Inclusivity and diversity is all the rage these days and it ought to be. About time.
The name Nanairo Yoga is derived from the sound seven colors in Japanese, which points to the rainbow or the idea of a full spectrum. I'd like to take this and the next few entries to dig a little deeper into the name and the meaning of it.
The rainbow has long been a symbol of inclusivity in the shamanic and animistic traditions. It holds all the colors without rejection, preference or bias. It also is a symbol of union, between mother, the water or rain, and the father, the sun. This perfect union at a perfect angle and perfect conditions, create this beautiful child, this spectrum of colors, that encompasses the entirety of existence.
When we talk about inclusivity and diversity these days, we are mostly talking about the external world like race, gender, sexual orientation, class etc., which is a really important topic and today, I'd like to shine light on inclusivity and diversity in the internal world.
There is a preference within us for good feelings and an avoidance of bad feelings. Now the shades of feelings that people cling to or push away might be slightly different, but we all have these biases towards feelings, such as joy is good and anger is bad or, contentment is good and sadness is bad. This leads back to what the yogis call the five kleshas or the five afflictions and root causes of pain, which I will further deliberate in another entry.
But is it really? Emotions all have their value and a job to do within our lives. Anger helps us to become aware of our boundaries or sadness helps us to grieve, shift and let go. This addiction to feeling GOOD is cutting off important aspects of ourselves and ultimately stunting our growth instead. It's like preferring some or your children (or colors), cause they are "easier to deal with" or "less complicated" and neglecting the others that might be more confrontational, emotionally deep or really shy. Our feelings are all gems - feeling them fully and allowing them to shift moment by moment enriches our lives.
Embracing the rainbow, the full expression of your soul, IS life. It might be tricky at times, but what counts is that process of becoming aware of our biases or tendencies to push one away and cling to the other. We're not going for perfection. We're going for messy and trying over and over again aka LIFE.