Elanchezhian Palanivelu

Mr. Elanchezhian Palanivelu, 3rd Dan

Internationally Certified Instructor

Martial Arts, Yoga, and Chi Kung

As part of International Instructor Certification from Healing Arts Center, Master Bell conducted a Yoga Workshop from October 2023 to March 2024. I attended this workshop along with my family members. Though we have done stretches and a few poses as part of Martial Arts and Chi Kung practice, we haven’t formally learned Yoga. This workshop provided a structured learning environment to explore Yoga as a complete system, the process of using Yoga to bring students to a balanced place and help them navigate the path of personal development. The purpose of this document is to capture my learnings and experiences from this special session.

Having been trained with Master Bell for more than ten years in Martial Arts and Chi Kung, I knew Yoga would be another holistic approach to well-being and personal growth. So the first step was to define the personal purpose for coming to class and practicing yoga. Students understanding the purpose of their practice makes it easier to actively engage their mind, body, and spirit. 

On the first day of class, Master Bell had us look at how cute all the colorful yoga mats spread out on the floor looked. He reminded us of the importance of our practice. Instead of just showing up and leaving feeling good, he asked us to pay attention to feeling good and understand the process it takes to feel good. Most of the teachings were through these experiences in the class. So we would be asked multiple times in the class ‘how are you feeling’ questions to bring that self-awareness and get the lessons from the experience. 

One of the initial lessons in the class was developing a relationship with the yoga mat while stepping in and out. That self-awareness prepared us for everything else we did on the mat. The head-to-toe warmup exercises were done, slowing down the pace, bringing the mind to the body, and releasing the tension in the body with consciously controlled breathing. With every breath, I noticed the air intake volume increasing and my body relaxing. This preparation transitioned us into poses. As we start the pose, there is an understanding of the physical frame of the body, the different muscle groups, and the definition of the pose. There is a way to get into the pose, the mind guides the body into the pose (without forcing), easing the body towards the way of the pose, stretching more to feel the deep muscles closer to the bone, quietening down the mind to the pose, and through conscious breathing relaxing the muscles. Once the pose is done, there is a way to come out of the pose safely, allowing the body to settle into gravity and assess the feeling and state of being. Then step out of the mat and check the entire body and mobility. 

Engaging in deep stretching and continuous breathing supplied a lot of oxygen to the body, leading to improved blood circulation and energy flow. The slow pace and deep stretch resulted in a deeper connection between my mind and body making me aware of muscles I had never noticed before, allowing my mind to be quiet and fully present. I felt a profound sense of rejuvenation. 

With a quiet mind, I could pay more attention to my inner self. Throughout our lives, we accumulate habits, unresolved conflicts, strong emotions, desires, beliefs, impulses, and memories, all of which cover up the pure spirit we were born with. Mostly my reactive behavior to a situation comes from the spirit. In the same situation, instead of reacting, I could also engage my mind to see the reality and with reasoning handle the situation. In doing a pose, I can experience these two forces within me. When I listen to the instructions of the pose and engage my mind to lead the body into the pose as per instruction, I can experience a sense of balance and harmony with mind, body, and spirit.  In that balanced state, there is no conflict between my mind and spirit because I did it the way it should be done. 

While doing the pose, instead of focusing on the way if I allow fear, self-doubt, distraction, aggressiveness, laziness, boredom, multi-tasking, etc. then I’m introducing a conflict. Thoughts like ‘I shouldn’t be doing it as I may hurt myself’, ‘can I do this?’, ‘what’s that noise outside?’, ‘I don’t feel like doing it’, ‘I don’t want to learn this pose’, ‘What’s for dinner?’, ‘This is too difficult I will find another simple way’, ‘I want to get to the final state of pose’, ‘When is the class ending?’, etc. are examples of emotional states during a pose. Or one can go through a pose without being aware of any of it, missing the essence of yoga. The pose would serve as a mirror to see our inner self. In that moment we can clearly see the choice to either give power to this emotional force or give power to the logical force to learn the way and focus on doing that way. Depending on how the mind is used, it can be the greatest ally or the greatest shortcoming.

Through practice, as we get to know these two forces within us and consistently shift control to the mind, we gain mental discipline, become more realistic, resolve conflicts, and experience peace. This state enables us to look at our inner self freely. In the beginning, looking at the inner self with all our past could be challenging. We may not even feel good about certain pasts and toxic emotions like fear and anger. Logically what we have lived so far is our life. Important to know that no matter how strong the feelings are, there is no reasoning in them. The mental discipline we gained with the practice is helpful in logically looking at different experiences. Every life experience has a lesson, so we can look at it honestly and learn the lesson from it to become a better person. 

A few important lessons I learned in Yoga class:

• Practicing the same pose regularly shows us our growth. I noticed the discomfort, mental noise, and difficulty with intense stretch reduced. I was able to focus, my mind became quiet, and my body got into the pose with ease. Not to let comfort set in, we tweak the pose to challenge more.   
• In the class, Master Bell reminded multiple times ‘Yoga is not supposed to hurt’. Aggressiveness or doing the wrong way could cause pain. In that case, we back off, learn the proper way, and make sure the stretch aligns with the body frame. 
• If there is any challenge in doing the pose correctly, we want to find out the cause. We may need to face our impulses, emotions, and habits. When we find out, we don’t fight with it. Either discard it or replace it with better ways.
• Following a well-defined way of doing poses, transitioning to different poses, and consistently engaging the mind in every little aspect results in a high awareness of existence. We feel self-respect, and self-esteem improve over time. We could enjoy our pure spirit and see that we are already somebody.
• Sometimes with improper movement through our living, some physical pain could come. When there is pain in the body, through appropriate stretching we find the source of pain, release the tension through relaxed breathing, realign the muscle group, and strengthen it to relieve the pain. 
• The yoga class was simple with no complicated philosophy or use of unnecessary words. Master Bell asked a few times life itself is so simple, why do we have so many words in the dictionary? I understood the importance of keeping the class simple.
• How do I know if Yoga is helping me? When I’m relaxed and able to do my responsibilities with ease, that shows growth. Then, the practice of yoga is working.
• In the beginning, students get oral teaching. When students don’t listen completely to the message, then there is nothing much to go with the practice. That makes the practice difficult and ineffective. It is important to pay attention to students to make sure what is offered to them is there in the practice.
• Throughout the practice, asking students pointed questions and listening to know where they are, is important so that appropriate information can be given to fill the blank spaces in their understanding and practice. Sometimes the instructor may need to challenge the students to get them out of selective listening or their comfort or defensiveness to deliver the message. 
• In the path of personal development using healing arts, the instructor first powers the student’s growth as a battery. As they learn and practice, they need to take over as an alternator to continuously power their growth. That means when they know better, they do better. That way the battery is not overloaded.
• The role of the instructor is much bigger than my person. Sometimes To help the students, I need to step up beyond my comfort, or any emotional state. The commitment to the arts and students is my path of growth.

Through the Yoga practice, I became physically strong, mentally quiet, and emotionally free. Yoga enhanced my martial arts and chi kung practice. I feel a lot of appreciation for Master Bell for leading us through this path of personal development. This path allowed me to stay tight with my choices, growing together, caring, supporting, and enjoying each other. With this path, I realized the profoundness of my choices. I’m committed to my choices and the practice of healing arts.

With the instructor certification, I feel more responsible for the arts, learning through practicing them, and sharing them with students to build a stronger community.