If you know you are here to be a real-life Superhero, and are looking for a yoga form designed to support your Superhero training, this post’s for you. With great joy and excitement, I introduce the world’s first official Superhero Yoga.

For 12 years I have been engaged in intensive research into the place of physical yoga in modern society–how it can be a vehicle and technology for present day imbalances and near future achievements.

I believe humans are collectively waking up into a radically empowered way of living and relating and co-creatively steering Spaceship Earth. And, I believe that yoga is a technology that holds great potential as a vehicle to this radical empowerment.

But, like any revamped technology, the yoga of the future must be refined and calibrated.

This post explores the framework of the yoga of the future, suited to our modern challenges and supporting the development of modern heroes, visionaries and leaders.

Ancient, Yet Evolving

While yoga is ancient, it is also evolving. As a technology of self-mastery and self-realization, it is alive and changing. And at this moment in time, something amazing is emerging: a yoga designed for Superheroes.

Not a yoga for the mythical Captain Marvel or Jean Grey; yoga for real-life Superheroes.

Do you remember the League’s definition of a Superhero found in the New Heroes Briefing? No worries if not, I’ve included it here for your ease:

One who–regardless of situation or circumstance–is learning to consistently be in and express from Awesomeness in their daily life, becoming more and more response-able  for the state and evolution of their world.

And recall that ‘Awesomeness’ is a state of living in alignment with your highest values, excitements and truths.

So when considering these definitions, a Superhero Yoga must do a few things:

1. Develop the ability to recognize personal values, excitements and truths

2. Make the body, mind and lifestyle strong enough to channel these values, excitements and truths into potent and consistent action

3. Establish a level of personal resilience such that daily vicissitudes do not wear you down or derail your life purposes

Super Synthesis

Now given the 3 components mentioned above, the actual form could look like anything. I have chosen to use Hatha Yoga as the foundational framework on which to build a Superhero Yoga.

Know that this post is the beginning of a gradual revealing of this synthesized modality, which I plan to more fully share through other foundational posts, an ‘Intro to Superhero Yoga’ Power-Up Guide, as well as themed events and classes. Our Superhero Bootcamp is also an exploration into this unique and evolving modality.

For now, use the BLANK tenants below to deepen your sense of Superhero Yoga, and of course feel free to begin to explore these tenants through your own yoga or fitness practice.

Unique Yoga for Unique Heroes

1. Holistic Vision Fitness/Wellness

Superheroes take the long view: fitness and wellness on all levels including body, mind and emotions. Superhero Yoga uses physical techniques to access and develop non-physical abilities, such as empathy, vision, playfulness, courage, adaptability and integrity.

2. Tensegrity

A combining of the words ‘Tensional’ and ‘Integrity’ (thanks Bucky!), Tensegrity is the engagement and balancing of opposing forces in any system to create heightened integrity. Superheroes are masters of balance, knowing how to bend both light and shadow to their purposes.

Superhero Yoga uses asanas (physical postures) to train the ability to balance powerful forces, allowing the development of situational flexibility and adaptation.

3. Attending to Aliveness

In the ancient language of yoga, we are given the term Sukhasana, which translates to ‘the seat of sweetness’. In our modern practice, I often refer to this as ‘attending to aliveness’–finding the natural spots of aliveness in your yoga practice and your daily experience, and consciously acknowledging and expanding into them. One recipe for success here is to create an attitude of judgement-free, alert yet relaxed, curious and unassuming awareness.

4. Subtle Circuitry and the Solar-Sacral Battery

Superheroes must learn to hold more and more energy, information and intelligence in their bodies, and be able to drawn on and wield this extra energy in moments of need and leadership.

Superhero Yoga puts a high focus on developing the sensitivity and control necessary to strengthen the flow of body energies (classically called udana, prana, samana, apana, and vyana) and the conductivity of the inner energy and nervous system channels (nadis/chakras). To this end, Superhero Yoga prioritizes meditation and breathing techniques alongside posture techniques.

Further, in order to better comprehend and respond to situations of need, Superheroes must receive crisp and high resolution information from their senses and nervous system. Recognizing this need, Superhero Yoga gives high priority to heightening the quality and quantity of information moving through the body and brain.

5. Play

Play has been shown to be one of the quickest and most sustainable ways of creating lasting learning and personal growth.

As Superheroes are intensely focused on personal development for the sake of strengthening their response-ability in their world, Superhero Yoga embraces embodied research into the state of play and its effects. Through posture, breathing and movement, we explore the experience of fun, wonder, and spontaneity, and thus we evolve.

6. ShapeShifting

Being a Superhero is not simply something you do, it is a deep identity shift–something you are. ShapeShifting is the very learnable skill of changing your state of being and identity on demand by embodying different physio-pyscho-emotional qualities. By using a combination of posture, movement, breath, inner visualization and emotionality, ShapeShifting becomes a very real superpower.

This skill creates an incredible range of behavioral motion, which is an essential ability for any real-life Superhero that wishes to create meaningful change in their life and world.

7. Radical Self Acceptance and Self Love

On the journey of becoming a better you, it becomes incredibly important to balance this drive toward evolution with a deep, basic and unconditional sense of wholeness, completeness and self-acceptance.

However life is showing up, however the physical body looks, feels and is operating in any given moment, becomes an excuse to practice unconditional self-love and appreciation.

By balancing the drive toward expansion and evolution with the deep appreciation of ‘I am complete and whole here and now’, we create a very special type of Tensegrity–one that keeps us sane and healthy through our journey as a real-life Superhero.

Facing Real-Life Villainy

If you understand the origins of most classic Supervillains, you will realize that it is not actually the Supervillain that a Superhero must battle, but the deep-seated and dis-easing fear that warps the identity and causes the destructive behavior.

Ultimately, Superhero Yoga must develop Superheroes that can transform such fear inside and out. So go forth, and fight the real causes of villainy wherever you find them; and when you need some Superhero self-care, come practice some Superhero Yoga with the League =)

Some next steps to support you:

• Yoga for Superheroes Official Page

• Classes and Events

• Related League Articles and Videos

In super self-care,
Eka, aka SuperSpark

Featured Image Credit