YOGA AND THE ACT OF DISCOVERY

by | Aug 1, 2014 | Uncategorized

“You have no need to travel anywhere – journey within yourself. Enter a mine of rubies and bathe in the splendour of your own Light.” ~ Rumi

inner_discovery

In our age of global connectivity and instant gratification, discovery is something we want more of, all of the time. We are constantly seeking for something new, for something different, for something more mind-boggling, eye-popping, heart-stopping, jaw-dropping. It’s the thrill of adrenalin and the thrill of expansion. I for one am a total sucker for novelty. Especially in the middle of winter, when I know it’s just a short plane ride away, I feel my bones aching for tropical sun and my soul for the ‘exotic’, for adventure, perhaps even for a little bit of danger, just to wake up out of the hibernatory thrall of a grey Melbourne winter and remember that I am alive. It takes a lot to remember that, as Marcel Proust so elegantly writes, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

And so I find myself again deeply grateful for the gift of yoga. Yoga is one of the profoundest acts of discovery. It is an invitation to turn those wandering eyes within, and not only seek out new territory, but to map it – and through the act of mapping, to actually create it. Neuroscientist Daniel Siegel calls this ‘interoception’: the act of “perceiving within”.

We all know that when we turn our awareness inwards and shun external distractions, as we do during meditation and yoga, we discover things about ourselves – often the things that we would like to keep hidden out of view: the negative thoughts, the self-doubt, the loneliness. This is why at first these practices are so challenging: we have nowhere to hide, and we have to see all of the stuff we’ve kept locked away for so long. Tell me exactly why I’d want to sit on my mat just to discover how much my body really hurts and how putrid my thoughts really are?

Yet as we pay attention, with undivided and non-judgmental awareness, to our internal body states, such as breath and sensation, we integrate the different parts of the brain, affording us more insight and more ‘control’ over our typical emotional and survival patterns – you know the ones that we unwittingly or unwillingly enact over and over again whether we know it or not, or whether they serve us or not. We create new pathways in the brain that allow us to observe and not react, which eventually enables us to choose how we respond, how we act, and how we engage with life. We emerge with our eyes wider open, brighter, and radiantly alive. And as this life pulses from within, we find ourselves ready to discover the beauty in the touch of a cool wintry raindrop on the tip of the nose, to spark up a conversation with a French tourist in a tea shop, or to take a wander through a tiny art gallery in a cobbled laneway with the marveling eyes of a child ready to find novelty and wonder in the every day.

TAPAS: Time to get the winter fires burning

by | Jun 25, 2014 | Uncategorized

TAPAS – Heat, Discipline, Inner Radiance

Golden Radiance Mandala

Tapas in Sanskrit means ‘heat’. It refers to the fire of discipline or austerities – focused effort leading towards purification and spiritual awakening.

Tapas is one of the Niyamas (ethical or self-restraints) in Patanjali’s 8 limbs of yoga. The Niyamas provide a way of working with the inner self to build integrity and enhance our relationship to ourselves, others and life.

Together, the 5 Yamas (moral restraints) and the 5 Niyamas (ethical restraints) comprise the fundamental principles of being, action and attitude that form the basis of Yoga – a practice that brings us into union, integration and harmony with ourselves and the universe.

Tapas teaches us about the power and benefits of self-discipline, commitment and perseverance. Tapas is the fire that fuels us into action and burns away impurities. Through the practice of Tapas, we discover our natural inner radiance and enthusiasm. The body, the mind, and the spirit becomes clear and radiant. It is so essential that B.K.S. Iyengar says that, “A life without tapas is like a heart without love.”

Traditionally, yogis practiced ‘tapasya’ – a practice chosen with a particular purpose, practiced daily with great focus and commitment for a certain length of time, for a certain period of days, weeks, or years.

So as winter comes and we feel the tendency to slow or hide away under our doonas, let this be an opportunity to stoke your inner fire through the practice of tapas. With your inner wisdom, choose any practice (eg. 10 sun salutations per day, 5 yoga classes per week, 20 minutes of meditation) that you feel will benefit you the most and that is realistically achievable, a period of time that you will practice it for, and GO FOR IT. Commit with your inner fire, and don’t forget to cultivate your joy for the practice – especially when you find yourself dragging yourself out of bed at 5am on a cold wintery morning!

The beauty about tapas, is that if even if we work with tapas in one area of our lives or our yoga practice, we find the benefits start to extend to all other areas. And not only that, but the benefits also begin to extend to those around us.

As the Yoga scholar Georg Feuerstein says, “Genuine tapas makes us shine like the sun. Then we can be a source of warmth, comfort and strength for others.”

Have fun discovering your tapas – and see here for some upcoming workshops and courses to help build your inspiration, commitment, dedication!