Here it is – the last day of 2017. I wasn’t feeling very inspired to blog until I saw Star Wars during this holiday week. The title of my post is a quote from series creator, George Lucas. In a then titled “Revenge of the Jedi” 1981 story conference transcript, he is in conversation with Writer Lawrence Kadan and Producer Howard Kazanjian.
Kadan: “The Force is available to anyone who could hook into it?”
Lucas: “Yes, everyone can do it.”
Kasdan: “Not just the Jedi?”
Lucas: “It’s just the Jedi that take the time to do it”
Kazanjian: “They use it as a technique”
Lucas: “Like Yoga. If you want to take the time to do it, you can do it, but the ones that really want to do it are the ones who are into that kind of thing…”
Those watching the latest installment will see Luke Skywalker, mentor to Resistance Warrior Rey, instructing her to “reach out” to The Force. Rey “connects” quite easily and is quickly pulled to the evil aspect of The Force. Skywalker screams for her to resist and once she does, he flees the scene in fear.
I reflected on the ideas evoked by the scene: Rey in meditation posture (reinforcing the idea that one has to sit cross-legged to meditate), how she uses her mind to connect to The Force, its interconnectedness and the opposites she sees/feels. Movie goers are also entertained of course by the abilities of the Jedi masters, one of which is the ability to apparate. Interestingly, this is one of the advanced capacities, or siddhis, of diligent meditation discussed in a classic texts written around two thousand years ago, The Yoga Sutras. The Sutras tell us that these are not superhuman powers but are capacities that everyone possesses, it’s just that we are too distracted to be able to access them. Apparating is not my goal, but I imagine it might be useful and quite fun! Instead, I ask myself:
- what am I not accessing because of distraction?
- what negative forces (patterns of thought for example) am I “connecting” to that are potentially undermining my ability to reach my full potential?
- how can I better craft my practice to support my own betterment and in turn, the betterment of others, including that of my clients?
- how can I more easily “hook into” the interconnectedness/universal energy/flow?
- how can I more easily accept the “bad” along with the good, using it as a force for transformation – not only in myself but also, in others?
In closing, as I peer into 2018 and the conclusion of my four year certification to become a Yoga Therapist, these questions become especially important. I hope they have inspired you to come up with your own questions as it is self-inquiry that catalyzes our growth.
May The Force Be With You,
Laurie