For many years I was both attracted to and pushed away from shamanism because the express aim of a shaman is to accumulate power. Early books I read gave techniques to gaining power over plants and locations, and putting those disempowered beings and places in your service. That didn't seem right.

What I love and respect about the Andean medicine and spiritual paths are that they recognize that everything is energy--it's all part of the kausay, or the flowing universal life force--and that energy and power are not dualistic.  That is, concepts of good and evil do not apply. There's no right or wrong with them.  (One's intention can be for selfish purposes and can hurt or harm others, but the energy itself and the power behind it is beyond those concepts.)

I was reading Joan Parisi Wilcox's Masters of the Living Energy this morning and came across this discussion in Chapter Two, Children of the Sun: Engaging Your Energy Body. Juan Nuñez del Prado, a fourth-level Andean paqo discussed power this way:

In the Western tradition, we are afraid of the word 'power.' We think that power is dangerous, that it is not good.  But no! Power is only power. It is the difference between being able to do something and not being able to do it.  If you want you can do good things.  If you want you can do bad things, because for that you also need power. but if you want to do good things in your life and in the lives of those around you, you must have power.  You need power.

 He goes on to say that your own moral rules dictate whether you use power for good or for selfish reasons. Sometimes you do things and sometimes you decide not to do things, based on your morals, not on your ability to use power or its availability to you. That's a crucial distinction. It means that if you really want (or need) to do something but do not have the ability to use the power to accomplish it, you really have no choice. The decision is made because you cannot.

The thing is to have the power to do everything! Then the next thing is to have the personal morals to know how to use or not use your power.  But do not be mistaken--we are looking for power when we try to establish a connection with the living energy.

 One of my understandings this year is that power is available to each of us in unlimited quanitites because we are each connected to the grid, the kausay, the reiki--the universal life force that flows among and through all of us, every thing and even every idea. When we connect and align, we act as a conduit for that energy and direct it to where it is needed, to blockages and ideas of weakness or disconnection.

So in a very real way, we do not seek power to put other beings or locations in service to us, but we seek power so that we can be in service, available and capable.

For two years Julie and I have been studying and practicing Svaroopa yoga.  Never heard of it? You're not alone.

We only stumbled upon it and our teacher by attending a Kirtan at Sac Yoga Center, in the Curtis Park area of Sacramento.  Kriyananda Devi has been involved in yoga for more than two decades and she exudes the deep clarity of someone who has done her personal work.  Non-judgmental and accepting, patient and consistent. And a very sweet soul. 

I joke that it's Old Guy Yoga. Not that it's for old guys, really, but that it is gentle. Where other yoga styles are often populated by the hard-body beauties who are wonderful advertisements for yoga's athletic side, a typical svaroopa class is done lying on the floor, supported by blankets, and most often by people in sweatpants and t-shirts. The openings and stretchings are of a more internal nature.  Alignments are very precise and you learn that by ample propping with blankets or blocks, you can completely trust your support and can surrender the tight energies that wrap around your spine.

This is an excerpt from the official Svaroopa web site:

Svaroopa^® yoga offers a significantly different paradigm in yoga poses. Our practice is both physical and more than physical.
We specialize in the inner opening. Svaroopa^® yoga poses release the tensions in the deepest layers of your body - the layers of muscles wrapped around your spine.

This opens up conscious access to the ever-expanding inner realms of your own being. Rather than using hatha yoga as a sophisticated form of exercise, Svaroopa^® yoga pursues the understanding of the deeper purposes of yoga: the understanding of your own essential nature.

Yoga Journal says, "This style of yoga teaches different ways of doing familiar poses, emphasizing the opening of the spine by beginning at the tailbone and progressing through each spinal area. Every pose integrates the foundational principles of asana, anatomy, and yoga philosophy, and emphasizes the development of transcendent inner experience, which is called svaroopa by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutra. This is a consciousness-oriented yoga that also promotes healing and transformation."

Amrit Ayurveda describes Svaroopa^® yoga as "one of the few styles that considers the yoga practice itself to be a transformative experience in itself. Beginning level classes focus on deep, supported poses for spinal release. Continuing level as well as advanced classes add to this an exploration of how to use the body and yet still keep the spine open."

Yoga International's article on Svaroopa^® yoga's Magic Four describes it this way, "Svaroopa^® yoga is not exercise. You don't need exercise. You need a scientific maximization of your body's capacity, dissolving the tensions that inhibit your body's natural functioning and inherent healing capacity. The release of the inner blocks allows you to live in an inner ease, in your body and in your self, that is your birthright."

 Here's a link to the "Magic Four"... four poses you can do in a chair. It'll give you an idea of what the Svaroopa opening feels like.