Conversations with Mirra and Aadil

(Savitri, “Truth Within” 2:28)

The term “shadow” is often used to describe the dark parts within us that we do not wish to see – anger, resentment, envy, and other qualities that diminish us. Yet to live with integrity, we must also be constantly aware of what my wife, Mirra, calls “the white shadow.” A white shadow is created whenever we mask something “bad” in ourselves by maintaining an outward appearance of “goodness.” A white shadow, then, is not only the repression of our shadowy dark side but also the creation of a bright veneer to hide it. Anytime we don’t look at our darkness by insisting that we are light, we are creating a white shadow.

White shadows live whenever and wherever integrity is lacking. We may or may not be conscious of our pretense, but it is there, gnawing at our peace, waiting to be exposed someday. The creation of a white shadow is a way of compensating, a way of avoiding reality, a way of denying that we need to grow. To live with integrity means being willing to admit that we are creating white shadows, being willing to peer into our darkness and acknowledge that we are pretending to be light. If trying to be good only keeps us from recognizing our shadows, what good is trying to be good?

The Heart Chakra has three main openings. In Purna Yoga we focus on the Heart Chakra that is in the center of the chest. Imagine a horizontal line connecting your frontal armpits. The center of this line is the Heart Chakra. An inch above this region is the opening in the Heart Chakra that stimulates the thymus gland, the master gland of the immune system. About 2 inches below this horizontal line is the portion of the Heart Chakra that begins to unite with the solar plexus chakra. The solar plexus chakra houses human emotions (all emotions other than pure love) and is the heart of the ego, the shadow.

The reason why we, in Purna Yoga, focus on the Heart Chakra on the horizontal line is because this is the doorway to the soul in the physical form. It is from this place that light flows into the body (where matter and Spirit unite), enters the organic heart, brings the heartbeat to the human form and activates the breath. Often, when people touch this place, they feel tightness, emotional numbness, hate, anger or tears. This is just the thin veneer that our ego has placed over the Heart Chakra, blocking our awareness of the spirit living in our body. When we do the Purna Yoga Meditation tapping and flowering techniques, we gently help lift these ego layers, so that the true feeling that our Heart Chakra holds, love, begins to flow. Our aim in Purna Yoga is to go approximately three inches deeper into the chest where we contact the ray or thread of light which is our Soul, that entered the physical form in our third month as a fetus.

We are grateful to Christian for sharing his personal experience of how Purna Yoga Meditation has helped him heal attachments in his relationship.  May what he has shared inspire us to find the true essence of our connections to others.   (This video was taken at the annual Purna Yoga Retreat in Hawaii.)

Christian Englund (3:42)

My yoga practice has changed much over the years.  One catalytic experience that transformed my practice was when my wife, Mirra, developed a critical illness.  Three times I saw her almost die and be revived.  I was once again forced to search for the deeper meanings of my life and the place my daily asana practice had in it.  Watching the woman who mattered so much to me struggle for life made me question the haughty attachment I had to my body and the asanas it could do.

Assisted by the penetrating and often astonishing insights my wife had gained through her trials, I began to discover what was for me an entirely new approach to yoga practice, an approach that included yet transcended my old one.  My teachers and several ancient texts had already introduced me to this kind of practice, but I suppose I was unable to heed their guidance until experience had softened my heart.  And the heart was at the core of this new approach:  the surrender of the brain to the heart as well as the lifting of the pelvic energy to the heart.  My wife Mirra explained to me time and time again the importance of opening the heart center.  Speaking from the depths of her own inner experience, she reminded me that it was the heart that held the secrets to self knowledge and the heart that was the portal to the universe within.

Now, when I teach, I no longer ask students to make the performance of the postures their primary focus in yoga. Instead, I ask them to discover, explore, grasp, and then lift the awesome power of the pelvis into the heart center, giving the heart attention, energy, and nourishment.  As they work in the poses, I also teach them techniques to help them enlist the intellectual, analytical abilities of the brain in the inner quest that takes place within the heart.  For example, Parivrtta Janu Shirsasana (”Revolved Head to Knee Pose”) is an excellent way to learn this heart-centered approach, because performing the pose with elegance and openness requires you to discover and harbor the power inside the pelvis, to lift that power into the heart center, and to open the chest in a wide, resplendent expression of the heart’s inner luminosity.

I can think of three major turning points in my life, and therefore, my yoga.  The first was a major physical problem I had with my lower back.  (It was a great opportunity; otherwise I would have become extremely arrogant, because I had a very sensational practice. I used to practice asana 8 hours a day, with Iyengar standing there.)  The second was when Mirra almost died, and the third was when I met the Mother of Pondicherry.

Turning Points (3:18), Aadil Palkhivala

We are so honored to have received this beautiful testimonial. With our deepest gratitude to Memo, we share it here hoping it may remind others of the joy that awaits the journey of self-discovery. 

“Here is a guy who can shatter your ego” said a voice sitting in front of Aadil less than two years ago at a 2007 Yoga Conference in South Florida. Maybe this was the soft whisper of the inner self or a thought passing by, I am not sure. What I am sure of was that the four hour mini workshop was nothing short of educational, eye opening and energizing. I can confidently state on behalf of everyone there that Aadil had full command of the class and a vast knowledge of yoga and the human body. What impressed me the most and made me evaluate my commitment to better my life was Aadil’s way of patiently and very effectively translating the principles of yoga to real life examples. The concepts such as surrender, dharma and energy were starting to come alive. During all my interactions with Aadil both in and outside the classroom, I felt his passion toward serving his purpose and his commitment to inspire others to discover and live their purpose. Above all else, Aadil’s utter most respect and love for his wife Mirra, his daughter Zenia and the mission of Yoga Centers is truly heartwarming.  

Having returned from Aadil’s workshop, I wasted very little time to travel from Orlando, FL to Bellevue, WA to attend Mirra’s meditation workshop, expecting to learn to calm the occasional inner turmoil, and to relax and enjoy silence. Having discovered how energetic, committed, compassionate and disciplined Mirra was, I knew I was wrong, but I did not know how wrong. The day I stepped into that workshop is the day I started the real journey of self discovery. Come to think of it, what a short distance it was to travel to find one’s self! Mirra showed us the truth that lies in our hearts allowing us to feel whole, beaming with confidence. 

Having lived outside the country of my origin by myself for more than twenty years, I often thought my travels, my degrees, and my profession were shaped mostly based on my perception of cultural expectations. When I pause to reflect on these experiences, I feel that they were propelled by the inner desire to search for the meaning of life. I am eternally grateful that Aadil and Mirra have been two gracious guides who shed their light onto my path.

Memo Emec
Regional Manager, Operating Participants, Walt Disney World
Orlando, FL

Evolution cannot happen without involution. Unless I spend my time knowing who I am, any effort to try to become something more becomes a facade, a pretense, or it becomes what my wife Mirra calls, the “White Shadow.”

What we are working on in Purna Yoga is quite different. What we are working on is integrity. This means that until I know myself, it is pointless trying to be something that I am not. In fact the exact opposite is true.

Involution (2:18), Aadil Palkhivala