Find Your Anchor, Find Your Peace

Like an anchor that keeps a ship from drifting away from its dock, anchors in asanas keep us steadfast and grounded on the mat so we can be focused, thus enabling the mind to be still and calm.

Anchors also work in helping us to lengthen in certain poses while some help in finding space to go deeper. Irregardless of how they help us in our practice, the key purpose of these anchors is that they allow us to find equanimity (Upekkha) by aligning our body through the spine and our entire structure.

The ultimate purpose of the whole practice should not be forgotten and having an intention of being compassionate to the self will prevent us from being forceful or violent in doing the asanas. And if we were to ignore the importance of this purpose, it is like ignoring the principals of life, hence we become vulnerable and are likely to experience injuries.

When this preeminent is not adhered to, the body starts to retaliate by creating tension in the muscles and if that happens, the practice will become counter productive, which would make it a detrimental physical activity.

Finding the right anchor point is almost as important as finding safety. It is like having a trustworthy support where you can rely on in times of trouble. One can find several anchors in coming to a pose. These anchors can be found in many forms. It could be in a form of binding the fingers or to a more complex form of a bandha. Irregardless of which bandha you choose to help you to get into a pose, the more you find, the more space you’ll create, thus, the deeper you are able to go.

Establishing anchor/s in a pose contributes into finding peace in your struggles as it puts you in your state of stillness. So move towards that stillness because it leads you into finding your centre. Once you are centered, you will eventually find balance, which will then create space. And when space is created, you will ultimately find peace and harmony, and that is when you feel like ABSOLUTELY NOTHING could go wrong until you lose it.

So let’s strengthen our sense of awareness by not losing our grips on what is supporting us, presented here as anchors in our practice. They form as important entities next to our breath and for that reason alone we need to keep finding them and remember them so we know where they are and how to find them the next time we need them.

Have a good practice and a wonderful journey in finding your own peace.

Namaste.