This past month, I have been attracting several new private clients who are just beginning their Yoga journey. I am approached with questions like:
“How do I love myself?”
“How do I get to the root of my existence?”
“What are the tools I need to catapult my spirit into the right direction?”
My consistent reply: Embrace yourself. Every single part of you. The good and the bad. Many times I run into people who feel lost as to how to enter back into the realm of spiritual insight. As expressed by William J.D. Doran in “The Eight Limbs, The Core of Yoga”:
“Yamas and niyamas are the suggestions given on how we should deal with people around us and our attitude toward ourselves. The attitude we have toward things and people outside ourselves is yama, how we relate to ourselves inwardly is niyama. Both are mostly concerned with how we use our energy in relationship to others and to ourselves. The fourth niyama is svadhyaya. Sva means “self’ adhyaya means “inquiry” or “examination”. Any activity that cultivates self-reflective consciousness can be considered svadhyaya. It means to intentionally find self-awareness in all our activities and efforts, even to the point of welcoming and accepting our limitations. It teaches us to be centered and non-reactive to the dualities, to burn out unwanted and self-destructive tendencies.”
As a guide, I would like to share with you one specific exercise that I use with my clients to help focus on Svadhyaya. This practice is an invitation to create a more intimate relationship with yourself, affirm your power and establish a system that can help cultivate balance in your energetic field.
List 10 of your most powerful negative and positive traits.
(I will list 5 of mine as an example.)
Positive
1. Compassionate
2. Loving
3. Wise
4. Resilient
5. Humble
Negative
1. Impatient
2. Lustful
3. Aggressive
4. Nostalgic
5. Over Indulgent
Take your time! Go through each word and write out different definitions of the word that you find online or in a dictionary. You may find that some words on your list are synonyms of another word. Try to find 10 truly distinct ways to describe your dark and light.
Once you know what hand you’re playing with, you can send out your own positive energy into specific areas of darkness that will help you tap into your awareness of self and create a “checks and balance”’ system in identifying your own vibrational energy. This helps to disengage from the “victim consciousness” mindset. Instead of blaming others for our triggers, we can deal with them internally and RESPOND instead of REACT to different scenarios, using our energy in a balanced way.
This is a great place to incorporate a mantra meditation practice. Rewrite all of your positive and negative energies in the form of, “I AM”. Read them out loud! There is power in your words. Truth trumps everything. Own who you are and be comfortable with that.
It takes three positive vibrations to attack a negative one, so with this concept in play, let’s select one of my negative energies.
Nostalgia: noun
-a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.
-pleasure and sadness that is caused by remembering something from the past and wishing that you could experience it again
-a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one’s life, to one’s home or homeland, or to one’s family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time
I do have a tendency to get wrapped up in “old times”, which keeps me from embracing the present moment. In order to check this on my own, I have to know what positive forces to send in to comfort this.
Focus on one negative energy a day, and the three positive energies that you can use to balance it out.
I am sending in Love, Resilience and Wisdom to help me with Nostalgic energy.
Now find a comfortable seated position, relax and begin to notice your natural breath. When you are ready, begin to repeat your positive energy phrase 108 times.
Ex: “I am wise, I am wise…”
108 is a sacred number. You can read more about why this specific number has significance by clicking here. You may like to incorporate a mala, which is a necklace made up of 108 beads, to help keep count. Ones made of lotus or rudraksha seeds are great symbolic figures of change and growth.
Do this with each mantra, and then return to your day. It doesn’t matter when you do it, just make sure you take some time out of your day to focus on this particular energy of self. Embrace your power by tapping into it and learning how to use it to help yourself. Notice the differences and keep a journal of what you work on each day.
I hope this practice brings you much clarity and insight. It can be the beginning process of a new journey. Explore it and see where it takes you!
Feel free to share your experiences or ask any questions about this practice in the comments section below.
Leave a Reply