As the chakras get higher up the body, the focus slowly peels away from the physical and moves up towards the realms of personal relationships - the mind with its many restraints and tools - and eventually towards more expansive places of loving awareness and spirituality. The highest chakras, specifically the top two, are often the most scoffed at and/or the most obsessed over (!), because they deal with these realms of ether, spiritual intuition, and more celestial concepts like energy (prana), the universe (brahmāṇḍa), and the divine or a deeper consciousness (purusha).

As we continue working our way up the primary chakras this term, we now arrive at the manipura chakra - the solar plexus energy centre. This subtle body wheel spins around the area of the belly button, and links to these physical functions of digestion, immune support, metabolism, blood sugar levels, energy levels, the muscles of the diaphragm and the sympathetic nervous system. This is the energy centre of fire, associated with the colour yellow - an ghrian álainn. The sun. Sūrya.

Sometimes translated as the seat of the self, svadhisthana chakra is the energy centre of soft desires, emotions, creativity, and fluidity. A subtle body centre, it sits in the low belly, in the seat of the pelvis, and is physically connected to this area of reproductive organs, kidneys, and the bladder...which means it is linked to sensuality, creating new life (new ideas), birth, manifestation, and emotional connection. 

What makes the chakras interesting to me is that they provide a systematic structure for connecting the mind and the body, in that each chakra is associated with an area of the body and its physical functions, as well as a corresponding 'area' of the psyche and its specific emotional/relational functions. In other words, a health problem in the body might be linked to a negative belief or thought pattern in the mind (a klesha), and vice versa.

The gist is this: our thoughts affect our physical health, and our physical health affects our mental health. The chakras are the doorway to understanding this connection deeper and in a more systematic way.

I've been teaching yoga professionally for over eight years now, but this year has been my first time ever (!) privately renting a studio space and going out on my own to advertise and curate yoga offerings. It's been a little scary! Your kindness, warmth, and unwavering support has meant the absolute world to me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Sushumna nadi begins at the base of the spine and is a key conduit for the flow of shakti - creative life force. It is said that when ida and pingala nadi, the feminine and masculine qualities within one person, are perfectly balanced - prana can then finally flow through sushumna nadi unrestricted, allowing the individual to feel a great sense of inner peace and divine clarity.

In Hindu mythology, Shiva and Shakti are two characters representing a fundamental universal principle; the duality of all living things. There is not a culture or people in the world that does not recognise this duality. Jungian analysts and many modern day psychologists will talk about animus and anima and the pursuit of unifying opposites within the psyche for the sake of individuation. A doctor or a biologist might tell you that in the function of a healthy cell, the principle that balances permeability is stability. Everywhere we look, things are dancing around each other in a balance of total opposites, looking for ways to come together.

It turns out that activating the 'fight or flight' system in our body can be a really good thing, in small doses. There is a fascinating biological phenomenon called hormesis that occurs when we intentionally expose ourselves to short-term stress. Rather than causing harm (like if we are constantly experiencing high stress), low-dose exposure to stress actually strengthens our cellular body and re-wires our relationship to challenge.

This ida nadi is described in yoga as a channel of life-flow in the body that runs up and down the length of the spine in a spiralling pattern. It is associated with the left side of the body and the left nostril, as well as the right side of the brain, and the parasympathetic nervous system - meaning that, when activated and flowing freely - ida nadi can help us to feel calmer, more grounded, more intuitive, and even more creative. Physically, when ida nadi is flowing and in balance with other nadis, it can help us to digest food and absorb nutrients better, sleep more deeply, and accelerate our natural healing and functional systems.

Nadis are channels of energy in the body, like rivers. These rivers are said to flow with prana (the Sanskrit word for lifeforce). Although you could try to sit in meditation and study all 72,000+ nadis with your awareness, like the ancient yogis did - we are going to simplify this task by focusing only on the three primary nadis. Two of these might feel quite familiar to you once we start talking about them!

While the Sanskrit word pranidhana means 'surrender', it's worth noting that the word ishvara means 'to a higher power'. Without getting too religious, this niyama is about seeing the bigger picture and choosing to trust it, rather than resist it. It's about acknowledging that the story of our mind, the impermanence of our physical body, and even the youth of our species in the broader sense of time and space, are all indicators that there is more at play than we know - and more going on than we can possibly predict or alter. 

This week we will consider svādhyaya; which is all about self study. Many of us in modern life understand the concept of self-study, or self-reflection, well enough. Your mind might think of things like journalling, writing down your dreams, trying to figure out if you're an extrovert or an introvert, or what number you might be on the enneagram...or maybe you go deeper into psychoanalysis and contemplate all the reasons why you are the way you are. It is worthy work. However, Svādhyaya in the context of the niyamas is actually an instruction to read the scriptures and texts of yoga as a way to study your true self, beyond the psyche...which is a bit different.

This third niyama of tapas that we are looking at this week is often translated as 'austerity' - which means to be stern in your attitude and/or to go without excess. The English word 'austerity' feels cold, hard, difficult. However, the root of the sanskrit word tapas is: tap, which actually means to burn or to heat. The concept of tapas as a practice of personal alignment is therefore to burn away physical and psychological impurities via self-discipline. Choosing discipline over comfort, as a way to cultivate life and prana within.

The niyamas offer us a concept of gratitude and contentment that is contingent on first being honest with yourself about how you really feel, and then forgiving yourself and the situation. Allowing what is - a key step. This is the saucha part, cleanliness. Then, perhaps, from that place of honesty and forgiveness, your awareness can wander more easily towards things that truly feel to you like windfalls, like precious gifts. Things that are actually satisfying, and lighten your heart to think about. Suddenly, a deep breath can feel like a powerful tonic.

Today, as we feel the seasons turn and the Hunter moon wane, we are being invited into a threshold time and a slow descent. Saucha is a concept of, yes, personal hygiene - but more potently, it is the responsibility to cultivate a practice of psychological and energetic hygiene. To work towards inner purification; clarity, lightness. This does not mean to ignore bad thoughts, or shame hidden feelings, or to run from dark or heavy things. In fact, it is the opposite. Saucha is a plea for us to walk courageously into the darker places, to spiral slowly inward, shining a light with our awareness. To feel our heartbeat and listen. It asks us to honour the wisdom often found in shadows.

Where the yamas are a set of principles that are meant to guide external behaviours in the world, the niyamas are a set of internal duties and responsibilities that we can practice and observe in ourselves; inner disciplines and wisdom, if you will, that may ultimately help us to find more peace and joy in this life. 

I read once that if you need everything to go right in order for you to feel at peace, it is not peace - it's control. When we cling to what we have, we pretend that we have power over whether it stays or goes. We don't have that power. From yogic and buddhist perspectives, believing in that illusion is a waste of your vital energy and joy. I can't help but think of the song by Joe Pug where he sings: 'The more I buy the more I'm bought. The more I'm bought the less I cost".

This week, we are working with the yama of brahmacharya; non-indulgence. The literal translation for brahmacharya is to follow 'the path of Brahman', which means to act in such a way that invites discovery of the divine. Traditionally, this yama is accepted as a suggestion for celibacy - to moderate one's physical urges, especially when they may eventually lead to pain or dissatisfaction. But ultimately, brahmacharya is a suggestion to simply observe where your energy goes, and where you may be spending your energy in ways that do not serve you. 

In yoga, one of the most important teachings is chitta vritti nirodha. To still the fluctuations of the mind, and become one with all that is. When we do this, the positive impulses get clearer and louder. We have clarity. A clear intuitive road. I believe when we trust and follow our guiding feelings, we are practicing a version of asteya - non-stealing. We are no longer taking energy away from ourselves.