our body. But these messages are here to support us to make more loving choices, to connect to stillness and our gentleness.
What I love about esoteric yoga is it just allows you to be you, as you so correctly write, there is no need to be anything or achieve anything, it’s all already there just waiting to be tapped into.
Yes Meg. And this is so important to note. If yoga is about the union of mind and body then it makes sense that it’s all about connection. Perhaps the many bastardised versions of yoga out there are not quite true when, it feels to me, that they are asking for so much more than just a simple connection.
“This experience of real stillness is absolute freedom to go as deep as I am willing, and complete support for where I am at” Esoteric yoga is connecting to the true stillness within that allows me to feel the divine beauty of my essence.
Thank you Helen for a beautiful sharing about Esoteric Yoga, I too love this experience, it has given me a much deeper sense of the love that is held in my body and how my body is experiencing the life I am living day to day. love this line.
“Esoteric Yoga is about developing quality – my quality – of union with me, which is then reflected in everything that I do. It is so, so simple and yet SO powerful. “
“Esoteric Yoga inevitably delivers to me the truth of how I have been living”
Helen, I love what you have shared and this statement feels very revealing for me. Our bodies know it all and Esoteric Yoga is a way for our body to talk to us and to share the truth of how we have been living .
“Esoteric Yoga is about developing quality – my quality – of union with me” – I really love how you have put this, Helen. I am appreciating that fact even more deeply as I am currently at a Universal Medicine retreat and finding it very difficult to stay with myself during Esoteric Yoga, and actually feel rather resistant and resentful – but I can feel how my body reconfigure itself, especially during an evening session, and it is a great opportunity to confirm that it is a body that is the container of truth, and not my mind.
I have also found esoteric yoga to be a very powerful modality in releasing stored emotions and connecting to my essence, and when having a deeper connection to self everything in life seems to run so much smoother and creates an environment of harmony
I can relate to that unbearable comfortableness in the body you describe Helen when I first experienced Esoteric Yoga. Coming from 30+ years of high intensity exercise and other forms of yoga my body was still in the motion of that momentum each time I lay down to be still. Over time, with commitment to the practice and acceptance it’s now lovely to be able to lay still with that agitation gone and feel into every part of my body and embrace what it’s sharing with me be it aches, pains or an exquisite tenderness.
I find it is easy to promise myself that I’ll stop in a moment … when I just finish off/do XYZ – which of course doesn’t happen because by then the next thing has come along. Esoteric yoga is a great way to pull this momentum up and in the stillness I am forced to ask myself why I wouldn’t want to live with this quality in my life all the time. The more esoteric yoga I participate in, the more I am noticing it’s imprint in so many areas of my life. I love it!
Thank you Helen for so beautifully describing all the phases we can go through with Esoteric Yoga, just reading your blog now, feels like I have just had a beautiful Yoga session with you.
This is beautiful Janet. This confirm how amazing Esoteric Yoga is, so simple and powerful and choosing to surrender can take us to a deeper level of stillness and connection with ourselves.
Esoteric Yoga is very simple, yet interesting how many of us struggle with its simplicity. I was the same in my first few sessions, it was very revealing how much I was not accepting to be in stillness. But once I chose to surrender and listen to my body, it was very natural for my body but it was my mind that struggled with it to begin with. Now, I love Esoteric Yoga.
Yes that is it. It was always my mind that struggled and was constantly telling me – I was bored, or I should be ‘doing’ something else, or its the middle of the day you can’t just lay here and on and on it would go… Now though my body loves it and there is no space for my mind to trick me and if it does it doesn’t last very long!
Esoteric Yoga is definitely a powerful modality. I had my first group session a little while ago and I was blown away by its simplicity and power. What is amazing is that I can bring Esoteric Yoga into my everyday, to remind and allow myself to connect to my body. To be aware of being present with my every move, to bring quality, stillness and gentleness to my body.
Esoteric yoga is a truly amazing modality indeed. My first yoga session I was counting the minutes for it to be over, so restless, so anxious and thinking of all the things I had to do. Now I just absolutely love it, I am looking forward to it, I surrender to it and yes, there is resistance to go deeper at times and yes, there are things to feel, but boy oh boy, what a true gift esoteric yoga is. I will do it for the rest of my life. I don’t mind passing over while I have an esoteric yoga session…
I agree Helen, well said. It is difficult to ‘describe adequately in words’ the immense power of esoteric yoga. But I can honestly say that for me it has been foundational to helping me rebuild my innate quality from within in such as way that it ‘supports me to deal with the intensity of whatever may come up in the day without losing my connection within’. By no means have I perfected this connection but at least I know that underneath it all, it’s actually there.
My body and being just love Esoteric Yoga. A beautiful modality that deeply connects me to my inner essence and all that belongs to it, and also reveals exactly where I am at in life.
Beautifully expressed Helen – the truth of Esoteric Yoga and the invitation it offers to be in union with oneself and then everything.
“Esoteric Yoga is about developing quality – my quality – of union with me, which is then reflected in everything that I do. It is so, so simple and yet SO powerful. There is absolutely no need to be a contortionist or super flexible (phew), and certainly no straining to achieve anything. The only requirement is my own commitment to being prepared to be present and experience whatever is revealed through my body without pre-conceived expectation or judgement”.
‘Esoteric Yoga is about developing quality – my quality – of union with me, which is then reflected in everything that I do.’ – So very true Helen, the Esoteric Yoga is an amazing modality that connects me to my stillness where I get to feel a different and beautiful quality within.
It is amazing to feel the power of just being with your body, no weird postures or fancy moments but to just be. What is revealed if we allow ourselves to feel it can be exquisite or painful but whatever it is that is what the body is presenting to you. Such simplicity!
Love this Helen, “an increasing sense of what the joy of true freedom feels like.” Esoteric Yoga has allowed me to feel the walls of protection and imprisonment I have placed myself in to the feeling of these dissolving and disappearing and knowing once again the beautiful me free to be the beauty-full me.
Thank you for this awesome dedication to the power of Esoteric Yoga Helen. You have summed up the simplicity and the challenges so well ‘The only requirement is my own commitment to being prepared to be present and experience whatever is revealed through my body without pre-conceived expectation or judgement.’
Esoteric yoga is a very amazing healing modality and the beauty of it is is that its done withou exertion or strain however deep connection and clarity is the result
Awesome Helen. I have had similar experiences with dealing with the motion that I have set up within my body, however the esoteric yoga has supported me to take my foot off the accelerator and allowed a connection that was otherwise being missed and not appreciated.
Yes the drivenness of my mind does feel like having my foot on the accelerator of life which does not allow for a true connection.
Thank you Helen for sharing your appreciation of Esoteric Yoga. I too was surprised that being so still and tender with myself could bring up so many aches and pains in my body when I first started Esoteric Yoga but gradually I realised that the pains disappeared and I felt a beautiful warm expansion throughout my body that I had never felt before. And, like you I felt an “increased presence and a much greater sense of freedom in my body” as well as a freedom from the incessant chattering in my mind.
It is deeply illuminating and supportive practice “Esoteric Yoga inevitably delivers to me the truth of how I have been living and presents an opportunity for me to become more aware of how much my body can tell me if I take the time to be with it.” I am come quite recently to Esoteric Yoga and it has been so supportive and insightful. I have deepening my practice and it offers such a clear reflection of how I have been living and suing my body.
In Esoteric Yoga there is nothing to achieve and everything to ‘be’, in a beautiful unfolding way back to us in essence. At times it can be challenging to feel all that the body communicates and what a joy to feel what comes with this honesty and true connection to the exquisiteness we are.
A gorgeous blog on Esoteric Yoga Helen, reminding us all of this amazing modality and the joy it brings to our lives. This line of yours really stood out to me – “Esoteric Yoga is about developing quality – my quality – of union with me, which is then reflected in everything that I do. It is so, so simple and yet SO powerful.”
‘..how much my body can tell me if I take the time to be with it.’ This is very true Helen, I have not allowed myself this enough till now but reading your blog is supporting me to start spending some quality esoteric yoga time with my body again.
You have captured the essence and power of Esoteric yoga exquisitely. It is a divine support that embraces you, holding and nurturing you in the stillness the more you embrace and surrender to yourself. Just gorgeous.
No straining! This is the key for me. After 14 years of Hatha Yoga practice I feel like I finally entered heaven, practicing Esoteric Yoga now.
It took me many Esoteric Yoga sessions until I was able to access the true benefit of this amazing modality and how I can utilize it for myself in deepening the connection to my body. The more I practice it the deeper I appreciate it.
Thank you Helen for your blog – a timely reminder that I have the choice every moment to choose my level of connection to my body. It is time to practise this modality more consistently.
It is through the practise of Esoteric Yoga I have come to know God.
The Esoteric yoga is something that I have found so unbearably uncomfortable at times, it’s like watching a 2 year old throwing a tantrum!! only because I know exactly what it offers… And what it offers is up to you as little or as much as what you want and nothing more.
Thank you, Helen. It is very inspiring to read your deep appreciation of Esoteric Yoga. How you treasure each step of developing the quality of union with yourself is very much felt in your every word, and it’s absolutely gorgeous to feel your stillness.
Yes Helen, I am loving this celebration of Esoteric Yoga. It is the gem which we take into our day – it never stays in the class or on the mat, it builds a way of being with our bodies that lives within us and expands through our activity. Gold!
Esoteric yoga is the best. I am doing an online program at the moment and it feels so supporting. It deepens my relationship with myself and my body, it shows me where I am in resistance, it allows me to become even more still, it supports me in being more present during the day and it is just absolutely a pure joy to be part of it. I can’t think of a more supporting and loving present to give myself.
I completely agree “Esoteric Yoga inevitably delivers to me the truth of how I have been living…” Some times I can feel a resistance within me both before and during Esoteric Yoga, but I am now clearer what this is – it is my way of trying to get out of feeling how I and my body actually feels. I am aware how connecting and healing it is so I commit to practice Esoteric Yoga because the truth that is shares is amazing,
I so agree with all you write, esoteric yoga brings you into your body unlike any other yoga I have experienced, it is a deeply healing and connecting modality that is so supportive. I have found it brings me to a stillness I had never known, yet is so familiar and welcoming. It brings you back to you.
‘The only requirement is my own commitment to being prepared to be present and experience whatever is revealed through my body without pre-conceived expectation or judgement.’ This sentence alone makes me sit back in my body and relax, no expectations, no judgement just observation and presence.
Helen I also share your joy about Esoteric Yoga and can relate well to your experiences. To get to feel the pulse of stillness resonate within your body, is amazing, and like all the clocks and time stand still to enjoy this moment with you. I am in the past, present and future at the same time that it feels time-less. What I love so much about this modality/Yoga is that it provides an opportunity to be disciplined towards including stillness as part of your whole life. When there is such stillness, there is connection. When there is connection there is clarity. When there is clarity there is truth. When there is truth, we are with God.
What an inspiring and joyful blog Helen – wow you describe your experience with esoteric yoga so lively that if – I would not know the benefit from it – would be so curious and would immediately look for a yoga session class.
I love the way you have explained esoteric yoga. Sometimes time has passed so slowly when I don’t like what I am feeling in my body, other times I have found it difficult to keep my mind focused on feeling what is going on in my body or drifted off into sleep. This happens less and less now and I am able to really able to stay aware and connected during my yoga sessions. Esoteric yoga is a great way of truly feeling the stillness within me and that is beautiful.
When I have done Esoteric Yoga in the past I have found it hard to stay awake as well! And at times found it hard to stay present with what I’m doing.. Feeling what’s going on in your body and the way you’ve been living with it can sometimes be difficult !
This modality feels deeply needed in our world today Helen with such power I am sure if we all took the time and space to commit to doing a session of Esoteric Yoga in our day it would begin to make enormous changes with all the stress, anxiousness and anxiety most face each day.
I totally agree Joshua and the beauty of this practice is that not only would it be transformational for all who choose to re-connect to and open their bodies to the wisdom within and hold this throughout their day but its divine effect would ripple out and inspire all others to do the same.
Yes true Suse. We often think that a modality like this when practised is only beneficial to the self as yes it is, but its energetic benefits are felt by all
It was amazing to feel what you described in your Blog; the level of agitation and restless-ness I feel in my body at night is very uncomfortable. And clearly shows me the anxiousness I have been living in throughout the day. This is a work in progress to stay more present in all that I do. Thank you Helen for your awesome blog.
I love this description, so true “Esoteric Yoga inevitably delivers to me the truth of how I have been living and presents an opportunity for me to become more aware of how much my body can tell me if I take the time to be with it.” I have only undertaken a bit of Esoteric Yoga but have found it deeply supportive, stillness when felt is truly ‘exquisite’ and through experiencing this in yoga, it is something that we can take out into our daily life.
This is gorgeous Helen. A beautiful description of the power of Esoteric Yoga. It is amazing how being still, and choosing to be with ourselves, our stillness can reveal the truth of how we have been living. Our bodies do not lie when we choose to listen and allow ourselves to feel. I find that Esoteric Yoga presents a powerful opportunity to deepen my connection to Soul, to return to and confirm all that we truly are and to feel what is needed to live with this stillness in motion. As you said – ‘It is so, so simple and yet SO powerful.’ And here, in the expansiveness of this union, with our love, our essence, is our joy that awaits to be lived.
Hear hear, well said Helen. I know for me, having experienced other forms of yoga, to having later discovered Esoteric Yoga for the first time, I was sold by the fact I now knew the true meaning of yoga.
Helen, this is a wonderful introduction for someone new to Esoteric Yoga. I found joy knowing it is here for others to read as you capture how I and many others too have experienced Esoteric Yoga. It can be challenging initially, but this is worth it as most of the time now I too find I can surrender into a beautiful expansion that is deeply re-balancing for my body and being.
I so know the different situations that can occur whilst doing an esoteric yogasession like you described. At the beginning I had to kind of “force” me to do the yoga, now, after a couple of years I LOVE IT. I love the reflection it gives me and I can truly feel a development in doing it, connected to my established stillness that’s now with me. Now, it feels like a holiday spending the time very focussed with me. What a change – thanks to the lovely presentations of Vicky Geary.
Thanks Helen you have inspired me to reengage with esoteric yoga.
Helen, I have been lazy in implementing any esoteric yoga on my own but reading your blog has given me the nudge I needed to give it a go. Thank you
‘Esoteric Yoga inevitably delivers to me the truth of how I have been living’ this is so true and it can be quite revealing to feel it
Thank you Helen for sharing your experience of yoga. I agree there is a lot that can be revealed when we are still.
I love this Helen, every word you express here I know is so true. Esoteric yoga is amazing and a tool that I use every day even if it’s gift just a few minutes to help cone back to be in union with my body, in my stillness, to be in union and harmony with me. Truly amazing.
I agree Suzanne and Helen – esoteric yoga works. When I visited India on business a few years ago I talked to a businessman who did two hours yoga every day. When I asked why, he said to still the mind.
However, in my experience a ‘still mind’ is a hard to achieve ideal and, when you do, in my experience (I once did 20 days of full-time meditation in a row) it is just an emptiness without any other benefits.
Thank you Helen for a beautiful description of esoteric yoga. A very inspiring blog that with esoteric yoga we have a choice to feel more deeply in our bodies if we so choose.
Beautiful Helen, just by reading this blog I could drop deeper into my body and feeling the nurturing stillness. I find this stillness one of the most nourishing things for my body.
I can’t wait Marika, to give it another go. The difference in my attitude toward Esoteric Yoga has shifted again and I’m eager ‘as eager can be’ to experiment some more!
I agree Esoteric Yoga is an amazing modality that supports the whole body. Even though I found it challenging for a few months and wanted to fall asleep or fidget there was something stronger in me that kept me returning for more. The stillness and deeper place within I can now feel when doing yoga then affects how the rest of the day feels as I become a lot more aware of my body.
I’ve just started an Esoteric Yoga course and I am already feeling how it supports me to feel my body more and to feel the stillness. Although it can be challenging to feel how I have been living when tuning in and feeling various areas of pain and numbness. But Esoteric Yoga gives me a choice to stay feeling my body and therefore not create the pain and numbness again.
I agree fully with you Helen, “Esoteric Yoga is a truly amazing modality”. To me Esoteric Yoga is the way to connect truly to my body and to reinstate my relationship with it. It is amazing how powerful and full of knowledge my body is when I truly connect to it. It shows me clearly where I am, who I am and tells me loud and clear how to be in a certain situation, fully equipped for everything that is needed in my life. It is amazing how powerful the stillness in my body can be and how much joy there is to be felt deep within.
‘I experience the ‘exquisite, nurturing stillness – described beautifully in another blog – throughout my being and body, confirming for me my level of connection with who I truly am and showing me that there is no limit to how deep and vast this stillness can be.’
I love especially the last part of this sentence: there is no limit to how deep and vast this stillness can be. Every time I go: this is the most still I have ever experienced and yet it keeps deepening and deepening. And that for a woman, who at the start couldn’t stay with the yoga for the whole hour and had to go to the toilet during the sessions…..
I too, love Esoteric Yoga. I find it an invaluable tool for revealing to me how I have been choosing to live on a daily basis and the consequences, this is having on my body
Awesome article, Helen. I loved this sentence: “This experience of real stillness is absolute freedom to go as deep as I am willing, and complete support for where I am at: it is hard to describe adequately in words…” Yes – it is so difficult to adequately describe how amazing it feels to be really still. When I first started practising Esoteric Yoga I felt a resistance to stillness – based on a gross misunderstanding that this would mean I’d be ‘boring’ or ‘stagnant’ or that opening to it would mean that I’d lose my spunk and just be sort of flat. How far from the truth that is! Being still is what allows me to really freely express all who I am with more playfulness than ever, and Esoteric yoga courses support this understanding in my body in a very deep way.
Esoteric yoga is an amazing modality. I have completed two yoga courses recently and was able to experience how I had been living and but also the deep stillness in my body which I had never experienced before. Feeling this stillness is a marker as to how I could be if I chose to live in a more harmonious way. Thank you Helen for the great blog on Esoteric yoga.
“Esoteric Yoga inevitably delivers to me the truth of how I have been living and presents an opportunity for me to become more aware of how much my body can tell me if I take the time to be with it.” This is a great description of how Esoteric Yoga is so supportive, it offers within us all, such stillness and reflection.
“There is absolutely no need to be a contortionist or super flexible (phew), and certainly no straining to achieve anything.”. This is so well expressed, yet a forever learning reality. Through my body I’m getting to know myself more and more. It’s not via the mind, via ideas, beliefs, etc. that I get to know myself, but via connecting to my body. Sometimes it’s just exquisite, other times it’s really uncomfortable revealing choices that I’ve made… But never can I say, ah body – you’ve got it wrong. My body is just spot on and accurate in serving me on my way back to me. And it leaves it up to me if and what I choose. Thank you for that body.
Thank you for sharing your experience of esoteric yoga Helen. I can feel the connection you have developed in esoteric yoga coming through in your writing. It has inspired me to explore this form of yoga further.
I have yet to master esoteric yoga on my own but will give it a go, I’m not into the bliss thing but look forward to that stillness marker I get from a group session being reached and staying with that connection to myself. Boldly going where I have never been before… “to infinity and beyond” (Buzz Lightyear!)
I love your sharing here Helen on Esoteric Yoga. I have tried many forms of yoga over the years and have also taught yoga for many years. It was when I first experienced Esoteric Yoga that I knew that I had come home and that this form of yoga is true yoga, the yoga of stillness. Not much movement is involved in Esoteric Yoga which gives us the opportunity to stop, connect and feel what is there in the body to be felt. What I have found, that it can be difficult to connect and feel all there is in the body in movement. It is much easier to develop this in a practise such as Esoteric Yoga which then gives me a reference point of what stillness and connection feels like. It is then very obvious when I have moved away from this connection. Through a regular practise of Esoteric Yoga I have been able to develop a deeper and intimate relationship with myself. I am deeply grateful for this amazing modality.
The stillness within us is a constant in our lives that we can choose to be with and live or choose not to. If one follows a course of esoteric Yoga (usually six sessions), there are times when we feel how simple it is to be with ourselves in stillness – like the mind just gives way or lets go and we feel how natural stillness is. This is quite unique in my many years of practising yoga, which has commonly been about using the body to achieve a certain state – like a high or bliss. It is quite amazing to feel in esoteric Yoga that the gentle focus on our body (no posture, exercise or stretch) is simply to keep us present and move to a deeper sense of who we are.
Yes Esoteric Yoga is a super powerful tool to deepen our commitment with ourselves and our awareness and honesty of what is really going on for us and in our body. I find it never run’s out from providing great benefit, and instead constantly evolves or changes as I do.
Thank you Helen for the beautiful revelation if the very simple yet super powerful Esoteric Yoga.
I agree Andrew Esoteric Yoga may present as being very simple and but it is definitely super powerful. What I am also realising is that simplicity in itself is one of the best super-powers we have as human beings. Our bodies, our lives, all our relationships and workplaces all thrive on simplicity and in this increasingly complicated world we have created the awareness of simplicity being so powerful is an absolute breath of fresh air.
I also remember feeling uncomfortable pain in certain parts of my body when I first started doing esoteric yoga! But instead of fighting with my body, I surrendered to the process guided by the practitioner. Slowly as my body released I also experienced my first taste of true stillness. From there the choice to do esoteric yoga was a pleasure, even if it meant going deeper with the holding in my body that initially can present as pain as it lets go. A truly wonderful modality.
Helen, great blog about Esoteric Yoga – it is an extremely supportive modality and helps bring me back to my body, as you say so clearly – “Esoteric Yoga inevitably delivers to me the truth of how I have been living and presents an opportunity for me to become more aware of how much my body can tell me if I take the time to be with it”. It asks me to look at how my body is and the way I have been living.
I couldn’t agree with you more Helen, Esoteric Yoga is astonishing in its simplicity. The simpler we make our sessions by staying focused in them, the more our bodies are able to show us and release for us. The combination of presence and movement is hugely freeing for the body…I love your line “It gives me the space to release energy and emotions that have been locked deep into my body and supports me to continually connect more deeply to the truth of who I am.” That is true freedom.
I had always steered clear of any Yoga thing that was around thinking that it was some Hippie or spiritual new age thing, so when I heard about this Esoteric Yoga it took quite a bit of convincing for me to go along. I remember lying there thinking are we going to do anything?? I had no idea and felt like I had ants in my pants I couldn’t stay still… Now I don’t do it a lot, but it is truly amazing.
My experience with yoga is not as deep as yours. Yet, I can relate to what you share.
The body teaches us if we listen to it and if we are humble enough to recognise its authority and its value. The different esoteric modalities are great to help us to walk this path during the session and during their aftermath.
Esoteric Yoga is one of the most beautiful modalities I have every experienced. I exposes where my body is at and how I have been living (which is not always comfortable) but in the very next moment, I am offered a choice, a choice in how I support myself through what I am feeling. Through doing Esoteric Yoga I am realising the power of my everyday choices.
Who would ever have thought that lying still and feeling who you are with no distractions could be so confronting, and yet so very, very rewarding. Esoteric Yoga is a magical path to connection with ourselves…