lock the knee

roots are important. the great unseen. like the unconscious itself. my connection to the earth is changing. i feel great joy that i am here, one among many, of this same soil and water and air. of one. of one moment. the health of the physical body, being in touch with the physical body, the physical body itself, is a manifestation of the earth. we share the earth, this birth mother, and coincidentally are becoming her caretakers. as we spring forth from the earth and learn to care for ourselves we realize we need to care for the earth as well. the earth is our larger self. the word yoga is derived from the basic root yog, which in hindi means uniting, a yolking of one thing with another. also from sanskrit, yuj, meaning 'to unite, to integrate or to cohere and is thus taken to represent the highest state of union, integration or coherence between individual or personal or human consciousness and cosmic or universal or divine consciousness.' so speaking, the yoga is uniting with source. in many asanas, or postures, you are required to lock the knee. bikram says 'you must lock the knee', and 'if you can, you must'. so there is no chance of missing out on this primary connection to earth. in a standing posture, you are rooted through the ground, through the earth. the pull of gravity, of the earth and the complimentary rising, treelike, of the human form. that connection or force can be imagined coming up from the center of the earth through your feet, through your locked knees. as you rise away, with spirit embodied, you can feel the gravity of the earth in all of your cells. the death that is to come, that is ever present. i am in process of both rising up within that gravity and being returned to earth in each moment.