In my yoga teaching training we have homework...one of our assignments is to write about our favorite sutra...I just finished it and will share it in my blog...considering the only real writing I have been doing this year is blogging...i kinda wrote the one page paper like I talk/write in my blogs...we'll see how well it goes over in class. . .
TATAH PRATYAK CETANĀDHIGAMO -‘PYANTARĀYĀBHĀVAŚ CA.
Choosing just one single sutra has not been as easy as I thought. Reading through the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and highlighting, staring, flipping the corner of the pages on the sutras I like the best was phase one. Phase two consisted of jotting down all the Sutras I had marked as “my favorite” and trying to comb through them; weeding out the ones that didn’t jump off the page and grab me by the heart and soul. This is not an easy task. As I am going on day 5 of my search for my most favorite sutra I have finally…finally narrowed it down to three. Ugggggg. Sometimes being an Aries bites me in the ass, being somewhat indecisive or is it just being super duper particular in the choices I make…idk.
Alright I DID IT! I have narrowed it down to my all time favorite sutra, well that is my favorite sutra for today, for the week, the one that truly speaks to me and my practice, the one that I can’t delete. Drum roll please……TADA Book 1.29 ~ from this practice all the obstacles disappear and simultaneously dawns knowledge of the inner Self.
I’ll start with the first half of this sutra; from this practice all the obstacles disappear. For me, every time I leave a class I feel like a whole new woman. The minute I step outside the studio, I feel taller, I feel cleansed. As I’m driving home, usually in silence because I don’t want anything to interrupt my blissful state of mind, I’m at peace. I’m guessing it’s the endorphins bursting out of my body, or the emotions that have been released from my inner organs…it’s a very, extremely, intense euphoric feeling I keep going back for more. After a hard, stressful day at work of non-stop running back and forth in the hospital, calling commands, making sure I’m doing the best I can, but better…I need some yoga in my life. I need peace and bliss and that “ahhhhhh” moment. After a hard day with my mother I need yoga, I need the practice to clear my head, to re-boot my system, to cleanse my body, soul, and mind. And that’s exactly what it feels like when I step out of the studio, especially after a hot session! I can just breath, no obstacles. No physical obstacles, no racing thoughts, no to do list running a mile a minute in my brain - no obstacles period. Just sheer freedom and bliss!
…Simultaneously dawns knowledge of the inner Self…My take on the second half of this sutra is, after all of my obstacles have disappeared I can begin to see/feel the knowledge of my inner being. Everything just seems a bit clearer. I guess what I’m trying to say is once you clear all the smoke and garbage out of the way you are able to see the true inner beauty of one’s self. Oh wow, that sounds cheesy, the inner beauty of one’s self…geeze-a-pete. It’s like the feeling of the sun on your face on a cold cold day. The warmth of the sunshine radiating down on your skin and for that one moment in time everything stops. The obstacles disappear and the sunshine seeps into your soul. That’s what yoga feels like to me. Yoga is my sunshine beaming down on my skin, stopping time, and seeping into my inner self.
Until Next Time ~ OM
