Everyday in yoga, when we do our 20 second savasanas, the teacher says, “Heels touch, toes fall open.” She consistently reminds us that our heels must touch. Then, when we are on our stomachs, she says, “Toes touch, heels fall open”. She was very specific about the heels or toes touching in all savasanas. When we do the standing postures, and return to stillness in between each one, she is still very adamant about “heels and toes touching”. I did it, but could never figure out why the “touching” was so important. Couldn’t you just lie or stand in stillness and quiet yourself and breathe without any part of your feet touching? Then, a few days ago she answered my question. After telling us once more “heels must touch, toes fall open” she went on to say that this is a physical signal from our body to our mind to instantly return to this quiet, still, state. That was another Ah..ha moment for me.
Being such a believer in the mind learning from daily physical signals it gets from the body, I suddenly saw how important it was to have a physical signal to give our mind when fear, anxiety, and anger strike in our daily lives. When we are overcome and can’t think straight we need a way to quickly send a signal to our brain to stop and enter stillness. Whether sitting, standing, or lying down, simply touching the heels together will quiet the emotion trying to overtake our brain and cause us to “shoot from the hip” and say and do things that would be best left undone and unsaid. This simple act of “touch” sends a powerful signal to our brain that enables us to control impulses brought on by sudden emotion.
We do 26 postures, each twice, and have to touch our heels and toes together between each one in order to quiet our mind and bring down our heartbeat. In one 90 minute class, we do this 52 times. I go to class 5 days a week, so I practice this 260 times a week. Over the course of 20 weeks, I’ve practiced this “touching” 5200 times and it’s time to try it out. It takes a child 1500 repetitions to learn a skill or concept, so I should have this by now.
And so, as another day goes by, it’s kind of handy to have something that triggers a relaxation response in my back pocket, and ….I have written.
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