give it up for Grace

If Grace is the “flow from the essence of ones’ being”,

then I ask myself, is there a blueprint or a path to follow that leads one to the State of Grace?”.  The next question that comes up is how does Grace manifest or show up?

I look at the yogic lineage to answer both the questions.  

The path of the Yamas and Niyamas as mentioned and the Sutras of Patanjali shed the light on what behaviours and actions can one live by.  

The Yamas are ones code of behavior with the outer world, the others.  The Niyamas are the personal way of living that support the Yamas.  

Yamas

• Non-harming - ahimsa

• Truthfulness - satya

• Non-stealing - asteya

• Moderation of the senses - brahmacharya

• Non-possessiveness - aparigraha

Niyamas

• Purity - saucha

• Contentment - santosha

• Determined self-effort - tapas

• Self-study - svadhyaya

• Trustful surrender to the Infinite - ishwar pranidhana

The five Niyamas: Saucha, Santosha, Tapas, Svadhyaya, and Ishvar Pranidhana, can be roughly translated as Purification of thoughts, contentment, self discipline, self study, and the surrender to a cause or a deity.  Each of the above Niyamas, require reflection and contemplation.  It is the facing of the honest truth about oneself without labels and judgement.  It is how we think and behave when no-one is watching,  Our intrinsic values.  Once we begin to live with the awareness of the Niyamas, we begin to affect our outer behaviour and actions.  

Grace to me is the essence of Ishvar Prandihana, the surrender of the self to the higher.  

Reinhold Niebuhr sums the surrender to Grace in his Serenity Prayer “ God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.”

When that inner conflict and tension subsides, in that moment we are filled with Grace.  The life we lead, the thoughts, our emotions, the mental fatigue, create some sort of tension and an imbalance.  The moment we release their grip on us, we are filled with Grace.  

Is it an intentional or an outcome? 

Maybe if we live with the Yamas, even  living with any one out of the five, will lead to those moments when the heart smiles and reminds us to “give it up for grace”.

How yoga is therapy

I am often asked if I teach or train yoga therapy. My answer is both yes and no. 

Why no, let us get that answered first. No because I am not a trained doctor, physiotherapist, chiropractor or trained in any other aspect of the medical profession.  I have not done any extensive research with randomized cases to support the claim of yoga as therapeutic.  

Then how do I say or rather can I claim the therapeutic benefits of yoga?  It is based on my own lifetime practice, on reading the work of researchers on the effects of meditation, and following the writings of yoga teachers.

The regular practice of postures/asanas with complete attention to the state that one is in, and approaching that state with kindness, is how I meet my physical body. For example how is the body feeling today. Is their physical fatigue? Emotional exhaustion or mental stress?  Dividing the attention between the three bodies, physical, emotional and  mental, and using the awareness of one to balance the other. 

Refer to the Koshas,  Yoga Training Manual then we can have a discourse to unpack the concepts, and apply them to the daily living.  

Regular practice of meditation, and its benefits, is a therapy for those who follow this path.

Through the application of the different yoga techniques we do bring about  healing and a sense of wellbeing.

Embodiment of Yoga

Does the practice and embodiment of yoga make me a ‘yogi’? Do I fit myself into a mold of yoga?  In other words does yoga work from inside out or the outside in?

The various teachers and teachings of yoga divide the lineage, or rather multiplies yoga  into the tree of yoga, creating its different branches and lineages.

Each lineage is more like a combination of rituals, practices, techniques and guidelines towards the understanding of the self. 

The lineage we follow helps us to understand how we perceive and process our immediate world. How this perception affects us and our relationships. Slowly and mindfully we begin to feel a shift in our outlook and we begin to live our ‘thinking’. As we live by this new way of perceiving we realize that the shift has happened, an embodiment of the yogic life of kindness and compassion becomes second nature or rather the true nature and the authentic self. 

Navigating a day

We go about the day moving our limbs and the torso in unison, in a rhythm. 

I pause to notice all inner workings that make the moving happen.  The pause and the noticing rides on bringing attention to the breath, the inhales and the exhales. 

In the pause the senses are evoked.  

The thoughts come up, I focus on “what am I thinking?“

How and where is my feeling, and what emotions are riding in this physical body?

I pause in all these subtle questions, it grounds me and provides an attentive rhythm to the flow of the day.