Integration

If you've gotten caught up in the need for certain personality restrictions in certain groups, you may have wondered what would happen if those disparate groups in your life ever met.

Today's class is going focus on the idea of integration. We will practice asana and pranayama. Integration in asana helps to prevent injury, as we will practice integrating bones into joints and integrating the function of muscle groups so that effort is spread throughout the body, preventing tension from cropping up in any one particular area.

As we integrate our body mechanics to the flow of our breath we integrate ourselves into the moment. There are so many phrases used to impart the idea of being here now. It may seem like a logically sound idea, but until we start to experience little episodes of presentness, the concept stays an intellectual exercise. We can only ever breath now. If we can keep our attention on the breath, we can have our whole being in the present, instead of our bodys now and our minds before or after.

As we practice keeping our attention on the breath and body, we will have less and less room for the demands of the outside world. Our priorities will shift from making sure everyone around us thinks highly of us to noticing how we react to the outside world. This knowledge can lead us to the ability to choose to behave in a way that is reflective of our authentic Self, integrating out external personas with our internal truth. Then, we will find peace.