Know Thyself As Enough

      If I were to sum up what yoga is about in three words, it would be "to know thyself."  Going back to the last two posts, to know which of the three autonomic nervous system states you are in is a good start to knowing yourself. To review Stephen Porges' Polyvagal there are three states of the ANS: 1)social engagement -safety, 2) mobilization -threat/challenge, 3) immobilization - imminent death.

         To increase awareness of which state you are in at any given moment increases the power of discernment. This power of discernment opens you to more choices and less reactivity.  The tools to auto-regulate and to co-regulate become more meaningful and accessible. 

     Being in touch with your body states awakens more awareness.  Becoming more aware brings understanding. Greater understanding grows compassion.  Growing compassion brings you into greater love for yourself and others.  This love says that we are enough.

     Yes, we are a body that is hard-wired to survive. Also, this body is a vehicle carrying us to a destination beyond the limitations of physicality. To live fully is more than an accumulation of possessions or the exertion of power.  Social engagement  signals safety.  In that safety you have room to expand awareness beyond limited thinking. With safety you can immerse yourself in deep sleep or in meditation more easily. In  deep sleep and meditation you move beyond the ANS, and the boundaries of physicality blur, if not totally disappear.  The less attached to possessions or physical being you are, the more peaceful the dissolution feels. In the state of stillness of the mind, awareness moves from the ANS and the body toward awareness itself.  Individual consciousness is absorbed into a cosmic consciousness  revealing a greater sense of who you are.

     If we measure ourselves by our possessions or amount of power, we will never be enough.  If we measure ourselves by the depth of experience in the field of cosmic beingness we will feel whole, complete, and enough.

      Peace. Peace. Peace.