Yoga has been invaluable in my life. But, it’s not just the poses and how the physical practice has transformed me. It’s the deeper practice. One of my favorite take-away’s from teacher training is to choose a yama or niyama to practice personally each month. The past year has been incredibly difficult personally for me and I’m so thankful I had this yoga practice to ground me and help me to continue to grow and heal as a person.
This month I chose Svadhyaya or self study. It is the fourth niyama (positive duties or observances for healthy living and spiritual enlightenment). For me, self study is about awareness without judgement. This is a practice that I have to come back to over and over again. My pattern of thinking for most of my life revolved around judgement and punishment. It has taken many years of diligent practice to create a new way of thinking.
I love being intentional. I think too often I have had to just react to whatever comes my way. But, when I take time to focus on self study I am prepared to allow things to pass. To allow what is others to not affect me or my day. In other words I am grounded and not swayed this way or that by what I encounter in my day to day life.
So much suffering is created by own my mind. By worrying about things that have not happened or by not understanding the truth of the reality around me. I give up a lot of suffering by letting go of the need to understand or to be understood. I can do this because I have spent time studying my reactions and thoughts, not with judgement, but with compassion. That compassion then extends outward to others.
Wishing you compassionate thoughts and less suffering.
All my love~ E