Niyama (4): Swadhyaya
We may study a whole range of things in our lifetimes but ultimately the most important subject of study is our Self.
Sue Cheese
Niyama (3): Tapas
What are you working towards right now? Do you have any plans or projects?
Creating a new garden? Finding a new job? Moving house? A dream holiday? Running a marathon? Improving your health? Helping others in practical ways? Helping others to live better lives? Finding more peace and contentment in your own life? Seeking union with the Divine?
Niyama (2): Santosha
One of my favourite Niyamas...Contentment!
Life happens, storms rage, good times are followed by bad times, pandemics occur, we get ill, we have an accident, we see and hear things that anger us, we lose something or someone valuable, the washing machine breaks down...how wonderful would it be to remain calm and content throughout all of these things. Impossible? Well practice makes perfect...
Niyama (1): Saucha
If the Yamas were all about putting our foot on the brake pedal then the Niyamas are about putting our foot on the accelerator!
The first of the Niyamas is Saucha, meaning purity or cleanliness. This refers to both the body and the mind.
Keeping the body clean is not simply about washing thoroughly every day, it also involves taking exercise and ‘eating clean’. Obviously our yoga movements and sequences help to remove blockages and to keep the body in good condition. Getting out in the fresh air helps to purify our lungs, our blood and all our internal systems.
Yoga Sutras and exploration of Yama 1: Ahimsa
Let’s start at the very beginning...Patanjali was a wise dude who lived in India a long time ago and who knew a lot about yoga! He passed on his wisdom through his Yoga Sutras. A sutra is a useful device, a short burst of words which is able to convey an awful lot to the listener or reader. He also usefully put together a simple structure for those of us on our yogic path which we call the Eight Limbs of Yoga:
Invisible Wheels (3): Manipura
I like to think of the Manipura chakra as our POWER centre. Located above the navel and below the diaphragm in the solar plexus region of the body, it is often called the solar centre.
Sometimes it is called the jewelled city or the lustrous gem. For those who see the colours of their chakras, we are moving from the orange of swadhisthana to the bright yellow of manipura.
Whenever it is out of balance we may experience any of the following:
fatigue
Invisible Wheels (5) - Vishuddhi
Vishuddhi, the throat chakra, located within the neck and expanding down towards the shoulders and up into the area of the mouth and lower part of the face... its sanskrit translation: visha = impurity, poison suddhi = purify
Invisible wheels (4): Anahata
The HEART centre. This is number 4 of the 7 main energy centres and plays a very important role in transforming energy from the lower centres (which have to do with the way we treat ourselves and those around us), up to our higher centres (which eventually connect us to the Universe or the spiritual realm or however we perceive it). The chakras gradually rise from the gross to the more subtle... as such, anahata or the heart chakra, is an enormously important centre to work with.
Invisible Wheels (6): Ajna
Often referred to as the Eyebrow Centre or the Third Eye, the Ajna chakra is located behind the centre of the eyebrows near the pineal gland. The Sanskrit word means ‘command’ or ‘summoning’.
So in what sense is it the command centre? It is the centre where we connect to our intuition with clarity, and this intuition then commands us to act, directing us on our path. It is the centre of our intellect and of the subconscious mind. For many it is the centre where we see beyond the material world, where some experience the psychic realm.
My Bhakti Path
For those of us on our spiritual journey there are many, many different paths to follow; for those of us on our yogic paths the choice classically narrows, but there are still choices:
RAJA YOGA - Royal yoga, following the eightfold path
JNANA YOGA - the yoga of knowledge/wisdom
KARMA YOGA - the yoga of action
BHAKTI YOGA - the yoga of devotion
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