Imagine moving intuitively like a sumo wrestler or tree in the wind!

Yes, it’s fun and you move differently than usually thanks to flow symbols like the two above.

What is a flow symbol and how does it guide your intuitive movement? This article explains it.

You can literally shape shift out of your mind using flow symbols!

Why should you? It’s probably the most effective and instant way to reach flow states!

With flow symbols you can change mental and physical states with ease:

• silence the mind
• activate the body in unusual ways
• and be present through very little movement.

Let’s take a step back and provide a little context plus some examples to practice.

Do try it at home! Scroll to the bottom part of the post for the actual flow symbols.

Then start to actuallyshape shift using your body!

How yopada flow movement evolved

When the Yopada approach to eliciting flow states through movement first came up it was just sheer experimentation. 

• What can the body do to feel good? 
• How to move so that the mind shuts up? 
• Is this possible anywhere, even with low energy?

Yet over the years of daily practice – and yopada is so easy you can always squeeze it in – I wanted more or less or both at the same time.

• Can you reach flow with minimal movement even at home?
• Can you transform emotions through the body and reach spirit level?
• Can you both limit and expand possibilities at the same time?

Yes, yes and yes!

Thus I created guided meditations and flow symbols that help with intuitive movement by using mental images.

What is a flow symbol?

A flow symbol is a metaphor allowing you to move in a certain way while still moving intuitively.

It gives you a general idea on how to act without telling you how exactly you have to move.

There is still no correct way of how to move and pressure to move in a certain way like in most other disciplines.

By evoking a mental image you become something else for a moment and move in a way you wouldn’t usually.

What is the underlying purpose of yopada?

Unlike with animal flow or many other flow movement types (I discovered most only after the yopada approach dawned on me) yopada is not just about the movement.

The movement is also a means to an end beyond itself and its positive physical effects gaining strength, flexibility or agility.

Yopada is about shutting off the mind to be able to reach flow states.

Of course the movement works by itself. 

Yet it’s not the goal to move in a specific way, perform a particular move or reach a high level movement proficiency. 

In short you don’t become a yopada master by being able to do this or that. It’s not about the skill level.

In a way the less you move to reach flow states the better.

Yet just sitting like with Zen would stop the flow of energy and life. 

Even in Zen sitting is not required. It only got introduced out of necessity historically.

Reaching flow with less movement is sometimes the only option. You can’t always dance, jump, roll, stretch etc.

Just like moving a lot, moving a little is often enjoyable.

Moving a little is also often the right action.

Eliciting flow states means aligning with the flow of life.

You can’t jump around when you’re exhausted, sick or sleepy.

Intuitive movement and infinite possibilities

We always move in the same ways.

• We walk the same paths every day.
• We become slaves to routines.
• We do the same things over and over.
• We habitually perform the same moves.

Healthy habits are fine. Yet most habits make us act in a robotic way.

We just do something “we always do” and we don’t even know why or what for.

Even when doing things like yoga, parkour or ecstatic dance we form habits.

We ultimately return to the same moves we are comfortable with. We repeat what we know.

That’s fine on the material or body level. 

Yet the mind takes over again as we are able to perform actions automatically once we get used to something. 

The mind wanders off and regurgitates thought patterns that are often harmful.

We’re not in flow anymore, we’re in a daze.

Intuitive movement has potentially infinite possibilities.

It’s like with Chess, the more you move the more combinations you discover.

Yet the sheer “number” of infinite possibilities is often too much. 

Also we are not able to perform them all, not even close.

The body has limits of

• lifestyle
• age
• size
• weight etc.

So we try to keep it safe and don’t venture beyond the ritual.

The movement becomes sheer exercise again. It starts to be repetitive and boring.

So a flow symbol introduces a new element to this.

You can move like a

• Sumo wrestler
• tree
• or a wedding guest.

Yet most flow symbols are not just role playing. They are usually specific actions as well.

The action can be performed in many ways and the individual decides how to perform it. Yet there is a general idea what to do.

Thus we get the best from both worlds, guidance on how to move without getting lost in infinite possibilities and variety depending on actual needs and context.

Asanas vs flow symbols

You may be already familiar with (Hatha) yoga asanas as taught in the West.

Asanas as we know them nowadays are very strict and somewhat rigid.

You have to perform them in a very specific way so that they are correct.

Actual yoga only uses asanas as a means to an end though. It’s really not about being super flexible and impressing people.

Asanas and physical practice were initially meant to make bodies flexible enough to practice sitting meditation for hours pain free.

So what we do in the modern era is just to practice the physical part as a type of gymnastics. That’s fine but very superficial and limiting.

Yet you can also use asanas in more fluid way as an inspiration to move in ways you usually don’t.

Yopada is heavily influenced by yoga (even though I’m not a “real” yogi).

Yet it’s not the type of yoga where you have to pose in a particular way.

There is no right or wrong in the “dancing with walls” approach.

The joy of movement is your inner guide.

“You are your own guru”.

Thus a flow symbol is not a prescription how to exactly use the body, no matter how the body looks or in which state it is.

It’s a mental tool you can use to move your body in a way that suits you.

A flow symbol evokes images that allow you to move in a way similar to the picture in your head.

Some flow symbols tell you to move like a tree e.g. You know yourself what kind of tree you are.

Nobody tells you that you’re a 100 year old oak tree. There is no perfect tree you have to mimic.

Movement keys vs flow symbols

One of the conscious and transformative movement types I have practiced that have heavily inspired me is Modern Mystic Arts.

Itay Ganot regularly comes up with so-called movement keys.

These are often complex structures meant to perform very specific “psycho-mystic” actions.

Some keys consist of more than a dozen of combined moves, verbal utterances and mental images.

MMA movement keys are highly sophisticated ways to cut through your habitual self-inflicted misery.

They literally reset your nervous system.

I was usually unable to memorize them let alone practice them at home.

So I wanted to have something much easier that I can do even when a headache comes up and I’m already dizzy. Why?

The first flow symbols came to my mind when I was very weak and sick with sinusitis and bronchitis.

So flow symbols do not replace or compete with asanas or movement keys. They are somewhere in the middle of both.

Flow symbol examples to practice

The very first flow symbol that came up during the “12 Steps to Rebirth” meditation was the Sumo wrestler.

Others soon followed. I did not plan them. They just appeared intuitively based on what the body needed.

I just wrote down the “steps” and used the metaphor that came to my mind.

Steps ist not meant literally, it’s not about dance steps. They are like stages or phases of the meditation that has a dozen of them.

So the flow symbols do not do much by itself, they are usually part of a meditation of around a dozen items.

That’s why they are simple to practice and easy to memorize. They usually follow a quite self-evident order.

So you ideally perform more than just one, but at least a few in the order suggested.

Also the flow symbol follow the simple “5 elements” method starting with Earth bound movements, then air, the water, fire and …

The fifth elements has no name. It’s often referred to as ether but that only muddies the water.

The Sumo wrestler 

Step 1 of the “12 Steps to Rebirth” Meditation

Sumo wrestlers are those super heavy (usually) Japanese wrestlers who often weigh around 300 – 400 pounds (136 to 181 kg) or more.

They carry a lot of weight around but are strong. The body mass is actually beneficial in the ring.

So the metaphor or flow symbol asks you to imagine all the weight of obligations, responsibility and problems you carry.

You carry it around inside your body. The burden weighs you down but also stabilizes you and trains you.

So just stand in a half squat position like a sumo wrestler and ground yourself.

You can stomp your feet or put a hand on the floor and look up in front you challenging the imaginary opponent.

“All the weight you carry on your shoulders is actually supporting you, making it impossible to move your heavy body to any opponent.”

This is what I noted as an explanation shortly after writing the first symbol down.

Tree in the wind

After the Sumo wrestler comes to the tree in the wind.

How to dance like a tree? Well it’s easy, the trunk stay in place and only the treetop moves.

Or when it’s just a small tree then it bends a little. Yet it stay in one place.

Yet it’s spring time and the win is just a breeze at first. The movement is soft and calm.

Of course we can vary the wind strength and a bit more. Every tree is different and the wind comes in gusts and changes directions.

So you see there is not just one way to move like a tree in the wind. Yet you get the idea almost instantly and choose the way that fits.

Just stay firm on the floor with both logs showing to the front. Move mainly the arms and the upper body until the hip level.

Stormy seasons

Let’s imagine that winds pick up. It’s maybe autumn and the stormy season begins. Of course this is still also a metaphor for life.

It’s often easier to weather the storm when stay flexible and bendy instead of being rigid.

So we’re still a tree in stage number three of the 12 steps to rebirth. We’re also still in the Earth element. Yet we also transition to the air.

Do you want more?

The 12 flow symbols from the rebirth meditation are too much for an article explaining the flow symbols in general.

There are also three other 12 step meditations by now, one for feeling and transforming anger, one for sadness and one for fear.

They feature each a series of around dozen of unique steps, stages or symbols.

You can contact me @onreact almost everywhere on social media or Gmail.com

I can send you the text files that explain the guided meditations and flow symbols.

We can also practice together live or online through one of the various video chat tools.