Temple

The year has already moved into February, the month initiated by the second full moon of the year. Yet another cycle of traveling over white snowed fjell to the capital of Norway, a trip that takes me about 9 hours single way.

In the 5th assembling of the teacher training at Northern Light Yoga, the theme was ‘your body a temple’. This a very relevant topic for this time we live in.

What does a temple represent to you? A place of safety? A place of beauty? Of worship, of adoration? And does that really represent how you see or treat your body? If you are completely honest, chances are that for most of us, the answer will not be 100% yes.

And that’s alright you know. We are here to find our way home. To find that in ourselves. To re-find it, return to it. I didn’t mean for that to sound easy. So, let’s start at the beginning.

Our bodies are born from the earth. Soil is formed from the rocks of the planet. Soil gives its elements to all that grows above. Crafting the perfect nutrition for humanity. You are literally built from the food your mother ate during pregnancy. And ever since, your cells are constantly regenerating using the building blocks that you give yourself.

But the human mind invented packaged lunchmeat. And how to grow thousands of chickens that never see the light of the sun. How to extract pure sugars and oils and how to put them into everything. The mind found out how to make it addicted to its own inventions.

The world became full of pseudo-food-science. Promoting dairy and bashing naturally occurring flavonoids in the form of phytoestrogens, for some reason especially those in soy. And here I was, thinking everyone knew by now that the genetically modified soy the rainforest is being cut down for, is animal feed.

What do you believe and why? Where do you get your information? Who generates your information and with what agenda?

The first cure is to work with the physical building blocks that you provide your body.

At the teacher training, we had the task of focussing on the bodily systems. Digestive, nervous, endocrine, circulatory, etc. Do you know how your body works? How a million signals bounce around in continuous feedback loops and homeostasis regulation. The holistic of it, how everything is connected to everything.

As we moved further away from the earth, from our bodies into our minds, we forgot how to communicate with it and interpret its signals. How to feed it and how it works.

I can’t help but think of the following wisdom again: “Stop trying to love, start to understand’.

The second cure is to learn, understand, and respect.

We are one with the earth. Our systems directly evolved from and with its rhythms and balance systems. Our pineal gland translates days and nights, summer and winter, into our brains. Do you have any idea how your glandular system is interwoven with itself and all other organs?

And don’t get me started on the cycle of the moon. Isn’t it baffling how humanity manages to ignore something that is so in front of our faces? If our body isn’t enough to show us our soul, nature’s cycles do it as well.

We lost that rhythm. We lost those rituals and traditions that were born out of nature.

The third cure is coming back to the rhythm and cycles of the earth.

At the same time as we lost the connection with the earth and the body, we became obsessed with it. About how it looks and ages. Adoring tightness and youth. A parade of flat bellies. We have become obsessed with fitting into the mold. About how we can work the body like a machine.

The spiritual shadow of it isn’t much better. How the body is a meat costume, a flesh prison for the beautiful soul. How ‘all that matters is on the inside’. As if your physical body is just a horrible genetic accident. Pointless and powerless. A costume to throw away.

What if you knew that our body is a manifestation of our soul? A physical copy of what we have chosen to work with in this life? What if you knew that it talks to you the whole time, giving you clues as to what is going on with your spirit? Would you treat your suit differently? See it with different eyes?

Those aspects of your spirit, those you took on the wild ride of life, are condensed in your body. Own it. It was never meant to be all roses and sunshine. Do you have a difficult relationship with your body? Don’t you belong to society’s body standards? Is it hurting you? Good. That means there lies a wonderful challenge ahead. The cliché is true. Find the beauty in the ugly. The absolute glory of life.

Dive in, relax in it. Soak. Your body will catch you; I promise.

The truth is in our bones, in our skin. It travels through our veins. Where does it hurt? Where are you uncomfortable? Your body is a child, born from the earth, formed by your hands. Will you care for it? Will you listen to it? Will you listen to the immense intelligence at your fingertips?

In the temple, we go to pray. And that prayer is us.

Written by Ellen Wild (Kundalini Yoga Teacher in training 2022/2023)