Who Are You?

We make our way through the world using our brain.  The brain stem and mid-brain help with reflexive actions… like pulling your hand back from the hot stove or activating the nervous system when perceived danger emerges (like speedy DC drivers). The cortex, the massive upper brain, is what distinguishes us from other non-human animals.  It is there where we find who we are.

From the moment we are born, the brain “learns”.  What is brought in through our senses from experience is stored in the brain.  Specialized cells called neurons create memory patterns based on the past. Recollection of past patterns (of neurons firing) is how the brain predicts what’s coming next.  (Observe a baby learning to roll, sit, crawl or walk to see this clearly.) In other words, what happened in the past makes us anticipate our future, and then we act. An inspiring man Randy MacNamara said this– “…you don’t see what your eyes see, you see what your brain thinks your eyes see.”  But most of us would argue that we are more than what emerges from predictable past patterns.

So, where are we in this brain of ours? We find ourselves between what the past predicts and how we choose to step into the future. We have the ability to recognize in each moment that the brain produces what to do now based on the past.  The coolest thing about being human is we can see how we see.  We are the only species that is able to perceive ourselves (our selves) for what we are.  As humans, we are conscious of our consciousness… a bit boggling for the brain, isn’t it?

It scares me to know my brain’s patterns predictably move me, or that my awareness gives the possibility for a slightly different direction, a new path or action.  Access to power and freedom from this realization feels like a commitment to a big journey. Personally, yoga gives me glimpses of ease for this newly created way of being.  In yoga, this awareness of choice is like the pause between an exhale and the next inhale.  It is the timeless space where I connect to my enduring self, or to being part of something bigger. Yoga and meditation are the opportunity to practice safely being on this journey.

So this knowing is a real gift!  We create our lives consciously.  Past patterns help with survival and comfort, but most of us see parts of life where comfortable survival is not all we want. We let past patterns (which may serve us and may not) influence what we do.  We can also move forward in a new way; one where we choose much more of what is possible for our lives, families and communities.

(The inspiration for and some ideas here are from both Landmark Education’s Living a Created Life lecture and the DVD Yoga Unveiled.)

by Cristin Tighe, Director of Spiral Flight Yoga (www.spiralflightyoga.com). Spiral Flight offers free meditation four times a week to the community… we invite you to come experience the timeless space of possibility within you.

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