Get COMMITTED with me!

I’m really looking forward to starting the 40 Day Yoga Challenge this weekend and I’ve been putting some thought into what I want the Challenge to do for me. Of course, I quickly realised that the Challenge will do absolutely nothing for me unless I make it work for me! So here are 3 things I’m thinking about in the lead up:

• I’m not always so good at thinking through (or executing) self-discipline, so I’m going to work with COMMITMENT instead and produce the same outcome: completing the 40 Day Yoga Challenge. So here’s my overall commitment (declared publicly on the Ten Toes blog!):
  
  I, Emily Pereira, commit myself to completing the 40 Day Yoga Challenge because I really want to do something that will uplift my soul and increase my health and happiness. 

  So expect to see me at the Living Yoga Workshop, the Deeper Yoga Workshop and 30 classes somewhere in between! If you see me, ask me how I’m going with it! I promise I’ll give you an honest answer – and my appreciation for supporting me by keeping me accountable .

• The only way I’m going to be able to make sure I can fulfil my Challenge commitment to myself is to have a PLAN before the Challenge starts on Sunday. So, Sub-commitment A:
  
  I commit to having prepared a schedule for myself for the period of the 40 Day Challenge to ensure I attend 30 classes. 

  (Thank you Google calendar, you’re very helpful!)

• I know that meditation isn’t an official part of the Challenge, but it’s a really important part of yoga practice for me, so it’ll be my personal addition. Sub-commitment B:I commit to meditating for 20-30 minutes everyday for the period of the 40 Day Yoga Challenge. 

  As someone who has committed to similar ways of embracing yoga more deeply in the past, I know the impact it can have – and there is nothing I would recommend more highly! There is nothing else in the world that has ever made me feel that good!

So commit with me! Respond to this blog post with YOUR statement of commitment to your 40 Day Yoga Challenge!

Om Yoga!

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The Importance of Satsang

After a blissful weekend spent in the company of renowned teacher Clive Sheridan and a group of inspiring yogis and yoginis, I came away with renewed enthusiasm for my practice, deep appreciation for the yoga community, a sense of physical, mental and spiritual rejuvenation, but most importantly I felt I had reconnected with the teachings of yoga and even had a few glimpses of new possibilities in my practice! I spent the week after veritably floating around, as we sometimes say, ‘feeling the bhav’ (spiritual feeling of yoga) and I got to thinking about the importance of satsang.

Over the course of the weekend workshop Clive brought us together for three sessions devoted to exploring and sharing spiritual ideas, techniques and experiential truths – sessions commonly referred to as satsang. Satsang is a Sanskrit word comprised of two parts, sat = true and sang(a) = company, or the coming together of a group of people to discuss deep truth. For me, satsang can take many forms, from a formal gathering of people listening to a teacher, to sipping a chai with like minded friends sharing our ideas and experiences. The benefits of taking part in satsang can be just as varied, here are some that came to mind this week.

Going Deeper

We generally live in a world preoccupied with the material, the functional, the surface level of things, the things we can see and measure. There are not many work places, schools or families where you can comfortably ask questions like ‘but what does it mean?’, ‘what is the principle behind it?’, ‘what does your intuition say?’, and ‘what can I learn from this?’ For those of us that sense there is a little more to the story, it can be challenging to maintain a balance between the normal worldly perspective and the more philosophical or spiritual view point. Satsang can become an important source of reconnection with forgotten ideas or discovery of new truths that we might struggle to otherwise find. It is the perfect time to explore and discover the vast concepts and practices of yoga that go well beyond stretching and strengthening the physical body.

Community Support and Connection

Aside from the actual ideas shared during satsang, simply spending time with like minded friends can be deeply nurturing, inspiring and supportive. Coming together in satsang gives us a sense of community, a sense that we are not alone as we explore our chosen practice, philosophy or spiritual area and simply by being there we are reinforcing these same feelings for everyone present. By making time for satsang we build richness and vibrancy into the yoga community and establish a space that can recognize the mysteries of life.

Feeling the Bhav

Perhaps the most important aspect of satsang is getting an instant injection of happy yoga vibes (bhav)! For me there is nothing quite so uplifting as hearing a teaching that resonates deeply, and seeing that recognition in friends, new and old, around me. Niggling questions are often answered, enthusiasm renewed, areas that need work come to my attention and techniques for mindfulness are gained. In this busy, stressful modern life we lead, I personally feel we need to use all the tools we can to find some quiet peace, that calm inner joy that’s just waiting to be discovered below the surface of our troubles. For me, satsang is one of those tools.

Where to Find Your Satsang

If you like the sound of deep truth, calm joy and bhav, you’re probably wandering ‘so how do I find it? Finding your own approach to satsang is probably easier than you think, in fact you’re probably already doing it! Here are some of my suggestions:

• Attend a weekend workshop (ask any of your TT teachers for suggestions)
• Attend a short or long retreat
• Attend philosophy discussions
• Sit for group meditations
• Catch up with like minded friends to share ideas (best done with chai)
• Begin your own discussion group
• Take a walk in nature and discover what life has to teach you without words
• Attend a Kirtan (devotional chanting – we have one at Ten Toes this Sunday!)

One final point I would like to share is that no effort is ever wasted. Even if you manage to get to one of these suggestions every now and then, you will still gain many benefits that are often subtle and long lasting.

Yours in peace, truth and happy yoga vibes,

Jess White

Jess is a long-time Ten Toes Yoga Teacher and also owns and operates ScissorsRockPaper – Fair Trade Products to support your Yoga Practice and Inner Adventure!

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