Yoga with Melissa

Wholehearted Dedication

Members Practice First: Upper Back Rehydration Sequence

We are going to do a lot things to release your shoulders today in our class. If you would like a super quick actionable checklist of 3 ways to release your shoulders, I will be sharing at the end how to get that.

Namaste Yoga 305 Focused Living Series Wholehearted Dedication

We reach the end of our Focused Living Series with the niyama, personal observance, Iswara Prandihaha, wholehearted dedication as translated by Nischala Joy Devi. Nicola Bachman translates Isvara as personal God and Prandihaha as an act of humility. He unpacks Iswara Pranidhana then as a deep faith in our inner knowledge which leads us towards enlightenment.

Over the last ten weeks we have been bringing awareness to the violence that the lack of focus is causing in our lives, discovering if we are investing our time in what is personally important to us, noticing where we overextend our energy by moderating it, letting go of parts of our identities, relationships, opportunities and activities, allowing ourselves to be transformed through the descending journey, creating simplicity through continual refinement, nourishing our depths through inner contentment, creating boundaries in our lives, and inner knowledge through self reflection rather than information overload.

All of these practices and yoga lessons have been creating a container for focus, or as Nischala Joy Devi says, wholehearted dedication.

Where is your focus? Where to you dedicate your attention? Is your attention pulled in a million directions?

There are so many things vying for our attention. Our children, our parents, our partners, our employers, the many people we are responsible to in our lives. The fact that we live in a consumerist culture means there are a lot of companies trying to get our attention to spend our money with them by playing on our fears and insecurities, our wants and desires. Then there is the whole other level of social media which can be a huge resource of education, but also a wormhole of distraction. If we don’t come to social media with mindfulness and ironclad focus and crystal clear intention then we will find ourselves losing focus and hours of our precious time.

It is through the container of our spiritual practice — yoga and meditation — that we can cut through all the noise. We can connect with a deep respect and our faith in our inner knowledge. Our trust in our True Nature and basic goodness is built every day through our spiritual practice by taking time out from the noise and busy-ness of our everyday life.

By creating the space through the container of our spiritual practices we can then take it off our mat and do it in practical ways throughout the day. Taking this whole hearted dedication to whatever task at hand allows us to bring presence throughout our day. When you go to your cell phone take a moment to take a breath and ask yourself, what is my intention here? What is my focus? If it is to check the weather, then check the weather. Notice if you start to go and do something else one you are in there. Ask yourself, what needs are being filled by doing this something else when it was not my original intention. If you are tired and need energy, perhaps your need for rest could be fulfilled in another way.

Yoga Postures/Asanas: Jathara Parivartanasana or Reclined Belly Twist, Cat Pose or Marjaryasana, Pigeon or Eka Pada Rajakapotasana, Trimukha Mudra, Ardha Chandrasana or Half Moon Balancing Posture, Wide Legged Standing Forward Fold or Prasarita Padottanasana,

Self Reflection Members Practice 20-29 mins in the Intelligent Core Class First Nischala Joy Devi translates the second book 44th verse of the yoga sutras on swadhaya as “Sacred study of the divine through scripture, nature and introspection (swadhaya) guides us to the Supreme Self.” Nicolai Bachman translates swadhaya this way, “by observing oneself in […]

Self Reflection

Members Practice 20-29 mins in the Intelligent Core Class First

Nischala Joy Devi translates the second book 44th verse of the yoga sutras on swadhaya as “Sacred study of the divine through scripture, nature and introspection (swadhaya) guides us to the Supreme Self.” Nicolai Bachman translates swadhaya this way, “by observing oneself in action we can connect with our higher truth.”

Today we will find focus through inner reflection. In our culture we overstuff our minds with information. It is my belief that at this time what we need is a deeper level of inner knowledge through self-reflection. Focus through inner reflection for me means coming to understand our physical, mental, emotional, energetic and spiritual bodies. Traditionally Nicolai Bachman points out that repeating a mantra was a tool to guide us inward to self-study, self-observation, in other words swadhaya.

With so many things in our lives pulling our attention up and out, from social media, our personal commitments, work, and social life, it takes a great deal of discipline and practice to turn our attention down and in for self-reflection. Having a daily reflective practices such as yoga, meditation and journaling, time and space to turn inwards allows you to connect with yourself on a regular basis.

Yoga Postures/Asanas: Supported Bridge Pose or Salamba Setu Bandha Sarvangasana, Supta Padangusthasana or Reclined Hand to Big Toe Pose, Mantra for self awareness, Standing Forward Folding Triangle or Parsvottanasana, Triangle or Trikonasana. Revolved Triangle or Parivrtta Trikonasana, Wide Legged Standing Forward Fold or Prasarita Padottanasana, Upavista Konasana or Wide Legged Seated Forward Fold, Savasana or Corpse Pose

Props Needed: Yoga Strap, Yoga Blocks, meditation cushion, chair or folded blanket

The Secret Power of Yoga by Nischala Joy Devi

The Secret Power of Yoga: A Woman’s Guide to the Heart and Spirit of the Yoga Sutras

The Yoga Sutras: An Essential Guide to the Heart of Yoga Philosophy

Nicolai Bachman

The Yoga Sutras: An Essential Guide to the Heart of Yoga Philosophy

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Question for the comments: How are you going to make space in your life for self-reflection this week?

Boundaries A couple of weeks ago when we began the niyamas with saucha we explored them this time through with Nischala Joy Devi’s translation as continual refinement to see your True Nature. With tapas we will continue this refinement of our actions through our bodies, minds and speech. Nischala Joy Devi says the Bhagavad Gita […]

Boundaries

A couple of weeks ago when we began the niyamas with saucha we explored them this time through with Nischala Joy Devi’s translation as continual refinement to see your True Nature. With tapas we will continue this refinement of our actions through our bodies, minds and speech. Nischala Joy Devi says the Bhagavad Gita speaks of tapas as the kindling of the purifying flame through the refining of the actions of our bodies, minds and speech.

Tapas through continual refinement of our bodies, minds and speech can create great focus. Tapas of our body is defined as service, physical purity, living in virtue, moderation and reverence for all. Tapas of mind is defined as tranquil, gentle, kind, quiet, willpower, and purity of thought. Tapas of speech is described as being truthful, pleasant, serene, beneficial and includes prayers and the repetition of mantra. Speech becomes an important outward expression of our mind and our emotions.

To live a life that matters to us takes a great deal of focus, discipline and continual refinement, in short tapas of body, mind and speech. In our culture we are all experiencing the breakdown of our boundaries both in our personal and work lives.

Thanks to advances in technology there are no boundaries at all when we are expected to be available to work. The boundary of work has edged considerably into family territory. Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism, quite rightly points out, many employers have no problem asking people to work from home, but would not be comfortable with children in the boardroom for a Monday morning meeting.

Having discipline to continually refine your boundaries take strength of conviction to know what is most important to you. With Namaste Yoga and our membership community we have a worldwide audience. When one of our overseas students signs up for a membership often that can come in the middle of the night when we are sleeping. Sometimes when we wake up in the morning we receive emails from people asking about their login and passwords. Our members are usually quite understanding, respectful and happy to wait, when we explain that we turn our wifi off at 9:00 pm until 8:00 am for quiet family time and a sound night of rest. Boundaries can be empowering as they allow you to protect what is most important to you.

Our personal lives are another area where someone else’s agenda can cross into what is most important in our lives and distract us. It takes the discipline of awareness to notice when our energy and time is being diverted to what is important to somebody else rather than us. I would challenge you this week to write down anytime you feel violated by somebody else’s request. It doesn’t have to be a huge violate. It can be just that tiniest twinge of resentment that you feel somewhere in your body. You will know. Trust that, those small favors are good for finding hidden boundaries that need continual refinement. Then you can begin to craft a contract with yourself so that you know how you want to spend your time. We just did this over the last two weeks in our membership community in our weekly challenge. So our members can simply refer back to their inner mandalas of being for this. Ask yourself what boundaries you want to keep for yourself. Where do you need to create some refinement in your life?

The Secret Power of Yoga by Nischala Joy Devi

The Secret Power of Yoga: A Woman’s Guide to the Heart and Spirit of the Yoga Sutras

Inner Contentment In our culture our attention is so often pulled up and outside of ourselves. We look for happiness and satisfaction outside of ourselves. Even our self-care practices have an external focus. Contentment requires focus as it is an internal practice. As Sara Avant Stover reminds us, no amount of external pampering can nourish […]

Simplicity This week we arrive at the niyamas, the inner facets of the eight-fold path of yoga. The niyamas allow us to continue our journey inward so that we can uncover our True Nature. We begin with saucha which Nischala Joy Devi translates as simplicity and continual refinement so that you can see your True […]

Awakening Today we will reflect on our journey of awakening through the story of the Phoenix. We will do this because awakening ironically has as much or more to do with the descending journey as it does to do with the ascending journey. The phoenix is a mythical story of rebirth and resurrection. According to […]

Letting Go Throughout this focused living series we have been focused on creating a life of less, but better. This aligns perfectly with the fifth yama of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras aparigraha. Often this yama focuses on letting go of material possessions and that will definitely create space in your life. However with this series we […]

Moderate Energy I hear from you, my students, all the time that staying present, focused, feeling present in the moment, and trying to stay mindful are difficult for you. Many of you have told me that you having difficulty focusing and finding mental clarity. You would like to have more equanimity in your lives, reduce […]