My dear Yogis and Yoginis,
The first of the Niyamas is Saucha
(Cleanliness & purity)
“Keep the body clean, but also purify the mind, speech and emotions. When what the senses bring in is pure (by looking for the good in others, speaking the truths, etc.), the mind is unfragmented and the little self merges into the Big Self.
~ Alan Finger
(How to expand the little self to merge into the big self)
“Saucha calls us to strive for purity within the mind, body, and spirit. Saucha wants us to be free from the clutter of distraction.
It wants us to create internal clarity so that we can meet each moment with purpose. As saucha is the first of the five niyamas, we see how important it is to the yogic path.
The physical practice of yoga itself is saucha – yoga asana is meant to cleanse and purify the body. Pranayama – or yogic breathing
techniques – is also a form of saucha. Yoga philosophy teaches us that these processes are a necessary form of purification and release if we want to awaken the greatness of our spirits.
We practice yoga so we can create more freedom in our bodies and promote our health. We meditate to cleanse our minds and open our hearts. We practice purity in our actions as a way to remove negativity from our relationships and the external world.
The practice of saucha can take many different forms. From an asana practice and a shower to a regular meditation routine.”
~ Brett Larkin
“… The real gift of saucha is the purification of our minds. It is our grand teacher of self-love, for it asks us to place our judgments aside, and take a deeper look at everything we have labeled as ‘impure’ about ourselves. That deep sadness that follows us around? The impatient streak? Those ‘dirty’ little habits we have when we are alone?
These seem to have no place on a sacred yogic path, but how wrong we are. The peacock’s tail feathers become brighter through digesting poisons. The lotus becomes more luminous the deeper the mud from which it springs. And so we too become closer to the radiant natural love that we are, when we stop pushing parts of ourselves away.
As Tara Brach, a yogi and meditation teacher, says in Radical
Acceptance: ‘Rather than trying to rid ourselves of an inherently
impure self, we (can) turn around and embrace this life in all its
realness – broken, messy, mysterious, and vibrantly alive.’
And, in another paradox, through our attempts to purify ourselves, we come to realize that there is nothing to purify at all. Purity is our very nature. Mud and all.”
4 Ways to Put Saucha Into Practice
1. Taking Care of the Body
(When we begin to let go of what we ‘think’ our body needs in order to become pure, then we can begin to hear what our body truly needs instead. …our self-care becomes self-love.)
2. Love Your ‘Mud’
(Make a list of all the things you dislike about yourself -your “poisons,” as Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron calls them – for it is here that our medicine lies. …)
3. Practicing Presence
(When we are present we bring purity to the moment. …)
4. On the Mat
(Whenever we step onto our mats we are practicing purification of our bodies. But we can also be purifying our minds by seeing how challenges in our yoga practice can become fuel for growth. … can we stop chastising ourselves for not living up to our ‘idea’ of a yogi?)
~ Helen Avery
Monday 19.09.
Let go & Listen to your body
Flow
Wednesday 21.09.
Embracing all of you
Flow
Thursday 22.09.
Open Theme
Yogis Choice
Friday 23.09.
Purity & Love is your nature
Slow Flow
Let’s take together the path from embracing ourself to loving ourself!
Love,
Nicole