Lesson 1 • Unveiling the Power Within: Feeling The Source of Movement and Awareness with Weightless Plank
Lesson One: Unveiling the Power Within: Feeling The Source of Movement and Awareness with Weightless Plank
The Yogic tradition describes all of manifestation as a unfolding process that begins with an urge, then becomes a thought, and finally an action. Living at the surface of reality, all we see are the actions, and we are driven from one action to the next in an endless circle called samsara. We expend tremendous amounts of energy here for very little return. The practice of yoga, through asana and meditation, helps us surrender the external manifestation and start to work more efficiently from the deeper levels of the energetic urge. Hanuman is the presiding deity of this training— he is considered the son of the wind, Vayu. The Vayus are one of the many teachings of how the yogic tradition teaches us to harness the force that is behind our actions, as a way of ensuring that our actions are not only successful, but lead to our growth. This is like learning to sail with the wind, as Hanuman did, as opposed to simply motoring wherever your patterns dictate. This energetic force, like the wind, is invisible to the eye, yet can be felt through our practice. This is essentially the teaching of surrender, how to work from our hearts, not our head.
Ayurvedic practitioner David Frawley describes the force of Vayu in the following way: “Vayu is not just a force of the wind or air element, but the Kriya Shakti or power of action that governs all inanimate and animate forces. Vayu manifests as lightning or propulsive force (vidyut). This is not just the lightning that arises from clouds but the kinetic energy that permeates all space. Vayu is the energy operative from a subatomic level to the very Big Bang behind the universe as a whole. Tapping into it is what the methodology of Yoga is all about.” - American Institute of Vedic Studies, Dr. David Frawley
As we see here, the practice of working form the inside out, from the atomic to the manifest, is at the heart of all yogic practice. The physics of Kashmir Shaivism describe this concept at the atomic level through their explanation of the Tattvas, the yogic map of manifestation. In this diagram we see that Iccha Shakti, the urge, precedes Jnana shakti, the thought, which precedes Kriya Shakti, the action, which yields manifestation. The urge is a more subtle, yet more expansive experience— as Frawley says it is a ‘kinetic force that permeates all space’, and therefore requires surrender to work with consciously. To access this deeper space of awareness we have to surrender our grip on our actions and thoughts, and when we do, our actions and thoughts begin to reflect a more expansive and surrendered reality. This, in the simplest way, is how our meditation practice can deeply effect our asana practice.
This is the experience of working from the inside out, of letting the Shakti guide our sails so to speak. Sri ShambhavAnanda describes this as ‘using the grace’ that is available in our lives to help guide us towards unforeseen possibilities. “Use the grace that is available, and you should get better at your life. You should find more peace and more balance in yourself. Your life may not bring you everything you want. But, I can tell you that I have been continually surprised how using my practice and surrendering when I encounter obstacles allows new doors to open. Always, more options open up for me than I ever dreamed possible. They are also significantly better than what I was struggling and fighting to create. A spiritually mature person lives life simply, but with great depth, and is not easily thrown off track.”
Hanuman’s life story illustrates how operating from a surrendered and subtle level of awareness naturally lifts us to our greatest potential, and that this goal at the heart of all yogic practice. Hanuman was born with supernatural powers, and as a child he let those powers get out of control. After giving birth to Hanuman, his mother had to return to the astral realm. She told Hanuman not to worry, that whenever he was hungry ‘fruits as red and ripe as rising sun would be his nourishment’. Hanuman looked up at the sun itself, and thought it looked like the tasty treat she was describing, and following that urge, he took a leap towards it and began to fly. His appetite for this tasty treat literally made him larger and larger as he neared the sun. Surydeva, the Sun-God, could’t protect himself because the heat of the sun couldn’t effect this immortal creature. Suryadeva cried out for help, and Indra struck Hanuman down. Other incidents like this would occur over the years. Hanuman’s power would continue to grow, but it was unbridled and caused injury and chaos— so as a safe guard to the world, powerful sages cursed Hanuman to forget his magic abilities. Much later in his life Hanuman re-discoverd his divine powers directly through his efforts to help Ram fulfill his Dharma in the epic tale of the Ramayana. THe powers, such as the ability to fly, to lift a mountain, to become large or small, came to him one-by-one as he needed them in order to support a cause that was bigger than his own needs.
When we live on the surface of reality, baser urges can drive us towards perilous ends, such as Hanuman’s attempt to devour the sun. This can be like trying to do a handstand just based on what you see in a picture, using your superficial muscles to support you. When use our practice to connect more deeply inside, though, those urges guide us towards growth, such as Hanuman’s ability to fly across the ocean to save Lakshman. On the many this would look like taking time to feel more stability in your shoulders in a variety of smaller movements that keep you connected within, and letting your life manifest a version of handstand that actually serves your growth, or saves you, so to speak, from samsara like Hanuman did for Lakshman.
We can put this teaching into practice through an unique exploration of plank pose we call ‘invisible plank’. Normally, a posture like this is all about force, all about external work and superficial muscles. There is no doubt that it gives a fulfilling sense of accomplishment, but when we approach this posture from the inside out, taking time to explore the sensation of support in our shoulders, we find a much vaster horizon of possibilities. The work is still present, but its a completely different experience of the work, with completely different results. We call it ‘invisible plank’ because the work that we seek, like the urge of Iccha Shakti, is in our deep core— a foundational level of support that goes unseen yet is the foundation of every posture. Taking time to slow down, feel, and build this experience from the inside out allows us to harness the invisible force, or Vayu, present in the pose and allow it to carry our bodies effortlessly, yet with effort, across the ocean of samsara.
Weightless Plank
Anatomy in Motion
Plank is commonly seen as a pose that solely focuses on muscle strengthening, particularly in the abs and shoulders. However, if you only feel it in these areas, it indicates that the superficial muscles are overshadowing deeper, core muscles. In the Shambhavananda approach, a well-executed plank should feel both effortless and holistically engaging, activating the body uniformly from the inside out and head to toe. When the deep core is strong and supportive, we can release chronic tension, find more space in the joints and become more resilient and capable in the body. This experience embodies Patanjali's principle of 'effortless effort' and 'perseverance without tension,' leading to an experience of boundless energy.
Set-up
From table top, paw out the hands, finding a place where the shoulders are supported and the hands are relaxed and natural, like in the “Spacious Hands” exercise
Exhale very slowly glide one foot back to a half plank, feeling the deep postural core muscles engage in a gentle and responsive manner, and then glide that foot back in to table.
This motion initiates the deep core, you should feel it like a gentle hugging around the mid section, as well as a brightening of the back line
Repeat on opposite leg.
Primary movement (Breathing without doership)
Note: Once we are in plank, the goal is to breath as smoothly and naturally as possible. Notice the tendency for the body and the mind to want to ‘do more’ - push harder, over-engage. See if you can soften and ‘do’ as little as possible while maintaining integrity in the posture.
(From the setup of single leg plank, ie. one leg extended back and the opposite knee under the hips on the ground)
Exhale to slowly ‘un-weight’ the grounded knee. The ‘un-weighting’ of this knee should bring the experience of our full body’s weight seamlessly into the posture, like a water bottle filling while you are holding it— the weight arrives invisibly, smoothly.
Inhale, Release the knee down slowly, feeling your weight once again supported by the knee.
Exhale, slowly unweight the knee once again. Now with the option to glide the leg smoothly back to full plank. There should be no shifting of the pelvis as you glide the leg back because your weight should already by supported by the rest of the body. If you notice the hips dip, bring the knee back under you and glide the leg back in a smaller range.
Breathe as smoothly as possible and feel the work of plank evenly across the body— effortless effort, perseverance without tension.
Notice the tendency for the body and the mind to want to do more - push harder, over-engage. See if you can soften and do as little as possible to maintain this pose with integrity.