Week Two - Satya, the Two Realities of Truth
Hello everyone,
Thank you all so much for a beautiful class and turnout last Sunday for our Hatha and Yin practices :) I am delighted to announce that Thrive studio is officially ready for use again (yay!) and we will be back there for practice this Sunday - Hatha at 5pm, and Yin at 6:30pm. Please let me know if you'd like me to save you a spot!
For our philosophy theme we are exploring the yamas this term, which I like to think of as the five guiding principles for a healthy yoga practice. Last week we considered the first yama outlined in the yoga sutras, which is ahimsa - non-violence. Traditionally, this was taught as an 'out in the world' moral code. Essentially, the noble effort to not commit harm to anyone or anything. But in the context of our modern day yoga I am interested in exploring these ideas within the microscope of our own personal and physical practice. I believe that everything we do to ourselves, we end up doing to others in some small way or another. When we push ourselves, we push others. Don't we? The yoga mat can be a fantastic place to experiment with observing your thoughts, your belief patterns, your conditioning, and your relationship to your mind and body. All with the sweet intention to take a step back from, wrap yourself in light, and soften what you can.
There is a crack, a crack, in everything. That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen
This week, we are moving on to the second yama which is satya - truthfulness. How can we practice truthfulness, honesty, even authenticity, in our yoga practice? And what would that look like?
As we take a seat in yoga, usually at the beginning of a practice, we are often asked to observe our breath, settle into our body, and acknowledge how we feel. This is when satya begins. When we go into our body with awareness, it can be frightening because our emotions live in the body. They get stored there. They can fester when left unattended, and grow into something we feel is too large to handle. In our world, it can be easier to reach for distraction than to face up to difficult or buried feelings. The west is a hyper individualistic society - which means that self-reliance, achievement, and personal happiness are considered paramount. Flaws, failures, negativity, suffering, illness, struggle...are not celebrated quite so much. We are not often taught to understand that negative feelings can be transient, like clouds passing over. Or that from a yogic perspective, the root of all suffering is to actively believe in the illusion of the self. This is known as avidya - the ignorance of truth.
As in almost every wisdom culture, big yogic concepts like the above were often taught via fantastical stories and mythology. The Hindu story of Goddess Kali's bloodlust is a bold and wonderful tale that teaches us how we can lose ourselves violently in the illusion of the self, and also how we can return to truth via stillness and surrender.
In the story, the Gods are in the midst of a terrible battle with an Asura demon named Raktabija - Blood Seed. Rajtabija is nearly impossible to vanquish because every drop of blood he spills immediately transforms into another demon who spawns to join the fight. The dark and powerful Goddess Kali is instructed to drink every drop of Rajtabija's blood before it touches the earth, and thus she wins the fight.
Kali, however, goes insane after drinking the blood of the demon. She is overcome with bloodlust. Violence creates violence. The ego multiplies again and again within the universal nature of expansion. Seeing Kali's destruction, Lord Shiva lays down on the battle field and takes a shavasana - corpse pose - surrendering into a state of complete awareness and relaxation despite the chaos unfolding around him. During her rampage, Kali eventually steps on the resting Shiva. The moment she touches his peaceful body, she is shocked out of her bloodlust and is brought back to awareness and truth.
What a great story! I like to consider this myth when I think of this yama of satya - truthfulness. Yoga teaches us that our suffering is indeed real, it is worthy of our attention, but that ultimately it is not the full truth. It does not have to be. For me, there are two parts to satya. The first is honesty - when I take a breath, can I really acknowledge what's going on truthfully, without fear or avoidance? And secondly, can I then remember the powerful words that this too shall pass. That life is changeable. That I am enough, just as I am. And that the solution is almost always to rest, soften, trust, and maybe ask someone you love for a hug later.
“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable, but they're never weakness...
Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable.
Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light."
Brené Browne
Le grá,
Macha
