According to yoga philosophy, within everything there is a consciousness and quality- not only in humans and animals, but also in natural phenomena like rivers, mountains and trees.
From Myths of the Asanas
Holding up the world mountain
Mountains are essential to life because they are inseparable from rivers. The mountain is the source of rivers which then flow to the sea and radiate through the land providing the essential lifeblood for the vegetation and people.
Our scheduled classtime this week will be a creative exploration of movement and postures inspired by the qualities of mountains and rivers. Qualities of mountains are stability, steadfastness, structure, strength, security. Forming the mountains however is the hot, molten lava deep within. So even as we do mountain pose, it is coming from our core which is not rigid and unmoving, but alive and moving with each breath.
Qualities of rivers are fluctuating, random, powerful, and enthusiastic. Rivers sometimes dredge up all sorts of muck on the bottom and allow it to flow downstream. Movement based upon these qualities would be unpredictable and changeable.
Picture taken by Mike Hudson
