Mirrors

Last week, during our Easter break at the Shala, Laura and I shared a lovely Ashtanga practice.  There were many interesting aspects about the shared practice…how we started together, moved apart, and came back into sync…how the sound of another’s deep breath evokes calmness…how the pace of another’s movement impacts our own.

Before we began our practice I opened the mirror.  I often utilize the mirror in my own private practice for the immediate visual feedback.  Wow...the left shoulder is higher than my right, the torso is twisting slightly left, the sternum is slightly collapsed, etc.  If you’re working to refine alignment in postures, a mirror is a great tool.

After practice, Laura and I got into a great conversation around the subject of mirrors.  Why don’t I open them up in class?  Well…  for a few reasons.  One, we have a small space and arranging a class of 6 so that everyone can view themselves in the mirror is close to – not completely – but close to – impossible.  Two, mirrors encourage us to psychologically move outward, toward a defined image, rather than inward toward subtly of sensation and witnessing of thought.  Three, it complicates the practice by more directly inviting in the ego.  (This is not a “bad” practice.  Actually, watching the ego is a really fascinating and essential part of the practice.)  Visually opening the physical comparisons between practitioners has the potential for all sorts of fallout…particularly the language of “should,” “can’t,” “I’m not as good as,” “I’m not thin enough,” and on and on.  Now let’s admit it, this language may be going on anyway, but the mirror has the potential to increase its volume.   One of the goals of the practice is to watch this subjective language and begin replacing it with more objective facts – the back is rounded, the right leg is rotated further out, etc. – stating "What Is" instead of our perceptions of what "Should" be. Once this objectivity becomes grounded in self-acceptance, then the mirrors can be really useful. (By the way, this is the primary purpose of the dristi or focal point for the eyes in the Ashtanga system…the dristi keeps the practitioner focused on their own experience rather than gazing around the room at what others are doing.)

You may have come across conversations in yoga related to how everything in our perception of reality is actually a mirror of self.  It’s a pretty deep concept and can be quite enlightening if you’re brave enough to look at your own reflection.

A couple of years ago, I was consciously working with this concept and had a fascinating experience.  Each spring, the TTU School of Music hosts a Scholarship Concert, which serves as a fundraiser and an opportunity to honor donors.  The performance generally involves the entire school performing large works for full orchestra and choir.  (This year on April 28^th at 8pm, the school will present the Mozart Requiem – sorry, couldn’t resist the plug.)  I remember sitting in the concert hall and noticing how packed it was.  The stage of Hemmle Recital Hall was covered with wind and string players and multiple choirs filled not only the back of the stage but also the entire loft.  Add the packed house to this and I was but a drop in a sea of bodies and faces.

Then, I began playing with the idea of the mirror – how each person in this hall was somehow a reflection of me (or my perception at that time of who I was).  It was like being in the fun house at a carnival.  Soooo many mirrors, and some distorted. Wow…that cellist down there who never practices…he’s a reflection of me…hmm.  What does that mean?   What about that student who I know is struggling with the loss of a family member?  And the disrespectful “kid” on the back row of the brass section who really just needs to grow up?  What about that girl who seems more interested in fixing her hair than in warming up?  Gee whiz.  I must be a mess.  But wait…there’s a Grammy Award winning tenor on stage.  And what about that organist who is so funny and kind.  And that student who practices six hours a day? Are these reflections of me too?  How does what I choose to see in others mirror what I see in myself?  It is a choice isn’t it?  Whether or not to look at others with judgment, admiration, and/or compassion?  Whether or not to reflect on ourselves in these ways?  Swami Kripalu’s definition of yoga: “Self Observation with Love.” 

Around that same time, my son and I went with Jen and her daughter to see the new NASA movie, which contained newly released footage from several of the space shuttle missions.  One of the astronauts commented on how dark space was – the darkest black he’d ever experienced.   It was shortly after that, that I had the most amazing insight.   If there were only one source of light in the entirety of existence, that source would not be able to experience it’s own brilliance unless it had something to reflect it’s light from.  Its experience would be one of total darkness, of complete emptiness.  Could it be that the galaxies, solar systems, planets, people, animals, plants, earth, water, air, and ether are all here to reflect the brilliance of the source that created them?  Are we each a mirror for the Divine?  Each of us providing a tiny reflection of the whole?  Is it possible to see each person we encounter as a reflection not only of ourselves but also of Source/Absolute/Creator/God?  Do we have the ability to see God reflected in ourselves?  Just take a look in the mirror.  Namaste!