Week One - Saucha, Purifying with Awareness

Hello everyone,

I am so happy to write to you today in anticipation of our new yoga term at Thrive beginning this Sunday October 12th! We will have two classes to choose from each Sunday evening for realignment, release, connection, and restoration, before the week begins again. I can't wait :)

There will be an empowering, renewing Hatha Yoga practice at 5pm - and a stretchy, spacious, calming Yin Yoga at 6:30pm! There are a small handful of spaces left for the new five week term. Let me know if you would like to sign up to either class and cultivate a practice of tending to yourself, your body, and your breath this October. It is powerful work :)

As many of you know, each term we work through a yogic philosophy theme via these emails as a way to ponder the roots of yoga and potentially deepen our practice. This Sunday we will consider the yogic concept of saucha - which is a Sanskrit word for cleanliness. Saucha (cleanliness) is the first of five inner principles called the niyamas, which are the second limb of Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga. The niyamas are beautiful inner guidelines and positive duties which can help practitioners to live a more liberated life, free from suffering - which is an ultimate goal in many yoga traditions. 

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.

I grew up in an Irish/celtic tradition of honouring Samhain, a time where the veil between worlds was thin and fairies could travel through the veil to trick you, or you could slip through the dark and get lost in a place unknown. I remember being fascinated with these stories as a child - because I felt it in my bones. It was true for me. October felt like a time to get lost in dark places, and to discover truths that had been hiding in my subliminal vision all year long. Saucha is an instruction to not be afraid of hidden or lingering things within the subconscious. Open the cupboard and clear out the cobwebs.

Last night, the full Hunter Moon lit the sky; the first full moon after the equinox. A time to give thanks for what is now fading, and breathe deeply into these darkening days of rest and renewal. As we sink sleepily into this spooky season and watch the light wane and the leaves fall around us, it can be helpful to carve out time for quiet reflection. You might take a deep breath, sit up a little taller, and consider: What can I stand to release this week? What am I holding onto that is no longer serving me? Can I accept this natural invitation to soften my grip? 

Can I trust what is slowly beginning to come to light within me? 

I am so excited to see you on the mat. As always, please get in touch with any questions, concerns, ponderings, or sign ups!

"So remember, if you wander the desert, and it is near sundown, and you are perhaps a little bit lost, and certainly tired, that you are lucky, for La Loba may take a liking to you and show you something - something of the soul."

Clarissa Pinkola Estés from 'Women Who Run with Wolves'

Le grá,

Macha