The Mantra Post - 0010
Standing With Intention
There’s a posture in yoga called Standing at Attention, Samasthiti. It’s the posture where one stands tall with both feet rooted together and hands held in a prayer position at the chest. It’s the posture often done at the beginning of practice to set an intention for practice.
The act of balancing with two feet on the ground has become so routine it often becomes instinctual and done without thought. The thought of setting an intention within the posture is where a more intense grounding can build for the remainder of a person’s practice.
If one would like to build their yoga to a spiritual practice, the act of setting an intention can unite the physical body to the mind which in time can transcend into spirit. Looking at Samasthiti from this perspective can make the posture the most important posture of the entire practice.
Jaime has always been a lover of nature. Her favorite thing to do on the weekends is to go for a hike. Every Saturday morning whether it is alone, with a group, or with her dog Skipper she laces up her trail shoes, fills up her water bottle, and heads out the door to a local San Diego trail.
On this particular morning, it was just her and her dog Skipper. When she goes alone with Skipper which is quite often, Jaime always takes the “easy” five-mile route. She has probably done it over 1000 times with Skip. It has become so instinctual it doesn’t even take thought for both her and her best friend. Jaime knows every turn and Skipper knows exactly which rocks to pee on.
When they began their hike there was a new signpost with a message. Jaime was so accustomed to her route and routine that she didn’t even see the signpost or stop and read the sign.
At the ½ mile point, she found it peculiar that they still hadn’t seen a single person or dog on the hike. That’s when she stopped dead in her tracks and rooted both trail shoes into the earth picking up Skipper and clenching him with her two hands tightly to her chest. Fifty yards in front of her was a momma bear and her cub.
She stood still with fright for 15 minutes and the bears did not move. With both feet rooted into the ground and her hands and Skip still clenched to her chest, she closed her eyes and took three deep inhales and three deep exhales as if she were in Samasthiti. Connecting to the earth she set an intention to slowly turn around and mindfully return back the way she came.
With intense concentration, she slowly turned with mindful intention. It felt like she was in slow motion and time did not exist. Every step and every movement she took was made as if it might be her last. Her spirit to survive was brought into the equation.
Half a mile later back at the start of the trail it was she, Skipper, and no bears. She stopped and stared with awe seeing with full clarity the signpost with the message: DANGER! TRAIL CLOSED! BEAR SIGHTINGS!