Charleston Yogi

On Saturday, November 21, I attended a yoga workshop at Atmah Ja’s, The Art of Core Consciousness, yoga/massage studio and art gallery.   The workshop was titled “The Alchemy of Silk,” and was designed to inspire the potential to experience the abundant and ever infinite dream texture in which we exist.

I first discovered The Art of Core Consciousness in early October during one of my favorite Charleston events, the French Quarter Art Walk.  When I stepped into the studio for the first time, I immediately felt a striking presence spinning about the room.  The studio is a fantastic space, and features the beautiful artwork of Iamikan.  In many of his pieces, Iamikan uses oil and acrylics in such a way that the material seems to remain in its liquid form, surging with energy behind its glass coat.  His pieces are quite unique to the Charleston area–or to anything I’ve ever seen, for that matter–and possess an immense amount of livelihood.

In speaking with Atmah Ja, the creator of The Art of Core Consciousness, I discovered that in addition to art and massage, the studio offers yoga.  Atmah Ja created the space to share her passion for these three mediums and to offer courses from a rich and varied yoga practice, stemming from her world travel and intermingling with many awakened beings.  Now as a seasoned art enthusiast, and a somewhat new (but so eager to grow) yogi, I was thrilled by this opportunity to experience the two at once, where I imagined one could thrive and expand through the other, enhancing the experience of each. 

Early into Saturday morning’s “Alchemy” experience, Atmah Ja made sure that all of the participants got to know each other and went on to say, “What happens in the alchemy of a yoga workshop is the opportunity to experience oneself in a collective-connective consciousness. We are all linked through a unified force as we come together with an intention and just as it takes a mere thread to hold together silk, there is a thread that connects all beings.   She shared, “It is not the yoga itself that is the catalyst… but rather what the yoga opens inside of us to explore and expand.  It is in that place of silence in the meditative mind, that the infinite lies.”

Now every yogi has their niche in yoga, and over the past 6 months I have come to find mine in power vinyasa flow.  But what I discovered on Saturday is the importance of venturing out of your “box” and changing your pace; your routine.  In Atmah Ja’s class, we moved at a slower pace, but held poses for much longer than I’m used to.  We did so in order to observe the energy as it travels through the body.  I was able to find a strength in familiar poses that I didn’t know existed.  And of course, I was introduced to new movements that I am happy to add to my practice.

But Atmah Ja’s experience is not souly about the movement, but emphasizes reflection, discovery, and empowering the consciousness.

Atmah Ja has a beautiful way with words and meditation, and I would like to share with you some of the reflection she shared with us:

“Our thoughts are like radio waves.”  Though people cannot hear our thoughts, our thoughts, attitudes and intentions are vibrations that can be felt by others and are always being sent and received through our “antenna”.  It is through each thought transmission that we create our reality.

“We were birthed by our own desire to live, love and play and by that desire, or thought, we created ourselves into existence and continue to rebirth ourselves based on that which is unfulfilled.”

“This is your canvas, your life, use the brush of imagination to paint it as you will.  Express yourself with passion and purpose, thereby nourishing in the substantive well of infinite creative bliss, that is your birth right..

In addition to the internal reflection and self-discovery I found during Atmah Ja’s workshop, I found connection between yoga and art–the thread I had hoped to discover in this particular space on that beautiful Southern fall morning.  Just as in art, yoga is imaginative.  It pulls from a deep place within you. Both practices challenge you to pull this beauty and energy you find in your heart and mind and bring it into the physical world through movement or creation, which can then be shared with others. 

If you missed out on The Alchemy of Silk, it’s not too late–Atmah Ja will lead a follow-up workshop on Saturday, December 12 at 9:30 am.  Registration is required, so check out www.atmahjas.com for more information.