The Magical Power to Clear Obstacles

There are sets of movements within Tibetan Yoga known as geksel, movements or sequences of movements intended to remove specific obstacles. “Gek” is an “obstacle” or “affliction.” Gek is a great word, it rhymes with “blech!” and really sounds like what it is. If gek were an emoji it would be 😖 or 😞. Obstacles can be anything that obscures, limits or blocks the natural radiance of our innate awareness and its expression through the vehicles of our body, our speech and ouxr thoughts. Gek is like storm clouds passing though the clear blue sky blocking the light of the sun. Now, from the point of view of the sun, the clouds don’t obscure anything - the sun is content to shine on whatever appears. And, the clouds aren’t inherently bad - they bring rain, they bring cooler weather, they bring shade.

However, often in our limited view of reality, we see the clouds of our life as bad or negative. We get sick or injured, have an argument with a loved one, had a painful experience at work. And then, rather than allowing the feelings about the situation come, stay, and go, we usually start to obsess. We feel that the situation has robbed us of our light, or our warmth or joy, of our radiance. We think about it, ruminating over and over again. The challenge or problem begins to occupy the center of our attention. And, the longer we attend to it, the bigger or worse it gets or more important it becomes. It shapes our experiences of other things going on in our life. It interferes with relationships and our sleep. Whatever we are grasping at or pushing away become more and more solid, harder and harder to shake off.

The magic of Tsa Lung Trul Khor is that it works to liberate these stuck energies of body, energy and mind without any direct action on our part. This is where the second half of the word geksel comes in. “Sel” is “clearing”. Tibetan Yoga clears the obstacles or afflictions that are alive in our experience. It does this by opening us to the inner space of the heart-mind. Our problems may not go away by doing the practices, but our relationship to them shifts. We find ourselves able to give more space to what is alive in us - good and bad. We find ourselves not directing our energy to the problem as a problem, per se, but as an opportunity to bring wisdom and compassion into the situation. New possibilities unfold, solutions arise, relationships are rebuilt or redefined. All of this may happen with an increase in knowledge or with new understanding and ideas, but often the magic of the movements is really like the wind blowing clouds from the sky, or the clouds just emptying out of rain and dissolving into space - it is effortless and things simply change.

There are many kinds of spiritual practices, and they serve different purposes. But, all of them, if they are worthy of the name, open us more and more to the divine nature of this living universe and our place within it as a part of the divinity. No, (for the buddhists reading this) this isn’t buddhist language, but it is I think a beautiful way of expressing our relationship to Buddha-nature. Some practices tame our mind, some bring clarity and insight. Some make the body a more serviceable vehicle for our practice and for being of service to others. Other’s cultivate power or merit for one’s own and other’s benefit. Some bring us into union or non-duality. The practices on this site cut across any of these different intents. The Nine Breaths really helps us quiet the mindstream and direct it toward more positive attributes like love, joy and clarity. The Tsa Lung balance our energies and emotions and they create more suppleness in the body. As we grow more still and centered, insight often arises. Boundaries and ego become less rigid.

If these practices are not in your wheelhouse, as they say, I invite you to check them out. The Nine Breaths will always be a free course. It is the best place to start along this path. Even if you’ve never meditated or done any yoga, the Nine Breaths is just perfect. Just sign up . . .

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