Week Three - Asteya, The Giving Back of Joy

Hello everyone,

Thank you all for last Sunday as we practiced Hatha and Yin yoga back in our home studio at Thrive in Greystones - under the full moon eclipse! Woah! I don't know about you, but I felt the power of it last week...and the turmoil. Lunar eclipses can bring strong currents of intuition that feel to me sometimes like great storms. There is an impulse to hide below the surface, swim down to the depths, and wait for it to pass. Thankfully, the storm can sometimes shake up the sea bed enough for a glimmering pearl to reveal itself. A glimpse of the subconscious, a spark of clarity...something to hold onto and bring to the surface. For me, this gift is usually revealed through a dream, a long hard cry, or a solitary evening walk. If you felt the high-intensity energy last weekend, I hope you are finding your way now towards centre again, and settling into softer rhythms. It is cosy weather for it, after all!

We will have our third round of classes this Sunday, with Hatha at 5pm and Yin at 6:30pm - please let me know if you would like me to save your space :) For our philosophy theme this week we are continuing our exploration of the five yamas, the five guiding principles for healthy yoga practice. We come now to the third yama which is Asteya - the instruction to not steal. Hmmm! 

As I've mentioned in previous letters, the yamas are traditionally taught as moral codes for living and behaving in the outside world. To not cause harm (ahimsa). To not tell lies (satya). To not steal anyone's possessions, time, or energy (asteya), and so on. But in our modern day context of yoga, which is to say that yoga is now a primarily physical activity practiced in group classes (rather than as a way of life studied under a guru or swami) I am interested in considering these moral guidelines and applying them to our own personal yoga practices; giving them an introspective quality so that they can help us in our relationship with our body and our selves. 

So, how could we consider the yama of asteya; non-stealing - in our life and personal yoga practice? The big question that struck me today is...

Where do I steal my own personal energy? 

In other words: what do I focus on, what do I actively believe in, what do I practice often...that I know take away from my joy and wellbeing? 

I had an experience at the beginning of this week where I came home from work late, around 9pm, and instead of doing the million and one things on my to do list in order to prepare for the next day - I dropped my bag on the floor, left the house, and walked to the sea. I felt such a strong impulse to do it. When I got there I sat on the beach, in the cold and the dark, and I looked out and saw this great golden full moon casting a glimmering road of light on the water...I felt something soften in me that hasn't softened in a long time. I returned home later that night and had one of the best and deepest sleeps I've had in months, with sweet dreams, and I awoke with a deep sense of calm and comfort...something in me had been renewed.

It's a simple thing, but I'm convinced that we rob ourselves of our joy and wellbeing when we ignore these random feeling impulses. Which I do all the time! I think of all the moments that I've felt my intuition say 'go here...do this...say this...' and I've gone the other way because it made more sense or fit my plan better. But all the times that I've followed the random little nudges, the inklings to go off the planned route - I am rewarded with a streamlined feeling of ease; even a radical sense of freedom from the imaginary confinement of my own imposed structure on the world. 

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. No longer denying ourselves the sense of relief that must come when we hold true to our intuition. And of course this can be applied to physical yoga practice! How many times have you suffered through a downward dog when a teacher has offered a child pose instead? How many times have you compared yourself to the person next to you, rather than celebrate how far you've come? We steal joy from ourselves constantly... but we don't have to! When we practice softening our grip, listening out for our intuition, for our sense of relief, the feeling of...easier. Freer. More fun. Less strain. I believe we can make our way slowly towards a place that feels better - and isn't that sort of what we want?

Cooool, that's all from me! If you're still reading - thank you. I am so excited to share the space at Thrive with you this Sunday for Hatha and Yin. As always, please feel free to get in touch with any questions or concerns, or to save your spot :)

Where drips the rocky highland

of Sleuth Wood in the lake,

There lies a leafy island

Where flapping herons wake

The drowsy water rats;

There we've hid our faery vats,

Full of berrys

And reddest stolen cherries.

Come away, O human child! 

To the waters and the wild

With a faery, hand in hand,

For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

From The Stolen Child, By W.B. Yeats

Le grá,

Macha