A Short Talk on Love

Asana Practice - Balancing

Meditation - Visiting the Departed

Meditation and Gentle Yin Practice

Hello everyone,
Please enjoy this gentle meditation and yin practice. There are a few reflective readings along the way to take you deeper into your heart.

There were some technical difficulties so go ahead and finish up with your pigeon and then land in savasana to finish the practice.

Alternate Nostril Breathing for Healing

From This Practice

What is Tarka?


Perhaps one of the most important parts of a strong spiritual practice is the practice of tarka or reflective journaling. Reflection upon your inner and outer life is essential if you wish to progress along the path. These reflections on your life can help you see your mind more clearly. Your relationship to yourself, the world, and others is revealed in each journal entry. We can sometimes be blinded by our own beliefs or trapped in a cycle of thinking that is unhealthy for us.

Tarka can help us to illumine the way before us, discard old beliefs, and change our attitudes and ways of thinking.

Tarka is designed to help you reflect upon your life and examine your mind so that you may travel the path of enlightenment with greater ease and harmony.


Today's Tarka

In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras book 1 Sutra 29 it states:  “From this practice all the obstacles disappear and simultaneously dawns knowledge of the inner Self.”

Satchidananda tells us that from this Sutra we can get in tune with the cosmic power, and through that tuning in, I will feel that force in me and will be imbibed with those qualities; I will get the cosmic vision, transcend my limitations and become that transcendental reality.

I will not let the mind and body limit me. I will hold something infinite and raise myself from the finite objects that bind me. This is the way I get rid of all the obstacles and my path is made easy.

This morning, I am thinking about the words “from this practice” – this causes me to ask from what practice? The practice of yoga, of course, but what more specifically?  The answer, for me, is that these words mean, I should focus on the heart and live my life from a heart centered practice. This means, I let my heart speak and make my choices from my heart, not from what my mind is telling me I have to do. 

I think “from this practice” can change depending on where I am in the practice. All the choices still remain from the heart, but I think about what it is that informs my practice in any given moment. For example, perhaps my “from this practice” today is a focus on a different sutra and what that informs or from what I hear someone say to me that I want to reflect further upon. 

Like maybe in this moment I am experiencing grief and I say from this practice I am gaining x,y,z.

I think this type of practice makes the obstacles disappear because I am practicing from a full state of awareness and the knowledge is coming from and giving to my inner Self. It is about being fully present in each moment as it arises. There are no obstacles if I come from this place, only moments.

In your journal today, think about this sutra and what the words "from this practice" mean to you. Where are you in this present moment? How will this inform your practice?

Shanti,

Swami K

The Sacred AUM

What is Tarka?


Perhaps one of the most important parts of a strong spiritual practice is the practice of tarka or reflective journaling. Reflection upon your inner and outer life is essential if you wish to progress along the path. These reflections on your life can help you see your mind more clearly. Your relationship to yourself, the world, and others is revealed in each journal entry. We can sometimes be blinded by our own beliefs or trapped in a cycle of thinking that is unhealthy for us.

Tarka can help us to illumine the way before us, discard old beliefs, and change our attitudes and ways of thinking.

Tarka is designed to help you reflect upon your life and examine your mind so that you may travel the path of enlightenment with greater ease and harmony.


Today's Tarka

In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras book 1 Sutra 29 it states: “From this practice all the obstacles disappear and simultaneously dawns knowledge of the inner Self.”

Here, Patanjali is referring us back to book 1 Sutra 28. The practice he is referring to is the practice of meditating on and repeating the mantra AUM. This mantra can become the center of our lives, not only while we are meditating or practicing asana, but also in our daily living. Patanjali speaks of AUM as the word that refers to God’s name. When taken in this context, our practice of the word AUM helps us to become one-pointed on our surrender towards God. It is this surrender that can remove all of our obstacles and help us transcend our mind and our body. We merge with God. 

However, some people do not believe in God and many that are drawn to the path of yoga have different spiritual beliefs. If that is the case, can we still find meaning in this Sutra and can we still apply it in our practice in a more secular way? I believe we can, particularly when we focus on the last part of the Sutra, “the inner Self.”

Our practice of yoga is meant to yoke us to our essence or inner Self. That Self that is unchanging. That Self that remains stable despite what happens internally with the fluctuations of our mind and externally with the fluctuations of our world. So, by continued practice or repetition of AUM, we can tune in to our essence, our Self. Again, this brings us to the same place. We surrender to Self. We merge with Self. We become pure Self. This grounds us and helps us to achieve a calm center. This center is like an un-moveable mountain. The mountain remains in some form even while things from the world attempt to disturb it.

In your journal today, reflect on this Sutra and your relationship to it. Do you identify more with surrendering to God, surrendering to Self, some variation of both, something completely different? What is the meaning of AUM to you and how is it useful in your life?

Shanti,
Swami K

The 3 Gunas

What is Tarka?


Perhaps one of the most important parts of a strong spiritual practice is the practice of tarka or reflective journaling. Reflection upon your inner and outer life is essential if you wish to progress along the path. These reflections on your life can help you see your mind more clearly. Your relationship to yourself, the world, and others is revealed in each journal entry. We can sometimes be blinded by our own beliefs or trapped in a cycle of thinking that is unhealthy for us.

Tarka can help us to illumine the way before us, discard old beliefs, and change our attitudes and ways of thinking.

Tarka is designed to help you reflect upon your life and examine your mind so that you may travel the path of enlightenment with greater ease and harmony.

Today's Tarka

In yoga philosophy, there are 3 guanas or 3 states from which we live. There is a balanced, harmonious state called Sattva. There is a passionate and higher energy state called Rajas and there is a lower energy or dull state called Tamas. All 3 states exist within us and we experience these varying states of energy throughout the day. For example, in the morning, I tend to be in a high energy state. This is when my mind is busy and when I tend to do my work. Later in the day, I tend to feel sleepy or dull and I may take a nap in the afternoon sun. When I am meditating, I tend to feel as though I am in a more balanced state of awareness. There is not too much rajas or too much tamas.

In each moment of our day, we can do a self-check in to see where we are and then from that place add a little tamas or a little rajas to bring us back into a sattvic or balanced state. For example, when you do your check in, you might find that your mind is restless and you really feel like you just need to move. If you are feeling overly restless, you can take some calming breaths or slow down your breathing to bring yourself into a more balanced state. You could also sit down to read a book or just listen to some music. On the other hand, you might feel lazy, depressed or unable to get motivated. If this is the case, you could use the breath of fire technique to attempt to get yourself back into balance. You could also do a yoga practice that is intense for your level or go for a walk.

In your journal today, record how you are feeling right now and what state you feel you are in. Make a list of activities you can do that will fire you up a bit when you are feeling low and make a list of things that can bring you down when you are feeling more up. Refer to this list when you need to in order to help bring you back into a more balanced state.

Shanti,

Swami K

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Surrender

What is Tarka?


Perhaps one of the most important parts of a strong spiritual practice is the practice of tarka or reflective journaling. Reflection upon your inner and outer life is essential if you wish to progress along the path. These reflections on your life can help you see your mind more clearly. Your relationship to yourself, the world, and others is revealed in each journal entry. We can sometimes be blinded by our own beliefs or trapped in a cycle of thinking that is unhealthy for us.

Tarka can help us to illumine the way before us, discard old beliefs, and change our attitudes and ways of thinking.

Tarka is designed to help you reflect upon your life and examine your mind so that you may travel the path of enlightenment with greater ease and harmony.

Today's Tarka Practice

In Patanjali’s book on the Yoga Sutras, we are taught that there are 3 things we must do in order to progress along the path. One of the most important but most difficult is to surrender. This is called Isvara Pranidhanam. It is with this teaching we are encouraged to dedicate the fruits of our actions to God or humanity (depending on your beliefs). When we act out of pure awareness or act from the heart, we are steady and calm along the path. If we act from the heart and dedicate each of our actions to God or humanity, this is an act of surrender. We discover that we do not own anything or possess anything. Instead, we are just the keeper or trustee of the skills we are embodied with. To share that skill and leave it as an offering to the universe, we deeply surrender any expectations we have of gaining something. When all expectations are discarded, we are free.

In your journal today, reflect on a skill that you have that you could share with someone else. Once you have reflected on that skill, take action. Do something today for someone without having any expectations or receiving anything in return. Open your heart and surrender completely to what you can offer in this present moment. Practice this technique again and again until it becomes a habit and you will be free.

Shanti,

Swami K

Your Mission Statement

What is Tarka?

Perhaps one of the most important parts of a strong spiritual practice is the practice of tarka or reflective journaling. Reflection upon your inner and outer life is essential if you wish to progress along the path. These reflections on your life can help you see your mind more clearly. Your relationship to yourself, the world, and others is revealed in each journal entry. We can sometimes be blinded by our own beliefs or trapped in a cycle of thinking that is unhealthy for us.

Tarka can help us to illumine the way before us, discard old beliefs, and change our attitudes and ways of thinking.

Tarka is designed to help you reflect upon your life and examine your mind so that you may travel the path of enlightenment with greater ease and harmony.

Today's Tarka Practice
There are many reasons you may find yourself practicing yoga. Perhaps you came to yoga to belong to a community of like-minded people. Maybe you came to yoga to heal physically and / or emotionally or maybe you just love the way your body feels after a strong and powerful practice or a slow, more restful practice. Some people prefer power yoga, others restorative and everything in between. Many people like to create a balanced practice and do some very challenging practices on some days and more yin based practices on other days.

Today, I want you to reflect on why you practice yoga? If you could write a yoga mission statement for yourself, what would it be? For example, your mission statement might be something like this: I practice yoga in order to feel a sense of connection and community with others who share my passion for serving myself and serving all of life.

Go ahead and write your mission statement in your journal and please feel free to share your mission statement in the comments box below.

Shanti, Swami K