The position our bodies are in, in space, determines the type and amount of information coming into our senses. It makes sense that if we open our eyes super wide, more light will enter the retina and thus allow us perhaps a brighter or more vivid picture of what is 'outside'. The opposite is also true - squint the eyes, and allow a smaller trickle of light through. We 'see' less of the world, because less information is coming in.
How might this pertain to our bodies, overall? Take this example and separate it into the two generalizations - expansion and contraction. Our eyes 'expand', or grow larger, to welcome in more information from the outside world. Our eyes 'contract' (squint) to reduce the load from the outside. Our bodies will do this exact same thing. We close ourselves off from the world by contracting forward, towards a fetal-like position. This is the ultimate position of safety because we first learned that we were safe in this position. Our brain, nervous system, and the body itself has remembered the fetal position from inception as we grew in the womb. We were ultimately cared for, nourished, and protected for many months in this position as our brains and bodies developed in utero. So when we are frightened by the world, we return back to the default operating system of core safety - a contraction inward to protect us, and hopefully remind us that we are safe. Our body remembers love!
Take it the other way. If we are expansive, with shoulders thrown back to expose the vulnerable heart space that we are so quick to protect when things get tough or our fears trigger automatic body reactions, we are telling the whole world through our posture that we know we are safe. We aren't just intellectually believing that we are safe... we are representing it totally with all of the cells in our body. At the cellular level, our bodies are not just communicating via English language (or any other language) thoughts. They are communicating in terms of vibration, intention, and 'body language'. There is a highway of nerve traffic and electrical impulses running throughout the body and the signals each cell receives about the outer environment is determined absolutely through the perception we place on the environment.
Perception perception perception! If we perceive the environment as safe, the body responds accordingly, and it will open up and be relaxed and natural. This is 'proper alignment' in our yoga practice, and a reason why these practices are so effective at producing incredible changes in our lives. We are revealing our natural state and natural posture - one of ease, balance, and harmony with the environment. One that is ultimately responsive and creative - NOT re-active, based on past events of trauma that have created a physical closure or contraction in the body to protect.
This is where practice comes in and is so important. Unless we willingly and consciously choose to view our outer environment differently, and adjust the inner environment accordingly to reflect this, we are just pretending. We pretend the world is a safe place to live and intellectually fantasize about it being so, yet our bodies and postures tell a different story. We pray for peace yet our prayers are with shoulders hunched up to the neck in a stressful position. The most powerful prayer we can make is one of action - one of encountering the trauma face-to-face in the body, coming in contact with our physical limitations through exposing bodily tension, and recognizing that it is ultimately tied up in the mind. Our mind is projecting a false illusion of safety into the body, but the body remembers the truth. It is anchored to this.
Until we, with consistent and enthusiastic effort, put these thoughts into action and practice them on our mats and in our lives, we will be acting out the scripts stored in our bodies and postures. It is the way nature has intended. We are built to survive, and until we re-write our script as one of expansion and evolution, nature will behave accordingly and keep us in a survival state. Our free will is given up and our unique ability to make choices of our own accord will be confiscated, and our lives will be chosen for us out of fear. It takes a conscious choice, a choice to love, again and again, to enter into our expansive nature. But it is our birthright. Join me as we practice.