By Swami Satrupananda
Svaroopa® yoga is a mystical yoga. What is mystical? Mysticism is the science of attaining union with the Divine. Yes, that’s what I want! And that is what Svaroopa® yoga is about – experiencing and being your own Divinity. Though the dictionary describes mysticism as “union” with the Divine, yoga mystics do not call it union. Union implies there are two that become one. Instead, yoga says that you “realize” your own Divinity. You don’t become Divine; you realize you already are Divine. You just don’t know it – yet.
All Svaroopa® yoga practices are for the purpose of revealing your own Divinity to you. It’s right there in the name. Sva means true or divine. Roopa means form. Svaroopa means your true form, your Divine form. Your true form is the one Divine Reality that is being you, the One that has become everyone and everything.
To become the universe and everything in it, the One first became energy, simply by moving. The One in movement is energy, which yoga calls “shakti.” Shakti then contracts into matter to become you, your body and this physical world. The scientists agree. Einstein described this relationship between energy and mass in his famous equation E=mc2. Shakti contracts to be your mind, your senses and much more as well. Yoga’s ancient mystics mapped 36 levels of contraction that the One takes on in order to become everyone and everything in the universe.
These energies move in particular patterns. They interact with each other in certain ways as they contract into matter. In the human body, we see the physical manifestation of these energy currents represented in your body’s nervous system. Your spinal cord is at your body’s core with your brain as the mushroom cap on top. Everything branches out from this core.
A similar system exists in the subtler energetic realm. The sages mapped the energy channels, naming the different channels and energies that flow through them. The medical system of acupuncture got their map from yoga’s sages, with it being based on the same energy channels.
Your spinal cord is the center of your nervous system. And at the same location in your body’s core, on a more subtle level, runs a central energy channel called “sushumna.” Your spinal cord and sushumna are your main conduits of energy. Your spinal cord is the main conduit that collects and disseminates signals within your nervous system. The sushumna is the main conduit of energy of your mind and your spiritual meditative energy.
Kshemaraja, a yogic sage from 10th Century Kashmir, emphasized the importance of the central channel:
madhya vikaasaach chidaananda laabhah. — Pratyabhijnhrdayam, Sutra 17
You attain the bliss of Consciousness through the opening of the central channel. —Translated by Swami Nirmalananda
Kshemaraja is saying you attain the bliss of the One Divine Reality through the opening of the central channel, your spine. Thus Svaroopa® yoga poses focus on decompressing your spine. When you release the tensions in your spinal muscles, you make room physically and energetically. When not pinched or kinked, your spinal cord and nervous system can function better. This improved functioning has a ripple effect throughout the rest of your body. This core opening simultaneously impacts the flow of energy that sources your mind and emotions. Your energetic core is honored as the heart of your being. As you open your spine, you open your mind, heart and emotions, plus your own Divinity is revealed, as it is found particularly within your spine.
Recently I caught my mind in the process of repeating the same thought patterns again and again. As observed this pattern, I asked myself, “Where is this coming from?” My spine! I could feel that the energy sourcing my mind was running through my spine but running into a kink in the path. This kink spun my mind into a repetitive thought pattern. That’s really nothing new. The difference was that I noticed it.
Then I applied my mind to mantra repetition. A few hours later, I realized that my mind had not brought up that mental pattern again. By repeating mantra, I had unkinked the energy channel enough for the energy of my mind to flow through unobstructed. I had a tangible experience of the effects of opening the central channel. With a calm mind, I was sitting deeper within my own Divinity.
We’re back to mysticism – realizing and being your own Divinity. The opening of your mystical spine gives you mystical experiences of the bliss of your own Divinity. Do more mystical yoga.