Waking Down

September 5, 2021

As my friend and teacher Daniel Crosser said recently, “Some people’s yoga is waking up. Others of us wake down. Getting our roots and getting planted is our whole existence. Then all the ether and all the spiritual goodies get a place to land. They’re waiting to touch down. Waking down is the opposite direction of what other people do.”

A lightbulb turned on when I heard this. Of 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦. There are two fundamental directionalities on the spiritual path. One involves regaining a cosmic lens. The other involves regaining an earthly lens.

The cosmic lens allows us to see the larger picture—the unspeakably magickal nature of Reality, the interconnectedness of all things, the inner world of archetypes and dreams, etc. The earthly lens allows us to focus outwardly on the harder edges of material reality—the maintenance of these meat suits we live in, the complexities of human relationship, the need to put food on the table, etc.

“After the ecstasy, the laundry,” as Jack Kornfield famously put it. Or put another way, after the waking up, the waking down. In spiritual circles, we often romanticize the former and skip over the latter because the ascent is inherently more sensational than the descent. Just ask any mountaineer which direction is more thrilling—up or down.

But when it comes to being a fully self-actualized human being, a force for good in this world, it is necessary to travel successfully in both directions—to the Spiritual Ground that is at the root of all being and then back down to the ground, feet planted firmly in the soil.

You could say that my own yoga for the last eleven years has primarily been waking down. This is likely the case for many of my sacredphrenic brothers and sisters, as well as many of my spiritual friends who are creating a place for all the spiritual goodies to land. This isn’t to say we don't have further waking up to do. It means our primary directionality is one of becoming more embodied. We are releasing trauma, toxicity, old stories, energetic blockages, and anything else standing in the way of a deep connection with the earth beneath our feet.

Here’s to all you unsung heroes out there who are waking down.