If you missed it, you can listen to the show here: Yoga Radio with Katrina Ariel

First, I invite you to sit up taller.

Take a deep breath and feel your hips beneath you.

Give yourself this time to really feel your breath move.

Lift your heart brightly and gently encourage your shoulders to come back, so you have more space to breathe.

Notice how you feel, just focusing on your breath.

This simple awareness of opening up your breath and realigning your posture is something you can do at any time to shift your state.

I know when I’m sitting at my computer my posture tends to degrade to what one of my teachers calls “slouchasana”.

This position of slouching forward blocks your breath, creates less space for your internal organs, and is definitely not helpful for the happiness of your back, hips, shoulders and neck.

So, just by sitting up tall and taking a deep breath, hopefully you notice yourself feeling better.

My intention with this show is to bring you real, relevant, immediately helpful ways to use the ancient wisdom and innovative tools of yoga in everyday life, moment to moment, so that you can more skillfully ride the waves of being human, and live life more fully.

Now, you’ve probably heard this quote by Wayne Dyer:

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

This idea of shifting perception is a powerful part of yoga.

Today’s show title is “Smile! It’s yoga for your face.” So let’s start with that.

When you smile, a whole series of good things happen. Here’s a little list of 4 reasons why smiling is so powerful, and – interestingly enough, the same things could all be said about a yoga practice in general.

4 Powerful Ways Why Smiling – And yoga – Is Good For You

1) You’re a lot more attractive when you smile. Not just for other people to look at you, but you’ll also find yourself more attractive, which brings more confidence and helps you be happier about who you are. It’s also a natural face lift, using the muscles that defy gravity, so smiling keeps you looking young and healthy. Definitely a good thing.

2) Smiling is a great thing for your health. It boosts your immune system, helps you relax and de-stress, lowers your blood pressure if it’s too high, and also balances your hormones.

When you smile, your body releases endorphins, hormones that act as natural pain killers, and serotonin, which I lovingly call happy juice. So in a very physical way smiling increases your health.

3) When you smile, your attitude shifts. It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to be in a bad mood when you smile. If you’re depressed or angry, try looking at yourself in the mirror and making yourself smile. It might be a fake-it-till-you-make it scenario at first, but very quickly your mood will change.

Also, the slouched over posture that most of us have when we’re down tends to improve by a long shot when we smile. Try slouching and smiling really bright. It’s hard to do! You naturally want to sit up tall and let your heart shine. Happiness and smiling go hand in hand. Even though we generally think we smile because we are happy, we can actually initiate the feeling of happiness by simply starting to smile.

4) Smiling is a gift to others. First of all, when you smile you’re a lot more fun to be around. And if someone is having a bad day and you smile at them, it can make a huge difference. By smiling you’re sharing something very pure. To me I think of it like sharing the light of your heart.

That’s yoga. It’s funny, because you don’t often think of smiling as yoga, but it is. It increases your physical, mental, and emotional health, makes you more aware of the things that are good because that’s the attitude you’re choosing, and this ripples out to create more harmony on many levels.

I’ll leave you with this quote from Mother Teresa:

“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”

Yoga Radio is LIVE every Thursday from 11am-noon Pacific time. If you miss the live show you can catch it on the archives or download the mp3.

Click here to Listen to Yoga Radio.

May it be brightly blessed.

I’ve made a video for you, talking about the significance of the Year of the Dragon and the cycle we’re entering into, but before you watch that I’d like to tell you about my book.

My book, Yoga for Dragon Riders is ALMOST done.

And don’t you love the beautiful cover by illustrator Jerome Chris Marcial?

However, there are a few last things I’m working on (and waiting for)…

I know I promised you I’d publish the book for the Year of the Dragon.

So…

I’m going to give you the first two chapters of Yoga for Dragon Riders totally FREE!

Just right click on this link and “Save As” to download the PDF to your computer. Yoga for Dragon Riders Free Chapters

You can start reading Yoga for Dragon Riders right away! Yay!

Alright, without further ado, here’s the video about the Year of the Water Dragon:

Remember to right click on this link Yoga for Dragon Riders Free Chapters and get your free PDF of the first two chapters of Yoga for Dragon Riders!

I’ll let you know as soon as the digital version is ready for your Kindle or digital platform. The print version of the book is scheduled to publish on March 21st.

Also, stay tuned for my Yoga Radio show, which airs every Thursday on the Voice America network.

And let me know what you think of the beginning of the book! (There’s a pretty cool map in there too . . .)

Will you please share this with your friends? Just click “Like” below and post a comment to Facebook to let them know how excited you are about the Year of the Dragon, and the book, Yoga for Dragon Riders!

I mean, what IS a Dragon Rider anyway?

Good question. I’ve put together this short video for you to help explain:

In the context of my book, a Dragon Rider is one who lives life fully, walking their own path with integrity, honour, and skill; one who discovers what it is to have balance between the essential elements of love, power, and wisdom.

A Dragon Rider is one who connects with the power of life and the spirit of dreams — one who explores on many planes of existence, with one foot in this world and one in the next.

A Dragon Rider goes beyond limiting ideas to explore who they are, with creativity and delight; contributing their own unique talents to help uplift the world.

This approach to yoga invites you to find your own path and creative expression, guided by principles and practices that are effective and empowering, playful and profound.

We can use the word Rider, or we can use the word Yogi, or perhaps the title Master-in-Training. Whatever you prefer is fine.

I like the word Rider because the idea of riding a Dragon infuses a sense of power and destiny that calls the imagination to awaken and participate more fully in your experience of life. This image invokes and magnifies the delight of creativity and therefore the force of transformation.

I also often compare life to an ocean, and we are constantly riding the waves of life.

To ride skillfully, or to surf these waves, requires proficiency and willingness. When you have both, you can find beauty and benefit both in the low times and the high times and can balance yourself wherever you are and whatever you experience.

To be a Rider (to live your yoga) is to realize that the energy that pulsates within your blood and breath is the same energy that moves the waves and is the water.

This energy is all of life, all of what you see and do not see.

And it is sentient. Aware of itself and limitless in power and possibility.

To be a Dragon Rider is to align with this energy, with love and respect: To spread your wings and fly upon the current of Grace.

Stay tuned for my next video on the Chinese New Year! We’re about to enter the Year of the Dragon, and this book, Yoga for Dragon Riders, offers you many tools for 2012 and beyond!

Very soon, on January 23rd, we will be entering the Year of the Dragon.

Which has a great deal to do with the book I’ve just written…

The book that only took 19 days from start to first draft…

“It is a transformational ROAR!”

Watch this video and learn about my new book, plus 3 things that can help you in 2012 and beyond!

So, yes, the book is called “Yoga for Dragon Riders”!

A Dragon with a sense of humour... And love of hot sauce. (Illustration by John Wohland - and, no, this isn't the cover of the book!)

It helps you let go of limiting beliefs by engaging your imagination and calling on the wisdom, power, and deep love of the Dragons.

It calls to you to transform into an even more beautiful version of yourself (though you’re absolutely wonderful as you are too!)

It invites you to live your purpose joyfully, skillfully, with high integrity and a heart full of contentment, peace, and delight.

It gives you ways to connect deeply, wield energy and light, and play within embodiment.

This ‘Divine Download’ (my book) came out in 19 days so that it could be here for you NOW. This information brings together many aspects of what I have learned and applied in my own life.

It is told through the perspective of a Master Dragon Rider, and is a Training Manual for aspiring Dragon Riders.

Whether you want to think of your Dragon as a real entity of light and love, as Shakti, the creative power of the Universe, or just as a dance on your mat, this book is for you.

It is a great treasure of tools you can use to enjoy your own life more fully even as you contribute brightly to the new age that is dawning on our beloved Earth.

I hope you LOVE it.

When’s it coming out?

“Yoga for Dragon Riders” will be available digitally on Amazon.com starting January 23rd, the Chinese New Year and the first day of the Year of the Water Dragon.

The printed publication will be March 21st, Spring Equinox, which is a time of balance and blossoming, and a perfect time to invite new practices into your life.

Please help me share this exciting news! Tell your friends on Facebook and Twitter, email and face to face.

It is time for us to step into our power, in perfect harmony, with love, and wisdom.

Click LIKE below and tell the world, The Dragon Riders are Coming, and they wield great LIGHT!

Complete surrender.

To me, Ishvara-pranidhana is the practice of total trust and alignment with the Divine, emanating a flawless faith that delivers you into complete connection and oneness of Universal and Individual.

It is utter devotion to the Divine, and absolute joyful surrender.

The Individual self completely gives itself over to the Universal.

And what happens is that, through this act of letting go, you experience a supreme wholeness and loving consciousness.

This union is beyond description, yet so many have tried to explain this experience that we call Enlightenment, Nirvana, or Samadhi.

And this is what yoga leads us to; what all the practices are guiding us towards so that we can know ourselves as complete beings, beyond the illusion of separation.

The Problem With Practicing Ishvara-Pranidhana

The problem most of us face with devotion and surrender is that, as humans, we tend to have trust and control issues.

If you just snickered or made a face, you’re probably recognizing this in yourself. I know distrust and control have been big themes in my own life.

These show up in myriad ways, but the fact of the matter is that when we have a hard time trusting ourselves, others, or the course of life, things are difficult. We worry more. We fight the flow of life. We don’t have as much fun and make things hard for ourselves.

Yet when you look at the big picture, we are not, ultimately, in control.

Yes, our intention, focus, and actions shape our experiences, but so do a lot of other influences.

So the answer to these problems is actually learning how to connect with and trust a higher power.

Of course, then we run into all kinds of possibly sticky situations that have to do with religion and the interpretation of to whom and how we pray or connect.

My solution to this is to simply turn to the truth that resides in your own heart.

Whatever you call it – God, Goddess, Supreme Spirit, Universe, Divine, Creator – whatever name you give this conscious, omniscient, omnipresent energy, you already know it in your own heart.

And so, Ishvara-pranidhana says, connect with what you believe as true, as deeply and profoundly and completely as you possibly can.

Yoga and Accessing the Ability to Surrender

There are many ways to learn to let go of the things that get in your way and interfere with that all pervading Oneness we’re going for.

Here are a few examples:

• Forgiveness (essential and incredibly powerful)
• Lovingly identifying and intentionally releasing ideas and habits that don’t serve your highest good and expression
• Energy work
• Journaling
• And, of course, practicing asana, pranayama, and meditation.

These last three, the main practices of yoga, move and clear energy, support transformation and development of your awakened self, and help you tap into the part of yourself that is untarnished and eternal.

When you cultivate a connection to the Divine, you can trust the Universe to guide, protect, and nurture you.

This is huge.

And, really, it makes sense. When you surrender your worries and cares to a higher power, you are allowing yourself to be directed by a perspective and understanding beyond the scope of your individual awareness, and in so doing, opening to limitless possibilities.

Studying the Sutra

From the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali…

Sutra 2.45: Samadhisiddhih Isvarapranidhanat

Samadhi – profound absorption, superconsciousness
Siddhih – attainment, spiritual success
Isvara – God
Pranidhanat – by surrender, by complete devotion

“Surrender to God brings perfection in Samadhi.” – B.K.S. Iyengar

This sutra tells us that the complete attainment of oneness and vast understanding comes from surrendering to the Universal energy that lives within you and all around you.

It is, and always has been, the ultimate practice.

Solstice and Transitioning into 2012

This is a perfect time to practice Ishvara-pranidhana.

Solstice invites a deep dive into the inner realm. Deep devotion makes this a delight, and the ability to joyfully surrender makes it so much easier.

2011 was an intense year in many ways, and 2012 is likely to be just as intense or more so.

This time, as one cycle turns into the next, is a time to be grateful for what has come before and welcome the evolution of the world and who you are becoming.

Acknowledge the blessings that you have received and that are present in your life.

And then connect to the source of those blessings.

When you align yourself with the truth in your heart, when your every thought, word, and action is devoted to this highest part of you and you trust that everything will work out in the best possible way (even when you can’t see it at first), then you set yourself up for a graceful transition.

By dedicating yourself to this sacred and ancient practice of ultimate union, good things happen. Life becomes more beautiful, more flowing, and more joyful.

May this time be blessed.

May your practice carry you through every challenge to see the gift it brings.

May your devotion and ability to surrender joyfully bring you incredible insight, and may the positive results of your practice ripple out to bring harmony to everyone around you, and the beloved Earth who holds us all.

I've chosen these wonderfully beautiful images from outer space to inspire reflection upon the space within. When you get that big and consider the Universe, it often invokes self consideration as well.

“How far down the rabbit hole do you want to go?” asked Douglas Brooks in my first workshop with him, many years ago.

“All the way!” I responded enthusiastically.

We were studying a text called The Pratyabhijna-Hridayam. It’s a text that invites you into the heart of self-realization. It’s absolutely beautiful. And I still haven’t gotten all the way through it. Heh. One day…

Sometimes I feel like I could just open up the top of my head and let the information pour in. When I am passionate about something, I often study it intensely!

Of course, sometimes studying yoga can also be quite dense and hard to absorb. I remember reading the Shiva Sutras as one of the required books for Anusara® yoga certification.

The text was so dense that, with the summer heat and the comfort of the couch on my front porch, I often found myself needing a nap every 3 pages or so. It helped the information sink in, on some level at least.

The thing with deep wisdom, especially when it comes through an ancient, immensely powerful language like Sanskrit, is that one line can offer an incredible amount of information and you can contemplate it for a long time.

Though this article does speak mostly on the study of texts, really, self-study encompasses all of life. It is an attitude of awareness and willingness to perceive yourself and learn deeply from everything you encounter.

Svadhyaya, the fourth of the niyamas, is a deep study of the self, through contemplation, practice, and also via the vast wisdom contained in sacred texts.

How To Study Sacred Texts:

Let’s jump straight to Patanjali’s Sutra 2.44 and see what it has for us, shall we?

Svadhyayat ishtadevata sampryogah

Now, when studying texts like this, there is an order to things.

First, try out the taste of the sutra before actually getting all intellectual. Say it out loud a few times and see what it FEELS like, even if you don’t know its meaning.

Go ahead. I’ll wait…

“Svadhyayat ishtadevata sampryogah… Svadhyayat ishtadevata sampryogah… Svadhyayat ishtadevata sampryogah…“

Then, once you’ve rolled the Sanskrit around in your mouth and felt the vibration of it, you can move on to looking at the meaning of the words.. By breaking down the words, you can formulate your own ideas about it…

Svadhayad – through self-study

Ishtadevata – chosen diety, patron saint

Samprayogah – communion, uniting with the Divine

Which gives you a pretty clear idea, doesn’t it?

Or maybe not…

But what does it mean to you? Do you have any experience discovering a clearer connection with whatever you believe in your heart through the process of self-study?

Very likely you do. Contemplate that for a moment.

After allowing yourself to sit with the feeling (bhava) of the sutra, and thinking about what it means to you initially and through your own experience, it’s a great idea to see what others have to say about it…

Here are a few different translations of the same sutra:

“Through self-study one has communion with one’s Ishtadevata (your superhero).” – as translated by John Friend

“Self-study leads towards the realization of God or communion with one’s desired deity.” – as translated by B.K.S. Iyengar

“Study, when developed to the highest degree, brings one close to higher forces that promote understanding of the most complex.” – as translated by T.K.V. Desikachar

Generally those who translate the sutras will also give you more guidance as far as the meaning, for these small phrases can be unpacked seemingly infinitely.

Sometimes, to me, this is the most insightful part – you bring all of the above together with the perspectives offered by different teachers, and then sitting with it to formulate what it really means to you.

The Deep Study of the Self as a Practice of Yoga

I quite like Desikachar’s expanded ideas on the concept of Svadhyaya:

“Sva means ‘self’ or ‘belonging to me.’ Adhyaya means ‘inquiry’ or ‘examination’; literally, ‘to get close to something.’ Svadhyaya therefore means to get close to yourself, that is, to stuy yourself.

All learning, all reflection, all contact that helps you learn more about yourself is svadhyaya. In the context of the niyamas we find the term often translated as ‘the study of ancient texts.’

Yes, yoga does instruct us to read the ancient texts. Why? Because we cannot always just sit down and contemplate things. We need reference points. For many this may be the Bible or a book that is of personal significance; for others it may be the Yoga Sutra. The Yoga Sutra says, for instance, that as we progress in our self-examination, we will gradually find a link with the divine laws and with the prophets who revealed them. And since mantra are often recited for this purpose, we sometimes find svadhyaya translated as ‘the repetition of mantras.’” – from The Heart of Yoga, by T.K.V. Desikachar

Dive deep into the heart of self-study. Use whatever speaks to you; meditation, asana, mantra, texts, and even seemingly random bits of songs on the radio, billboards, and fleeting encounters. All the elements of life can contribute.

So, the question I invite you to think about is, “How far down the rabbit hole do you want to go?”

Every opportunity to study your self and the world around you is an invitation to connect to the essence of all that is.

My very first yoga teacher, Patrick Creelman, using The Force.

Tapas could be thought of as the fire of alchemy of the niyamas. Yoga gives us so many ways to tap in to the powers of transformation, and tapas is a powerful force that can propel you to the next level… Whatever that is for you.

Tapas asks you to transform your practice, and by doing so, yourself, with the purifying heat of will power and intent.

In one sense, tapas is a very physical action of cleansing the body through the heat of practice and skillful choices about how you eat, how you breathe, how you’re sitting right now as you read this…

And yet the concept of tapas goes far beyond the physical into the entire being as the liberating idea of “Discipline serving Delight”.

I was first turned on to this totally new and radically different way of considering discipline in an intensive with John Friend back in 2008.

Recently, this quote has been floating around Facebook, inspiring many to revisit this line of thinking:

“How much do you want it? That’s how much effort you give to the desire. That’s the offering. It has to be equal.” -John Friend, founder of Anusara® yoga

How much do you want whatever it is you want?

How much do you want to be happy and content in your heart? How much do you want to be free from pain in your body?

How completely do you desire to live with the highest integrity and joy?

When you meet that deep yearning with an equal amount of effort and dedication, the results are tremendous!

Discipline Serving Delight

Ah, discipline. The word conjures up many images and emotions. For the longest time, the idea of discipline equated to punishment and repression for me.

What is your initial reaction to the word discipline?

One of the great things about yoga is how often it gives us a chance to change our perspective on things. When I was fortunate to study the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali with my teacher, John Friend, he rocked my world by revealing how discipline can serve delight.

Not only can discipline serve delight, but to be balanced discipline must serve delight. If discipline is forced, dry, or joyless, then it is a form of violence, which goes against the very first principle of yoga; ahimsa (non-harming).

How can discipline serve delight?

By making possible that which we desire. Take this in the context of your deepest desire, or the highest wish of your soul.

Disciplining the body to hold a posture longer increases your endurance and capacity to focus. Choosing to refrain from certain foods or overeating can be a discipline that helps you be more healthy. Introducing discipline to your speech can make your words more precise and powerful.

Any of these examples can be done in ways that are helpful or harmful, depending on your intention.

If you stay in a posture longer than is safe for your body, you risk injury. However, if you push your boundaries with awareness and self-honoring, your practice becomes stronger and deeper, bringing more bliss.

It’s all in the motivation. If your intention is from the heart, discipline humbly serves delight.

“Tapas is a fire that offers light and heat. It is a fervent aspiration to awaken. Be intense in your discipline from fire to awaken.” – From my notes at a training with John Friend

Tapas in Asana: Practicing Alchemy on the Mat

When you bring intensity to your asana practice it creates heat. You sweat. You invoke the fire of tapas by literally raising the temperature.

How is heat created? “Friction,” says John in my notes. “Face the challenge which creates tapas, the heat that purifies, then you can see more clearly.”

Can you increase the intensity of your practice without losing the big picture? Can you bring more fire and friction to your mat so that, by moving through the challenge, you create a purifying action that is both physical and also goes beyond?

Of course, you can. You just do it in the way that is best for you.

How do you know if you’ve gone too far?

If your breath is forced or held, if the integrity of your alignment dissolves, or if you lose sight of the highest meaning, then the discipline is to back off, to pause; to begin again.

Alchemy is the transformation of one thing into another, using heat and purification.

It describes the physical act of purification and transformation, and also the philosophical process of rising above, of expanding into oneness; of crossing the threshold of the gateway of the heart.

This from Wikipedia:

“Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity… In general alchemists believe in a natural and symbolic unity of humanity with the cosmos.”

Interestingly, the practice of yoga, like Alchemy, leads to legendary powers.

The yamas and niyamas are in place so that those who actually achieve the superhuman abilities of the great yogis don’t blow it by abusing their power.

The unity of humanity with the cosmos that defined the philosophy of Alchemists sounds very similar to the aim of yoga, which is a conscious and integral union of individual and universal.

So, as you practice with heightened discipline, calling on the transformational heat of tapas, you can remind yourself that this is a practice that calls back to the roots of many traditions.

And it is up to you to direct your will, your disciplined efforts, toward the glorification of life, in service of divine delight!

From the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali:

2.43: kaya indriya siddhih asuddhiksayat tapash

“Self discipline (tapas) burns away impurities and kindles the sparks of divinity… Self discipline destroys all impurities, perfecting the body, mind and senses, so that consciousness functions freely and attains divinity.” – B.K.S. Iyengar from Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

The incredible joy that I felt as this mantra and music was being created is something that just wants to be shared, so here you are!

Click PLAY below to listen and watch as this song just comes out shining!
(My kitty Josie settles in to listen, and my boyfriend Casey makes a cameo appearance.)

I’ll give a general translation, though I could also speak for hours on these few words…

Shri: Purest beauty. Ultimate goodness. Scintillating joy.
Ma: Divine mother, divine feminine, goddess energy.
Lakshmi: Goddess, archetype of beauty, abundance, benevolence.
Shakti: Limitless creative power, life energy, divine feminine, the goddess who breathes us all…

If you like the song, please let me know what you think! It still has lots of growing to do.

Feel free to leave a comment below, and please share this with your friends to help the joy and positive energy of this mantra light up as many hearts as it can.

That is the wish of the song; to uplift, to delight, to bless.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is an incredible example of choosing an attitude of acceptance and contentment, even in exile and after living through so much. He carries this vibration of deep peace wherever he goes as he shares his message.

Yoga is a deep dive into the practice of equanimity, and santosha invites us to a level of contentment that is complete; a state where acceptance of the way things are creates a deep abiding peace.

The yamas and niyamas can guide the way to this state of peace and contentment, but it is your attitude as you practice and live that truly creates your experience.

And so, we each get to choose what kind of attitude we want to have.

Take my cat for example.

Jasmine, my rag-doll black and white kitty, has santosha down pat.

Admittedly, her life is ideal for this practice as she really doesn’t have any responsibilities other than being cute and cuddly, but not every cat has perfected the state of contentment like she has.

When I get too caught up in the ‘things to do’, or the busy-ness of every day life, Jasmine comes and sits on my lap, purrs, and basically says, “Chill out. It is what it is. Just breathe and be here in this moment with me. I love you. Be happy.”

Wise cat, eh?

Here’s the thing, when it comes to happiness, which is the goal of most human beings, santosha is the key.

“By contentment, supreme happiness is attained.” –John Friend, founder of Anusara® yoga translating Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 2.42

What Does it Take to Create the Deep Contentment of Santosha?

Jasmine. Happy to hang out on my shoulder. Purring.

It’s all very well to talk about equanimity and happiness, but how do we specifically create it?

The first thing, always, is to slow down for a moment and breathe; when you connect with your breath and the wisdom of your heart, you naturally move towards balance.

From this place of just pausing and being aware of the pulsing energy of life within, you can more easily choose to have an attitude of acceptance; an approach to the things that come up that is aligned with peace.

It’s this attitude that informs your words and actions, so that’s really the key to contentment.

Pranayama, asana, and meditation are all incredibly helpful to move stuck energy or emotions that get in the way of that peaceful attitude, as well as to create a pattern where the attitude you choose becomes a habit.

When your default attitude is one of being centered in a perspective of peace and acceptance of how things are, you are practicing santosha.

And you will naturally be a lot happier because joy and peace go hand in hand.

That’s not to say that you’ll never be angry, or upset, or hurt, or any of the other emotions that go along with being human. However, your practice of yoga can help you to be more balanced within those emotions, or, at the very least, not get stuck in them for too long.

Santosha in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Santosha shows up as the second of the niyamas in Sutra 2.42:

Santosat anuttamah sukhalabhah

“From contentment and benevolence of consciousness comes supreme happiness.” – B.K.S. Iyengar’s translation of Sutra 2.42

purrrrrrrrr........

Supreme happiness.

This brings to mind an image of Buddha, or the Dalai Lama, or a wise woman, or a child who has just played an epic game of tag and is now laying on the grass gazing up at the sky.

Or my cat. She is happy because she is happy. There isn’t any condition placed upon it, she just lives in a state of contentment because that is who she is.

“The result of contentment is total happiness. The happiness we get from acquiring passions is only temporary. We need to find new ones and acquire them to sustain this sort of happiness. There is no end to it. But true contentment, leading to total happiness and bliss, is in a class by itself.” – T.K.V. Desikachar

I think it’s important to note this difference that Desikachar points out.

Sure, you can create temporary happiness with retail therapy or by getting excited about something, but that isn’t lasting. It goes away after the excitement wares off.

True happiness, however, comes from the inner attitude and state of contentment; of acceptance of the way things are.

“…Samtosa, modesty and the feeling of being content with what we have. Often we hope for a particular result to ensue from our actions, and we are just as often disappointed. But there is no need to despair – rather, we should accept what has happened. That is the real meaning of samtosa – to accept what happens. A commentary on the Yoga Sutra says: ‘Contentment counts for more than all sixteen heavens together.’ Instead of complaining about things that go wrong, we can accept what has happened and learn from them.” – T.K.V. Desikachar, from The Heart of Yoga

So, the more we flow with life, in acceptance, allowing each moment to be as it is and looking at it from a place of equanimity, the happier we are.

It’s a practice of the kind of attitude and perspective you choose to adopt.

And when you forget, just think of Jasmine. Content wherever she happens to be. Or you might connect more easily with the image of the Dalai Lama, smiling and exuding peace.

Also, it’s very helpful to remember that all of the yamas and niyamas help to lead to this state of contentment. Practicing each in combination with the others creates incredible freedom and flow in life.

The Yamas:

Ahimsa as Loving Kindness

Satya as Living Your Truth

Asteya as Owning Your Experience

Brahmacharya as Unconditional Love and Highest Integrity

Aparigraha as Living Simply and Freedom from Suffering

The Niyams:

Saucha as Clarity and Purity

My friend Michele Baker (from Swan River Yoga in New Orleans) doing yoga in some exotic place. This gorgeous image shows balance, purity, and clarity in such a beautiful way.

Saucha is the first of the Niyamas, and it invites great freedom through the practice of creating balance and purity.

While the yamas give us way to live with high integrity and greater enjoyment in relationship with ourselves and the world around us, the niyamas are primarily focused on daily practices we do ourselves.

This blog post continues our conversation on the guiding ethical principles of yoga viewed through my own perspective, informed by the teachings of Anusara® yoga.

Saucha is a good place to begin when looking at your own personal practice, because it speaks to the importance of being organized and the far reaching benefits of cultivating purity internally and externally.

A couple simple examples: If your desk is a mess, how effective are you compared to when it is organized? If you’ve been eating ice cream and pizza, how do you feel compared to when you eat clean and healthy?

How do you feel when your house is clean and orderly versus when it looks like a clothing bomb exploded?

Fung Shui, which you’ve likely heard of since it’s popular all over the world for being effective, is a Chinese system of energetic and material organization that places high importance on clearing out space and being precise in how things are placed.

For instance, if you’ve got a pile of unused and randomly stored ‘stuff’ in the Wealth and Prosperity corner of your house, your Fung Shui consultant would tell you it needs to be dealt with in order to allow for full flow of abundance.

Hmmm… That sounds oddly familiar. Excuse me…

(30 Minutes Later)

Okay, I’ve cleaned out the corner. Energy pure and clear. Ready and open for full flow of abundance!

Saucha: Sparkling, Inside and Out

Really, this concept of creating clarity and purity in order to have more freedom and flow is reflected in EVERY aspect of life.

Though the most important aspect of being clear and pure is that of your intention, the outside and inside always influence each other.

For instance, if the space you’re practicing in is cluttered and dirty, sure you can still practice there, but the energy is different and not as clear. However, if you have a space that you keep clear, that you consider sacred, you will want to practice there more often and the purity of the space will absolutely resonate in your practice.

When you think about being pure, what comes to mind for you?

It may be that you think about the foods and drinks you consume. If they are wholesome and healthy, that shows and obviously effects your entire state of well being including your emotional health.

Conversely, consuming toxins muddies mind, emotions, and body. It makes it much more difficult to enjoy and participate in life to the fullest.

Saucha not only invites clarity and purity in your surroundings and physical body, but also your thoughts.

Honestly, for me, I think this is one of the most important aspects of Saucha; the practice of focusing your thoughts on beauty and integrity. And yet, truly, all of these elements fit together and support each other.

When you have a space that feels inviting and beautiful, it naturally uplifts your thoughts and emotions. When you eat good food and drink pure water, that vitality influences your thoughts.

And when you choose thoughts that are coherent, life-affirming, and that create balance, you move to a new level of purity that sparkles on every level of your life.

Saucha and Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

I always think it’s a good idea to ask “So what?” when dealing with any kind of life lesson. What makes this so important? What’s the why behind the principle?

This is sort of like a little kid who doesn’t want to clean their room. Why do I need to clean my room? What does it do for me? What’s the higher purpose?

So What?

In yoga, there’s always a higher purpose, as well as every day application (like being able to find what you’re looking for because it isn’t under a pile of other stuff.)

The Universe is very orderly, even if that order is complex and we humans create chaos within it. When you look at the way life forms as a living organism, or how a galaxy spins, or how the seasons cycle, Nature is constantly showing us patterns and order.

When you create order and clarity in your life, prana (life force) and Shakti (the energy or power of Nature) flows much more smoothly and happily.

Let’s look at this within the context of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras:

“Sutra 2.40: saucatsvangajugupsa parairasamsargah

When cleanliness is developed it reveals what needs to be constantly maintained and what is eternally clean. What decays is the external. What does not is deep within us.

Our overconcern with and attachment to outward things, which is both transient and superficial, is reduced.”

- T.K.V. Desikachar, from The Heart of Yoga

So what?

Well, by cultivating purity in each aspect of life, we are drawn more and more fully into alignment with that which is, and has always been, perfectly pure. We care for and maintain the ‘outward things’, and yet we lose our attachment to them.

This creates an enormous amount of freedom.

Practicing purity leads you into purity, and then, strong and steady in your own pure light, you become a force of purity. You can walk in the most defiled place and, just with your own vibration of coherence and clarity, shift it towards light and beauty.

This is a hugely powerful practice!

“In Tantra this purity is the purity of the heart, of intention. You line yourself up with this clarity. This purity leads to a high level of illumination, one pointedness, mastery over the senses, and capability.”

- John Friend, interpreting Sutra 2.40 and 2.41

Asana and pranayama are very much practices that bring purity and clarity when done with sensitivity and a life-affirming attitude. They are very potent ways to ‘clean house’ on the internal level.

“With cleanliness the body becomes the temple of the seer and feels the joy of self-awareness. When the consciousness is cheerful and benevolent, the seeker becomes ready to receive the knowledge and vision of the soul.”

- B.K.S. Iyengar, from Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Sutra 2.40

See? It’s all about joy.

It’s not just that you ‘should’ clean your room so you can find stuff, but for the pure joy and clarity of being able to look around and realize that your house (your body) is sacred, and that there is a purity that you have always had, and will always be yours. It’s just that it is very difficult to find and feel when there is all kinds of clutter in the way.

Simple Practices to Enjoy the Freedom of Saucha

The following are some suggestions and traditional ways of practicing saucha. I’m sure you can come up with many more of your own. As always, everything here is offered for you to take what resonates to empower your own practice of being human.

Keep your surroundings clear and clean

• Surround yourself with beauty. Keep your surroundings orderly (as much as possible.)
• Make a special place for your yoga practice, even if it also is used for other things. Keep it sacred, remembering that things can be sacred and functional both!
• When you set down your yoga mat, place it aligned with the energy of the room, rather than at an odd angle.
• Placing a photo of your teacher, crystal, or something else that invokes an inner feeling of love and beauty at the top of your mat can also help you stay focused on purity.

Keep your body clear and clean

• Eat wholesome foods, drink pure water. Eat moderately.
• Traditionally yogis would bathe before practicing. Take care of yourself in manners that make you feel radiant and pure.
• Practice yoga regularly. The focus and purification yoga creates on every level is incredibly effective!

Create rituals for yourself

• Rituals instill order and precision because you do things a certain way and create a pattern of energy. Rituals can be anything really: meditating upon waking, blessing your food before eating, doing your yoga practice at the same time every day, taking a bath every Sunday night…

Focus your thoughts

• When you catch yourself thinking something that isn’t life-affirming or helpful, choose a different thought to replace it. You can also use mantra, such as Om Namah Shivaya, to turn your mind towards balance and clarity.
• Meditation and visualization can be very helpful in creating inner clarity that manifests and benefits your outer life.

Focusing on saucha can be quite motivating! I’ve cleaned half the house in between spurts of writing this blog post. Possibly not the most precise way to organize when writing, but definitely a good thing for my house!

I hope you got some ideas from this that you can apply directly to your own life to create more clarity and freedom.

Of course, all of the yamas apply to the niyamas, so as you practice ahimsa (loving kindness), satya (truthfulness),  asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (highest integrity), and aparigraha (non-clinging), you naturally move into a state of purity.