Wildly Alive
Yoga and photography meet through observation. Different ways to document, check-in, and understand my perceptions. Capturing the The Bridge’s Swa Tantra retreat magnified the weaving of both passions.
A week of watching people in their experience. Seated in the witness of the witness.
Koggala lake was the backdrop. Caught in the wake of others’ journeys. Radiating in the ripples. A buzz and warmth from their love and kindness. Clarity in shared silence.
The tongue is a clumsy instrument to explain matters of the spirit. The lens positioned itself in moments words cannot. I’m grateful for the trust of The Bridge School and everyone at the Swa Tantra retreat. Here are photos beside some mat notes from a potent week of Tantric Hatha.
Doors to experience
“You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state.” - Sharon Gannon
This frame is a favourite from the retreat. An afternoon practice left the group empty of words. Following practice, these two gravitated towards the jetty. They sat by the lake in shared silence for thirty minutes through to dusk.
Modern wellness culture frames yoga into an aesthetic. An unsaid agreement to practice yoga or to be ‘good’ at it. To be flexible enough, upside down enough, to do it wearing the ‘right’ clothes.
There’s some truth in this. More time practicing can lead to a stronger warrior two. Better alignment, more physical capacity to connect with your breath. I add to a culture I’m questioning writing this in Lululemon wear. As much as I contradict myself the clothes are fun and comfy to practice in.
So how do we experience yoga? Is it what you wear? How flexible you are? The pilgrimage to India? Binding yourself into a pretzel?
‘Yoga is the cultivation of awareness of your body and mind.’
A simple, expansive definition from the Bridge Yoga School’s Tantric Hatha immersion.
How do you encapsulate an entire system in one quote?
How do you fit the human experience into one system?
The definition opens the door.
Awareness can cultivate in countless ways beyond a yoga mat. It can be felt in every part of our day.
The sun’s warmth on your skin. Sweeping the leaves in the garden. An engaging conversation. Preparing a meal. A dunk in the ocean.
There are many doorways to become aware of your body and mind. Sometimes it’s a yoga mat. Sometimes it’s a lake, two people, and shared silence.
Layers
I chase embodiment.
I notice the vibe or energy an embodied person ‘carries’. A strength lifting both themselves and others around. The space reaches another level. A favourable point B.
My narrow view towards strength neglects what can soften.
What if the rise I see in someone also comes from their capacity to let go?
A lightness from carrying less.
A perspective shift away from somewhere else and to what’s here in this moment.
Spanda
Have you ever felt joy and pain arrive in the same moment?
A rise and fall.
Darkness and light.
The longing to be with people and be in solitude.
Held by the earth as it sweeps you off your feet.
Multiple experiences happening at once,
or are they one?
When does a wave realise it’s an ocean?
Whether it’s crashing down on you
or stretching the horizon,
it’s all water.
A dance of opposites
moving together
to the same rhythm,
the same pulse.
Instead of one and the other,
or one leading to the other,
an interweaving.
Binding what was never separate.
Expansion within contraction.
Contraction within expansion.
I invite you to sit with a lingering experience.
Feel it.
Savour it.
Notice its pulse.
