Madhya Part 2

I remember one of the first teacher trainings that I took was at a yoga school near the Yuba river in California. The school was in the forrest in the middle of nowhere. I loved walking among the trees in the mornings after it had rain because I got to smell the wet earth. Sometimes when I am walking in Central Park  after a rain I can smell the earth. That smell kindles the memory of the many places in which I have experienced that fragrance. The breath is very powerful and can trigger so much in ourselves.

The Power of the breath did not go unnoticed by the ancient yogis. They knew how the breath has the power to befriend and center the mind. It has also the power the affect the body in different ways. It is also like a messenger between the body and the breath. At another level, the breath is also the gateway to  experience a pristine, clear, and pellucid state of awareness. There is a part of the breath that is usually overlooked by most of us. That is the pause or madhya in between the inhalation and exhalation, and the exhalation and the inhalation.

As we learn to recognize this pause we can start to observe it. Once we learn to observe it without disturbing the experience of the pause we recognize that it is a gateway to a pristine state of awareness. In addition to our physical practice of yoga we will be engaging with the breath in a specific way so that we can recognize and experience the madhya, the pause, in our breath.

I look forward to seeing you in class

Blessings

Jorge Nihāl

PS The smell of the earth after the rain has a name. It is Petrichor.