Every two years we take a special trip to a favorite vacation spot that we've shared with great friends for many years now. Siesta Key boasts a white sand beach, clear and calm water, and spectacular sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico. I've been there many times and easily settle into the natural rhythm of the place. Every morning I wake up early with the birds and savor my beachfront yoga. On the first morning of our latest trip, I kept wondering if I was seeing dolphins playing off the shore. I wasn't sure because it was hard to distinguish dolphin fins from the little waves that cast dark shadows resembling dolphin fins and tales. On the second day, I found myself looking for those dolphins but still wondering if my eyes were playing tricks on me or not. On Wednesday morning, I reached high to the sky in mountain pose, brought my hands together in front of my heart and at the exact moment I opened my eyes and looked forward, a dolphin leaped out of the water and her glittering body showed me that she was quite present with me.
Even though I had that one moment of clarity, I still had a hard time determining between illusion and the true presence of the dolphins.... until Friday. On Friday the water was incredibly calm. I looked out on a flat ocean surface and saw at least 15 - 20 dolphins playing in the water. There was no doubt that those porpoises had a large presence during my morning yoga practice all week long but it had been hard to see the truth when the water was choppy.
In the moment that I realized the dolphins had been with me all week, I thought of one of the most popular yoga quotations used today.... "yogah cittavritti nirodhah." This is a "sentence" from a longer paragraph written by the ancient scholar Patanjali. His Yoga Sutra's begin....
Atha yoganusasanam
Yogah cittavritti nirodhah
The great yoga teacher BKS Iyengar translates the sanskrit phrase in this way....
With prayers for divine blessings, now begins an exposition of the sacred art of yoga.
Yoga is the cessation of movements in the consciousness.
The idea is that physical life can be very tumultuous. Every day we experience all kinds of things that make waves in our lives. Our feelings get hurt, our bodies experience break down and disease, our minds get scattered, and our nervous energy can wreak havoc on every part of our being. Yoga is a practice designed to help us feel more calm and clear so that seeing the truth in our experience of life and spirit is easy and joyful.
Although most people in the US associate yoga with physical postures, that is only a part of the practice. Patanjali laid out 8 limbs of yoga that include:
- Yama : Moral code
- Niyama : Personal observances
- Asana : Body postures
- Pranayama : Breathing exercises, and control of prana (life force energy)
- Pratyahara : Control of the senses
- Dharana : Concentration and cultivating self awareness
- Dhyana : Meditation on the Divine
- Samadhi : Union with the Divine
I think one of the easiest ways to help cultivate personal clarity is to practice being present in the moment, breathing steadily, and working to cultivate balance and harmony in the many aspects of your being. As always, I wish you well and Namaste!
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