Spring can be beautiful, but also confusing in the transition…

It’s cool indoors, but warm and muggy outside…. It’s sunny but the wind has a chill… is it hot or cold? What do I wear!?! 

Similarly our bodies, coming out of the more contracted state of the cooler months start to have more energy and more opportunities to move… like the snow melting on the mountain top, this can lead to the release of stored toxins and put more load on the organs…

Take a few weeks to let the body acclimatise… be a bit gentle for a little while…

Focus on breath and flow, eat clean food moderately, hydrate well, take rest when you feel you need it, stop and smell the roses, be patient… 

In a few weeks, the time to take on more, progress, challenge and enjoy the process will come.. and you’ll be ready for it 

Overloading now or jumping in too soon can increase the possibility of injury and/or getting a cold!

Ayurveda and Yoga work with the season and look for steadiness in this time of changing season 

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Namaste Yogis and Yoginis,

What is so powerful about self-love?

Let’s consider this analogy… Imagine there was a beautiful plant, it was lush and green and so vibrantly alive that just its sheer presence brought delight to all who saw it, and made them smile. Most plants rely on water to stay alive, either from rain, or from a person kind enough to water them. Imagine this plant was able to water itself and had no need of anything, or anyone outside of itself to grow and shine. That is who we would be if we fully loved ourselves.

Often in our efforts to be the best we can be, we give the love we generate to others, and forget about ourselves, or at least make it a lesser priority – perhaps expecting love from outside to fill us up instead. Even Divine love, like rain, may not be consistent and is still seemingly outside of ourselves.

The most empowering thing we can do is to actively love ourselves. We are able to fill ourselves up whenever needed or wanted. As a result, we are able to be at our best at all times. What we do with that is the next part of the story – we can then be at our best in service, in compassion, in loving others, in loving the earth. We can then generate more love for everyone/everything to absorb and experience.

Self-love is NOT selfish. It only becomes selfish when we are attached to some benefit for us coming out of our actions. Like if the plant’s only concern was how it felt about how IT looked, felt, lived… but plants have zero regard for that – they simply express the life within them in the most beautiful way possible for the greatest good of all. Of course we are not plants, and there are more layers to the story of being human – love from others does benefit, so does being filled with Divine love, and keeping our mind directed towards love via affirmation – but the similarities are there.

Fill ourselves with love first, and we impact others positively just by our sheer presence. Fill ourselves first and we have energy, love and creativity in abundance to help others and the planet. Fill ourselves up and we truly want the best for ourselves and others. Fill ourselves up and we can stay steady, calm, equanimeous, and compassionate to all and in all circumstances – good or bad, difficult or easy.

There are many ways to fill ourselves up with self-love – these include caring for our physical well-being, quiet time in Nature (which is full of Love), spending time with those who nourish and love us in return, connecting to whatever version of highest Self we relate to, reminding ourselves daily we are worth it and we love ourselves and many more methods. We are all unique, and have a unique list of what makes us feel FULL. Take time to contemplate… What might that mean for you?

Then, out in the world where that can be challenged, I find a simple, yet powerful tool is to ask the question “If I truly and completely loved myself… what would I do?”. In this way, self-love can guide us through the complexities of life and the myriad of choices and distractions we face.

Amazingly, here is where the magic kicks in – the answer always leads us not only to what is in our own highest good, but the highest good of the whole (even if we don’t always understand it straightaway – and ultimately we are the Whole – but that is for another day). This is when we know it is truly Self-love, which is not selfish at all.

(Are you singing Whitney Houston right now…?)

With love,
Suzanne

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Namaste Yogis and Yoginis,

I find I am constantly exploring different aspects of the universal principles of Abhyasa and Vairagya. Although traditional translations are usually “practice, action” and “surrender, detachment” respectively; you could also include “doing/non-doing”, “structure/space”, “holding on/letting go” and the definition I want to explore today of “moving forward/pulling back”.

A lot of our practice involves knowing when to push forward, knowing when to pull back. When we are stagnant, frustrated, or in fear – it may be appropriate to push forward into a pose/practice. When we are exhausted, unwell or creating depletion, we need to know when to pull back. Sometimes adding a load strengthens bones and joints, but if a joint is unstable, adding a load can irritate it and lead to injury. (TIP: If our muscles are tight around a joint, it could be because they are trying to protect an unstable joint – pull back and begin from the ground up, see if you can move into the pose safely, communicating to the body with your breath, creating alignment and building awareness).

The same principles apply in life off the mat too. As the famous Kenny Rogers said “You gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em”. Who knew Kenny was so wise!!  😀

But what about when we feel stuck emotionally and find it hard to move forward? Especially around a person/event we perceive has harmed us in some way, and we can’t forgive?

Over recent years, I have done a lot of work around forgiveness. Here are a few strategies that really helped, that are loving and inclusive, and truly liberating…

1. Ho’oponopono or similar. A Hawaiian practice of repeating the statements “I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you” like a mantra whilst visualising the person you want healing with. I’ve been told several ways to do it, but the one that worked best for me was finding a recording that I could play (google Ho’oponopono) and let the words wash over me while meditating.

2. One of my favourites is to visualise you and the person connected by a beam of energy. When you cut/break that energy see their energy return to them, yours to you. No harm to either but no longer connected. (Double whammy if you play the Ho’oponopono chant at the same time).

3. I also visualise the person in my morning blessings and chant for them “May they be at peace, May they feel love”. (Sometimes imagining them surrounded by golden/white healing light). It feels amazing to exercise love towards them instead of anger. If they heal, they will no longer be in pain, and far less likely to hurt others. I feel very empowered and free when I do this – even though it may seem difficult and counterintuitive at first!

I hope this helps to free you up and be able to move forward again.

Wishing you all much love and freedom,
Suzanne

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Namaste Yogis and Yoginis,

It’s interesting to consider that the yogis of old struggled with some of the same challenges we do. It seems the human condition has changed very little in thousands of years. Perhaps this is why the ancient wisdom is still so as potent and relevant today as when it was written. The journey to elevation is the same too it seems, and so we follow in the steps of those who went before us as we try to raise our awareness, each other and our lives in general.

One of the challenges that has caught my attention lately is the how to sift through lies, marketing and misinformation (especially political). It’s hard to imagine that yogis of old had to figure out who was saying what due to what agenda; to gain fame, acclaim, power or money; or genuinely to help, to heal to contribute to the greater good… but they must have, as they have a powerful teaching on how to discern Truth from misinformation. I find it as helpful today as it must have been then.

How do we gain knowledge that we know is true? How do we find proof when some of the concepts/statements/ideas are so esoteric and malleable? The word for factual knowledge or true perception in Sanskrit is “Pramana” and in Yoga Sutra 1.7 we are told “pratyaksha anumaana aagamaah pramaanaani” – “there are 3 ways to attain true perception/wisdom”.

The first is “pratyaksah” or “direct experience”. That is what we directly experience through our senses – hearing, feeling/touch, sight, taste and smell. Our direct experience can generally be trusted, but it is not complete within itself. We all know how unreliable witness testimony can be, or how when we are upset we see/hear something in a certain way that we later understand to be untrue. In low lighting we might see a tree that we think is a person, or a branch on the ground we think is a snake. Our senses are powerful, but they are also conditional, and circumstances can affect them, or at least the way we process them.

This is when we must apply “anumana” which is “inference/reasoning”. Using our intellect to examine, determine, compare and deduce whether what we are experiencing is real or not. We can also make inferences based on past experience and knowledge and can compare similarities to what we know if something in front of us is new. If we know that someone has lied to us consistently in the past, we may infer they could be lying again, and take measures to determine if what they have told us is true or not. We may infer that smoke means fire, based on our past experience of fire.

We can use our rational thinking to help us find our way to the truth – is that a snake on the path? Well, it’s not moving, it is unusual for one to be on the path in an urban environment, it is unusual for a snake to be out into the evening, if I move towards it does it react? Are there other shapes on the ground that look similar but I can see they are branches? We can follow a rational process through and get to the Truth, or closer to the Truth. Imagine a person walking from the other direction towards you passes that “snake” and is not scared – 1) you can infer it probably was not a snake and 2) you can ask someone who has a clearer view or understanding than you – “Was that a snake you just passed or a stick?”

The person you ask is an example of “agamah” (also known as “shabda”) meaning valid testimony, or wisdom from a trusted teacher/one who has more clarity or knowledge than you (this can include texts). In modern vernacular “check the source”. Who is telling you this thing? Do they have an agenda? Do they gain something from you believing them? What is their experience? Their qualifications? Have you encountered this person before and followed their advice – was it beneficial? What does their past performance tell you about this person? Is this information/advice helpful? Beneficial for you and others? Does it benefit the whole?

Although these teachings are usually about seeking a spiritual Truth, and when choosing a spiritual teacher or guru; they also apply to daily life regarding anyone with whom you trust your well-being, your valuables or even your life. Information is more accessible than ever before, and we are constantly bombarded with conflicting ideologies – so this process is perhaps even more important than it ever has been.

The wise yogi uses as many methods as required to get as close to the Truth as possible.

With love,
Suzanne

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