NEWSLETTER

SPRING 2008

Karma Yoga

Patajani Sutras
11:12
The accumulated imports of last lives, rooted in applications will be experienced in present and future lives.

Patajani Sutras
11:16
The pains which are to come can be and are to be avoided.

 

Yoga is a process of getting to know oneself, not just the outer personality self, but the inner self, what we could call The Divine Essence.

Geeta Iyengar talks about Karma, the result of ones actions, not just in this present life, but in other lives we have lived. Karma is the “heap” of reactions, characteristics that we come into the world with – some are positive and some are negative. We would like to live this life in a way that lessens the negative and enhances the positive aspects of ourselves, i.e. creates good Karma.

This takes self study “svadhyaya”. Self study takes courage and honesty to look at ourselves, our actions and reactions, and see how we act in ways that are either positive or negative.

B.K.S. Iyengar says actions speak louder than words. We can hypnotise ourselves into illusions with our thoughts and words, but if we look at our actions we have the awareness of the suffering we create for ourselves and others.

Patanjali Sutras lays down very grounded ways of practicing yoga, in Sadhana Pada, the work we have to do, the way to look at ourselves. Yoga is a practical way of addressing ourselves as codified by Patanjali.

Physical self-awareness comes when we start to practice Asana and relate that to the Yamas, the ways we relate to others, and Niyamas, the ways we relate to ourselves. Learning from the groundedness of the body and applying what we learn about our rigidity, fear and competitiveness, we can take those jewels of intelligence into ourselves and start the cleansing process.

Yoga is to help us to become clear, to act clearly with love and compassion, to develop gratitude for life and all our experiences from which we can learn humility and connections to our Higher Self.

As we continue with the Yogic Journey we become more refined, wise and more spiritually inclined, bringing Light to the world and our lives instead of darkness.

Blessings, Felicity