turn on the light

We live in a state of archetypes: the understood pattern between all cultures that represent conditions of human nature. These range from characters in literature, colors, numbers, weather elements, seasons, symbols, or journeys. When I present the concept of archetypes to my students, they are always somewhat confused by this subconscious process until I lead them through the visual analysis of movie posters where we identify archetypes, inspect their definition, and then assess how that definition fits within the context. Alice of Alice in Wonderland is is within a forest; forest: a place of unknown or danger - Alice is journeying through a dangerous world within Wonderland. Batman of the Dark Knight is completely surrounded by Gotham City; city: a place of corruption - Batman is battling not only corruption within the city but within himself. And on and on.

Archetypes are one of my favorite concepts. Partially because I enjoy finding them in every day life, but also because I enjoy when writers or directors use them against our subconscious.

Within class tonight, we started by going around the room and sharing our name, something random about ourselves, and what we wanted out of class tonight. It was very cool. I know that yoga is about me and my mat, but I have also learned throughout this project that yoga is more than just that; it is about the people you practice with and the instructors who teach you and the community you grow within as a support group.

As we moved from the impromptu introductions that bonded us together into our poses, the instructor informed us that we would be trying to focus on inhaling the sukha and exhaling the dukkha.

"Or, think of it as inhaling the light and exhaling the darkness." she elaborated.

"Light that fills your body and a cloud of darkness that you breathe out."

Sukha means the sweetness, the positive.

Dukkha means the pain or suffering, the negative.

When we went around the room before shifting into poses, my reason for coming to class was to find the positive. Some of my recent blogs have reflected on some of my dark and twisty emotions. I am pleased about the emotional undertaking that this project is leading me through, but I want to ensure that I am taking a leading part in my exploration of this project.

My instructor said exactly what I needed to hear. I must choose to inhale the good. And only the good. While exhaling the bad, all the negative and toxicity of my life. By doing so, I am using the exhale to release the toxins and gain the goodness. It is not for selfish purposes. The act of focusing on the positive while choosing to rid myself of the negative so that I am able to move through my life in the most positive manner possible.

When you allow the negatives of outside influences to deter you from you own purpose, you are giving the control away. Don't. Inhale the light. Exhale the darkness. Repeat.