Janu Shirshasana B is supposed to stimulate the pelvic floor, and to enhance the ascending movement of energy through the hollow center of the body. This center is called sushumna, “the most gracious” and it represents the space of yogic intimacy.
In Hatha Yoga, sushumna is the space in which awareness, as the masculine principle, opens to the spontaneous unfoldment of the feminine principle, or the creative force, so she can be felt and seen and heard, as she gives expression to her innermost potential.
Our hubris as samsarins and pashus, caught in the delusions of the mind, is to suppose that we can manipulate that force, and make her dance for our enjoyment. But she dances only when and where she likes, and can never be forced to reveal her matchless beauty.
When this is understood, yoga is no longer seen as a mode of self improvement, in which we try to manipulate the vital forces within. Instead it becomes a ritual of devotion, in which we hold space for the sacred dance of creation to unfold within our bodies and minds.
Holding space for the natural movement of creative expression, both in ourselves and others-this is the real masculine strength. And Hatha Yoga invites us all to embody it. Then the feminine force, which is gracious and resplendent and nurturing and brimming over with loving wisdom, can come into full power, and teach us all how to live.
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