reprogram your mind
Where does your mind exist? Have you ever wondered? Does it live inside your brain? Where do thoughts come from? Questions which few of us stop to ask ourselves for we are too busy being completely identified with the thinking mind, claiming every thought as our own, that we never stop to wonder... whose thoughts am I really thinking?
The Guru is in Everyone
In yoga, as with any great spiritual teaching, we learn that the most valuable and profound lesson is to know who we are in Truth ~ or, Self-realization. In Sanskrit the true Self is ‘Saakshaat’ and referred to as one’s ultimate guru to seek, for it is when we connect with that truest part of ourselves that all darkness, as the ‘illusory’ self, or ego-self, is dispelled. As long as we remain identified with the ego as who we think we are, then we remain trapped within the constant fear-based struggles of the ego-mind, or ‘Ahamkara’ in Sanskrit. The ego knows no peace and is constantly either seeking pleasure or avoiding pain.
yoga of the soul
Patanjali’s yoga sutras opens with “yoga citta vritti nirodha,” meaning, “unified consciousness comes with cessation of thoughts.” Yoga and meditation are inextricably linked for while the yoga prepares the body to sit in stillness, it is only through stilling the mind that the depth of Spirit may enter and manifest in this divine, personal temple. The mind can connect you with soul or it can keep you deeply attached to ego, to personality and who you “think” you are ~ the choice belongs to each of us.
yogi me this...
However, once we begin a spiritual path and detoxify the mind, transformation occurs spontaneously and life unfolds synchronistically. One can either exist in living the dharma, or their karma, but not both. So, by choosing the path of dharma ~ by learning and understanding that we all have dharma to live and fulfill, we grow spiritually and therefore, evolve.
In yoga, we unlearn more than we learn and realize that:
knowing is different that thinking,
wisdom is different than intellect,
and that power is different than force.
The Art of Sadhana (Copy)
Sadhana is a daily spiritual practice that is cultivated over time. It can also be translated as “realization” for within the concept is the understanding that this as an art of true devotion to the path of self-realization that is known as yoga.Sadhana represents a disciplined surrendering of the ego. Getting into daily practice is part of the yogi's journey and the beginnings of a daily devotional Sadhana practise.
Vichara Yoga
In the same way that various asana practices strengthen the body, the ancient yogic practise of vichara prepares the yogi to meet their Soul. Vichara is the practice of self-inquiry that opens the seeker up to the truth from within; of remembering who we are as an embodied Soul; it is a yoga that calls us to the shadow work necessary to burn away the karma and accumulated layers of maya in false identity, attachment and delusions of the “small self”.
the tunnel is the illusion
sometimes we have to stop. sometimes we have to let go of everything to discover who we really are.. “sometimes” is every time and the only way down the rabbit hole is through a place where bullshit and baggage don’t fit. it’s the moment you realize the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t the illusion -