Water: the element of fluidity
Water qualities are movement, flowing, connecting, exchanging, adaptability, power and feeling. The fundamental expression of water is movement, and it is embodied in the technique of entering and leaving, arriving and departing: vinyasa. The arena of water is the pelvis, its source the ball of the foot, its medium the bones, and its key the joints. It is cultivated and expressed by learning to move softly and fluidly into, out of and between asana. It is supported by repetition, and expressed in synchronicity between breath and body movement.
The superficial application of water is to allow complete passivity into the muscular system, reducing asana to stretch. By subtracting muscular contraction from the body's response to gravity the load it is designed to carry is taken by the connective tissue. This subjects them to stress that soon becomes strain and damage. Damage that can be so incremental and masked by endoprhin activity and inattentiveness that it is unrecognised or disowned. The body then falls deeper into its structural imbalances and masks further its inherent integrity.
The subtle application of water is to synchronise body movement with breathing. This unites body, breath and mind, by inviting breathing to support movement and movement to generate breathing. Establishing water requires the utilisation of sensitivity, the sign of its presence is its opposite, power. Without vinyasa we will not be able to fully utilise asana. It determines the quality of any posture, and therefore its effectiveness, both by ensuring that it is fully established and that it is prepared and compensated for. The inmost application of water is sensitivity to sensation:on which every other aspect of yoga practice depends.
