“By samyama on the moon, knowledge of the arrangement of the inner stars can be known (3.28) By samyama on the pole star, knowledge of the movement of those stars can be known (3.29) By samyama on the navel center, knowledge of the arrangement of the systems of the body can be known (3.30)” ~ Patanjali, Yogasutras

I have been injured several times while practicing yoga alone.

One of the most painful injuries was to my left shoulder. I was practicing arm balance and forced my shoulders needlessly. The potential of the pose was coming out from core rather than arm strength, but I didn’t care. The only thing on my mind was performing the pose rather than experiencing it—yoga instructors in videos looked so cool and I wanted to look just as cool as they did, rather than try to discover myself.

Sometimes I need to injure myself (emotionally or physically) to be able to learn something.

I love to watch yoga videos on YouTube. In this way I can both improve my practice and take some inspiration. There is a video of Asthanga Yoga Primary Series with Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois. In the beginning of the video, Jois advises his students to look at their navel when they are in downward facing dog. This is one of the easiest postures to be able to find the core of the body.

I didn’t care about these words in the beginning, but after a while they started to ring in my ears: “Look to your navel!”

Focusing on the core of the body, just below the navel area is often advised in yoga. This helps to minimize the risk of injury. I really began to understand the warning after I injured my shoulder. I needed to change all my methods and I tried to focus on my core during my training.

In focusing on my core I became much more aware of my body, and this awareness allowed me to have greater control over my body. I started to feel stronger and I realized greater potential, achieving more dynamic yoga postures. As long as I was at the center, aware of my core, I felt more comfortable in my body.

It was space I discovered. And in this space there were many possibilities to modify my postures according to my needs and abilities. Just as with life itself.

Gradually, I tried to bring this awareness to every part of my life.

Focusing below the navel area (core) not only prevented me from physical injuries but also any damaging possibilities deriving from practicing life. I feel sad or disappointed when things don’t go as I expect. I feel lonely and helpless when I think that people don’t understand me. But in fact, most of these things and situations are not really as I think or I feel. They are generally self created misconceptions about who I am. Things never actually go wrong, they only go wrong in my mind. I have anxieties that make my life always more difficult to me. Over-analyzing exhausts my mind just as over-forcing injures my shoulders.

When I start to overthink, everything becomes much more complicated. I lose the balance and harmony that are natural state of my life. I call this state of out of balance as being decentered and I prefer to call being centered as staying in the moment, experiencing right now.

Focusing on my core brings me back to the center. I find that all of my anxieties and worries, as well as my physical injuries, were a result of decentering.

Now, I can’t say that I am always aware. Many times, I find myself in that old familiar trap. As time passes I feel myself being closer to seeing the situation for what it is. Decentering doesn’t only make me insensitive to my body, but I become in a cloud of my own thoughts. When I am decentered, I’m unable to see the dynamics of my body or positions in my life.

A storm of thoughts runs through my mind every time and I’m far from experiencing and seeing the potential of the past and future taking place in present. Instead, I’m trapped between artificial forms of the past and the future created in my mind.

Even when nothing goes wrong in my life, I usually find myself in the midst of superficial fears and anxieties. However when I see myself in such a situation, I try to remind myself to come back to my center. Then everything is okay.

The navel area of the body refers to the root chakra and mula bandha and we can call it core. For me it is the only place in my body that an experience can be performed in its true form. Cooking in the awareness of core, making love in the awareness of core, thinking in the awareness of core…everything is just as it needs to be. I don’t need to learn anything. I already know everything—centering makes me feel aware of myself. I find everything I need in me, and this is amazingly beautiful.

If we call the navel area as the core, we will see that life takes its shape from the navel area as well.

Just think about babies in the wombs of their mothers—they are connected to life from the navels of their bodies. This is perfect metaphor of the meaning of core placing in the navel for me and makes the advice in yogasutras and the words of Pattabhi Jois more meaningful to me.

We are not only connected to our core from our navels but to the world itself. Just as we were connected to our mothers’ wombs in the beginning. The world is circular; the universe is circular. In the circular shapes of existence, we practice ourselves in our perfect forms (we are as we are) from the navel area (core) of our bodies.

Relephant: 

The Real Core Work in Yoga.

Author: Aylin Ünal

Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: dollen/Flickr