40 Day Challenge - SENSITIVITY

Week Four: Sensitivity

As we enter week four of our 40-Day Journey, something begins to change.

The first three weeks have worked primarily with the mind. We explored Presence, then Calming, then Stability. We learned to slow the activity of the mind and develop the ability to remain present.

Now we begin to turn our attention towards something more subtle: Sensitivity. This is the point where we begin to become more aware of Prana, the vital energy that moves through and animates the body.

There is a wonderful line in the Gheranda Samhita: “Once the Moon has been made steady, then the Sun can be made to rise.”

This is the transition we are now entering. The Moon represents the mind and its quieter, inward qualities. The Sun represents Prana, energy, movement and expansion.

We have spent the first part of our journey learning to calm the mind, then stabilise that calm. Now, with a more settled mind, we can begin to perceive something that was always there.

A New Layer of Perception

Most of us experience reality primarily through what we can see, hear, touch, taste and smell. But yoga asks us to look deeper. There is another layer of experience beneath the obvious physical body: a subtle field of energy that yoga calls Prana.

We may not be able to see Prana in the same way we see the physical body, but we can begin to develop sensitivity to its movement. We can feel when our energy rises or drops, when we are open or contracted, energised or depleted, grounded or scattered.

The more sensitive we become, the more we begin to notice these subtle changes before they become obvious in the physical or mental body. This is a shift in perception. We begin to understand that our experience of life isn’t limited to what we can see and touch. There is something moving underneath it all.

From the Mind to Prana

This is why the previous stages have been so important. A busy mind is not particularly sensitive. When our attention is constantly occupied by thoughts, reactions and external stimulation, it becomes difficult to perceive anything subtle.

Calming creates space. Stability allows us to remain there. Sensitivity allows us to begin to feel. We are no longer only interested in what we are thinking. We begin to notice what is happening beneath the thought, where our energy is moving and how the breath changes our experience. This is the beginning of a more refined relationship with ourselves.

The Role of Lateral Postures

This week, we begin to explore more lateral movements within our physical practice.

Side bends and lateral poses create a different experience from the more familiar forward folds, backbends and twists. They open the sides of the body and invite us to explore areas that we may not normally pay much attention to. They also strengthen our relationship with Vyana Vayu, which can be one of the more palpable Vayus to experience.

Rather than simply asking how far we can move, we become interested in what we can feel. Where does the breath move? Where does the body expand? Where does it feel restricted? Use your breath as a reminder to explore your limitations. The practice becomes less about achieving a shape and more about developing the ability to perceive what is happening within it.

The Dawning of Higher Perception

This is where our practice begins to take us beyond purely physical. We start to recognise that the body is not simply a collection of muscles, bones and organs. There is movement, breath, sensation and Prana. As our sensitivity increases, our perception becomes more refined.

We begin to notice things that were always present but previously too subtle to recognise. This doesn’t require us to believe anything blindly. It requires us to practise: to become quiet enough to notice, stable enough to remain, and sensitive enough to feel.

Living From Prana

The deeper purpose of this work isn’t simply to become better at feeling energy during yoga. It is to begin recognising Prana as part of our everyday experience. We can begin to notice what gives us energy and what drains it, what expands us and what contracts us, what leaves us feeling clear and what leaves us scattered.

We begin to make choices from a more refined level of awareness. Instead of only asking what we want, we can begin to notice what happens to our energy when we move towards something. This is a very different way of experiencing life.

This week, allow yourself to become curious. Don’t worry about trying to feel something extraordinary. Start with what is already there. Feel the breath. Feel the body. Feel the movement. Feel the spaces between movements. Notice the quality of your energy before and after practice.

Notice what changes when you breathe deeply into your chest instead of your belly, and use the asymmetrical lateral poses to experience the difference between the two sides of your body when you come out of the pose. The first three weeks taught us to become present, calm and stable. Now we begin to feel. The Moon has been made steady.

Now the Sun can begin to rise.

With the rising of the Sun comes a new dimension of perception, where we begin to recognise that beneath the physical world we experience, there is something subtler constantly moving through us.

Prana.