16 The Importance Of Physical Releasing In Awakening

We discuss the importance of physical releasing on the path of awakening. We hold so much tension and stress in our body. It is one of the places we store repressed material, blocks, distress, etc. Often meditation and other spiritual exercises don't fully reach what is stored in the body as well physical processes can. I have found that meditation followed by a physical releasing process very powerful in my awakening process. Examples of some of these processes and ways to find certified instructors are discussed.

These podcasts are what I have found to be the most helpful over the last 50 years on my path of awakening. They are most powerful when listened to from podcast one forward because each is built on the last. They, also, all stand on their own. If anything does not resonate, please disregard it.

Though I am a psychotherapist these podcasts are offered to be spiritually helpful. They are not psychotherapy. Please reach out to a psychotherapist if ever needed.

Transcript

Hello, This is William Cooper. Welcome to Awakening Together, Relaxing into Happiness. I trust you're doing well this week. One of the most powerful aspects in my awakening has been deep physical releases in my body. For me, It's a very, Very deep release. And in these podcasts on awakening, We've talked about both who we are and who we aren't. And this whole series is very involved in the how to's of awakening. These are the how's to awakening that I found most important on my path, My direct experience. I know you've been at it for quite some time, Likely as well. And it's good that we share to help each other. If anything in these podcasts doesn't resonate, Just disregard it and use what is helpful to you. I feel like these podcasts, Since they're built one on the other, Are most powerfully experienced when you start at podcast number one and work your way forward. Okay, When we're really stressed out, Where does all that tension go? It goes in our body. It's stored there. When we repress things, Where does it go? One of the places it goes is deep into our body, Into our muscles. We feel it in tense stomachs and necks and foreheads. Meditation encoded in this tension and stress and blocks are also perspectives and attitudes and emotions all stored in our body. So as deeply healing and clearing as meditation is, I found that coupling it with some kind of physical activity, Especially a releasing physical process, Is so powerful. So much clarity and release comes through meditation as we've discussed before in these podcasts. And yet when I do a physical yoga after my meditation, There's such deep release of all the blocks and tensions that have been previously held in my body. And where I feel so much blocking and tension is in my body. It's like I release light years more deeply than had I just meditated without also doing a deep releasing physical process of some kind, Which can release these tensions and blocks very, Very quickly. Let me give you a brief example. Can you find a tension in your body, Perhaps in your stomach or your neck or your forehead, Your lower back? Find a tension somewhere in your body. And now focus on that place that's already tense and make it even tenser. Tighten it tight, Tight, Tight, Squeeze, Squeeze, Squeeze right there and then release and relax. Do you feel it begin to open up and flow just a little deeper? I always find it releases tension for me. Okay, There are so many different physical processes to release deep physical tension that are highly effective. I'm going to focus on one in particular that I found most effective in my opening and in my awakening. It's Yogananda's energization exercises. Essentially, There are 39 different exercises that tense and relax or move joints, Adjust joints, So that when I go through that process, I find deep releases all through my body, Which dovetail with the releases that have happened through my meditations. These 39 energization exercises of Yogananda are all done standing up, And they're designed to be done in 15 minutes, So that you can do them at home easily every day with your meditation. I like to meditate first and then do my energization exercises for an even more deeply releasing experience, An opening experience, A flowing into the world experience. And I do it a little differently than what Yogananda advises. I take my time because each exercise is so profound for me. I like to give it time to penetrate for me to soak up the relaxation and release, Let go and flow. So typically the series of energization exercises take me about 30 or 40 minutes to fully do. What's the hurry? It's a flow, Awakening, Opening, Enjoying who I am and enjoying the release of who I'm not. The tensions that I've been carrying, It just feels so good to let them go. Sometimes I don't even complete the series of 39 because almost from the first one now, I feel such a deep opening that I just like to relax in my fullness and not feel like I have an agenda. So it's more of a flow than a doing. I used to do these exercises in 15 minutes, But it seemed more goal oriented to me than a flow. And then suddenly one day after two years, Boom, It was a flow and I slowed down and took my time and just listened to myself. In fact, That's what I would advise. Listen to yourself, Follow your heart, Follow your flow, Rather than any agenda that I might give you or some other teacher might give you. I always listen to others because they're coming from a good place and often they know much more than I do. Their experiences are deeper. So I listen very carefully and I am guided by them. I'm simply not bound by them because after all, It's my awakening and it's your awakening. So follow your heart. Nonetheless, Yogananda advises starting with the energization exercises, Doing them within a 15 minute flow and following them with your meditation, Doing this twice a day, Energization exercises, And then meditation. And then in the afternoon, Energization exercises and meditation. This likely is extremely powerful. It's just not the flow I know about because I do it differently as I just described. You find out what works best for you if you want to do these exercises. And you know, If you're having one of those days where you just don't have so much time, You don't have to do them all. You could just do a few for deep physical release. Do what works for you. How do you find out about them? Just search for Yogananda energization exercises. You'll find a number of teachers guiding you through the exercises. You can follow them as you like, Find your favorite teacher. What I did to start is learn the first four or five exercises, Do those, And then maybe add an additional few exercises every day, Or maybe just one or two exercises every day until I learned all 39. As I said, They're very, Very, Very powerful for me. And also, As I was describing earlier for the first two years, I did do them in 15 minute sequences. And although they were very helpful and opening, I didn't find them so profound as I did later. So they may not penetrate as deeply for you at first. The way I look at it with myself is I was so tightly bound, So crusted over that it probably took me two years to dissolve some of the deep stuff that was inside of me so that I could feel again. So do as works for you, But that's my experience. What if you don't enjoy these energization exercises? Is there another good way to go? Well, I like slow yoga so that I can soak up and open and flow. And so some of the names of slow yoga might be called Yin Yoga or Restorative Yoga or perhaps Vinyasa Flow for Beginners. I like Vinyasa Flow also just intermediate classes because they're balanced and you go through a routine. And in a yoga class, The advantage of going to a yoga teacher and a yoga class is you get instruction, You get community, You get like-minded people where you can talk to them about what you're going through. You meet friends. Buddha talked about a Sangha and going to a yoga studio might turn out to be your Sangha as you interact and interconnect with different people. So maybe you'd like to experiment and see which physical process or type of yoga works best for you to release deep things and let it evolve. Maybe later another process or type of yoga works better for you. Listen to yourself and let it all unfold. So in this series of podcasts, We're talking about awakening and that's about letting go. That's about opening. That's about flowing. And at some point you shift your center shifts and you're not doing yoga or meditation to become awakened. You're starting out awakened and simply deepening deeper and deeper. You're not doing a practice in order to get something. You're doing the practice in a sense to express more deeply what you're already experiencing flowing more deeply. So it's not like you're holding your breath and saying, I can relax. Once I do my yoga, I can relax. Once I do my meditation, You already start relaxed and then deeper you go. So physical yoga is one of those things that I wish I had started way, Way, Way back in life, Because it is very deepening and very healing and very flowing and very releasing. But anytime you start it is a good time because it's the perfect time. That's why you're starting it now. If you're interested in any of these other kinds of yoga, Even though I feel that the community of a yoga studio is great, Maybe you don't have the time or the finances to participate. Well, There's so many good yoga teachers online that you can do yoga with them. Some of them are prerecorded and others are live. So there's many, Many different ways for you to go many opportunities and it's very healing and really deepens your awakening process. So whichever way works for you, Enjoy. I enjoy talking with you today and I look forward to meeting with you next time. Take care. Bye.

Reviews

Hi, William, I have a daily yoga practice, love to dance, and walk a lot. I consider them all meditative and healing. I agree that the body must be part of awakening!
Donna

Thank you William for this podcast. I am especially grateful to you for introducing me to Yogananda. I have practiced Hatha yoga for many, many years and have felt the benefit in many areas. Even so, the tension in my body has been an overiding feature in my life and something that I have never quite been able to dissolve. So, today I am starting with yogananda. I like the idea of doing the exercises standing up, not least because, in later years, floor exercises have become a bit more challenging. Also yogananda can be practiced outside,in the fresh air. Thank you William for sharing your valuable experience.🙏❤️I too intend to do them on my morning walk, no doubt it will amuse the sheep. 🥰🐑

I only briefly researched these last time I listened. I was reminded of them when I read the "Autobiography of a Yogi" from your recommended reading list. I think I will take a look at them again this time around.

Your information is so helpful to me, I appreciate your suggestion to go through the series from the beginning. I'm looking up the Yogananda exercises next! Thank you.

somehow i missed this talk. it’s nice to listen to talks and say, yea! im already doing that!!! 🤩🐞♥️🤩🐞♥️🤩🐞♥️🤩🐞♥️🤩