I have long been amazed by the way in which the practice of Esoteric Yoga brings not only a reconnection to inner stillness, but also a deep awareness of stillness being a state of being that is actually innate to our bodies (no matter how far away from it we may think ourselves to be). Experiencing this awareness has revealed what changes to my daily routine and way of living the choice of stillness can offer as a way forward. This became very clear quite some time ago during a 6-week course with the Esoteric Yoga Stillness Program for Women.
A few minutes into one of the sessions that comprise the program, we were lying down and I had connected to stillness. Our practitioner had us focus our attention on our hands. As I allowed myself to feel my hands from the place of stillness, I was very aware at that moment of two vastly different types of energy within them.
I was delighting in how delicate my hands felt and I had a sense of how much delicateness and stillness they were capable of holding. I started to feel a deep sense of appreciation for my hands and found myself contemplating how remarkably divine would be all that I touched and did with them, if I were to express in this energy.
At the same time, which in itself is quite remarkable, I also felt the intensity of how much I had had my hands ‘do’ up until this moment of revelation. My hands were showing me how much my life had been a push and a drive as I felt the physical hardness I had encased them in to serve this unrelenting, harsh, forward momentum.
I had used my hands as functional workhorses, there only to serve whatever my mind was deeming was the thing to do at any one time.
I had disfigured two fingers on my right hand with excessive writing while pushing myself to get a degree at University – before the days of word processors. I had tensed my hands driving my car at times, in stress, frustration and anger, and had used them to lift weights in the gym that were way beyond my physical capacity. I had allowed shopping bags and dog leashes to cut into my hands, while choosing to ignore the harsh, physical effects of these activities. On a few occasions I had burned and cut parts of my hands in kitchen accidents, usually when I was in a hurry or distracted by a million thoughts other than those relating to cooking.
All of this I felt as I observed my hands from stillness, without judgement but with an honest accounting of the energy residing in them, placed there by me during the course of a lifetime.
I was astonished by the matter-of-fact honesty offered by my body without recrimination or blame: just a sharing of truth and the offering of a choice – continue with the harshness or choose to honour my hands in the delicateness and stillness that I truly am. I could choose to have the same hands I had had as a baby – delicate, sensitive and tenderly aware of how my touch engages with the outside world.
For a while after this, my hands felt a little sore at the fingertips. This I attributed to my choice to honour them. This choice meant that I became very aware of how and when I was pushing, because my fingertips, previously numbed into hardness, became very sensitive and their sensitivity alerted me to how I’d been using my hands – the quality of energy I used them in as I went about my daily activity.
I started to take moments to stop and to appreciate my hands at different points in my day when I moved them gently or massaged them, reminding myself that I wanted to move all of me, including my hands, delicately, from stillness. At other times I found I was naturally delighting again in the loveliness of my hands in activity, often when drying dishes, or during my cleansing routine, or dressing for the day.
My hands have since become a truly remarkable and precise indicator of whatever energy is running through me at any one time and they offer a constant awareness of the choices available to us all. They are absolutely worth appreciating and absolutely worth offering the energy of delicateness and stillness for their expression. As am I absolutely worth being delicate with me, as the woman that I am.
By Coleen
Further Reading:
Quality of movement = Quality of life
Stillness and Aloneness
Our Delicateness
The Truth about Universal Medicine 
Love the care and detail we can develop through Esoteric Yoga sessions. The space offered is a blessing, a moment of letting go and to just be in the delicateness and sensitivity of our body. Simply exquisite.
I agree with you Inma Lorente, the space that is offered allows us to feel where we are holding tension in our bodies which then gives us an opportunity to let go. In the letting go we can then access a deeper level of stillness that allows for a settlement in our bodies, so that when a situation comes up, rather than go into overwhelm the settlement gives us a steadiness so that the feeling of overwhelm is fleeting, as it passes through our bodies as it has nothing to anchor itself to any more. Letting go of tension in our bodies is the best medicine we can give to ourselves and Esoteric Yoga is a great tension buster.
Every moment offers us the opportunity to look at how we have been living and what needs to be addressed. When we honour how we feel and observe ourselves with such a loving way everything we experience can be like an open book for us to learn.
Esoteric Yoga presents a stop moment to observe how we have been living, ‘As I allowed myself to feel my hands from the place of stillness, I was very aware at that moment of two vastly different types of energy within them.’
I have come to adore the Esoteric Yoga sessions offered by the Universal Medicine trained practitioners.
I love to connect to the deep inner stillness that resides within us all, it is very settling and supports our bodies to let go of the nervous tensions and or anxiety we may be holding onto. At first, we may not be able to sustain this feeling in our bodies but the more we use the techniques to support us the more our bodies respond and deepen. There is something very magical about Esoteric Yoga.
Beautiful to appreciate and feel the stillness and delicateness we can choose to embody, ‘I was delighting in how delicate my hands felt and I had a sense of how much delicateness and stillness they were capable of holding.’
Stillness indeed is the foundation of Esoteric Yoga, and as you have shared Coleen, we can take these feeling into every part of our day and thus feel the True Joy of moving in Stillness / Yoga.
The last few days I have so enjoyed being more aware of my fingers and hands. I notice I can move to pick something up or touch something, even type, or I can grab, shove or hammer the keys on the keyboard. My fingers and hands tell me and it feels rough. The moment I clock it I can do something about it, which is surely preventative medicine for stress and tension!
Great preventive medicine indeed is what Esoteric Yoga brings, and our every movement can be a glorious reflection of our Stillness in motion.
It’s a great point about the hands being a marker for the quality of energy we have running through our body, something we can check in with regularly and when necessary adjust our movements to reflect our soul.
That is a great sharing, we can so easily check in with our hands, and feel what quality of energy they are embracing and reflecting, ‘I started to feel a deep sense of appreciation for my hands and found myself contemplating how remarkably divine would be all that I touched and did with them, if I were to express in this energy.’
“I had used my hands as functional workhorses, there only to serve whatever my mind was deeming was the thing to do at any one time.” Rather than imposing from my mind what my hands do and instead responding to what they feel is very revealing.