June 2022 week 2

“I am meant to live in Peace” is our intention this month. This is a tool, mantra, intention - whatever you want to call it - a vehicle to simply shift our minds and calm our bodies this month.

Our Yama, Brahmacharya means non excess, but lets look at in terms of “walking with God”. “This Yama invites us into the awareness of the sacredness of life. it is a call to leave greed and excess behind and walk in this world with wonder and awe, practicing non excess and attending to each moment as holy. (Taken from Deborah Adele’s book on the Yamas and Niyamas). It reminds us to enter into each day with and each action with a sense of holiness rather than indulgence, so that our days may be lived in the wonder of sacredness rather than the misery of excess.
In yogic thought there is a point in time when we reach the perfect limit of what we are engaged in . Food for instance, we gain energy and vitality from the food we are eating - up to a point. If we continue to eat past that point there is a downward turn into lethargy We need to recognize that moment of its “just enough”. How about our yoga practice - can we individually find our practice of being enough, not pushing our bodies beyond our personal limits. Why do we move past the place of enough into excess? It depends on the activity - usually it is stories we are telling ourselves. For example, maybe we are worried or sad and the mind tells us we need to do something or eat something. Maybe we are feeling unsettled and so we turn to our healthy outlet of our yoga practice, but we push ourselves too far and end up injuring ourselves in some way.
We are here in this world in part to feel enjoyment and pleasure. Non excess is not about non enjoyment, it is actually about pleasure and enjoyment in its fullest experience.
I read this at the beginning of class today, “Your life has been given to you mainly for the purpose of training your soul. This life we live is not so much for the body as for the soul. We often choose the way of life that best suits the body. The the way that best suits the soul. God wants you to choose what suits the soul as well as the body. Accept this belief and a wonderful molding of character is the result. Reject it and God’s purpose for your life is frustrated, and your spiritual progress is delayed. Your soul is being trained by the good you choose. Thus the purpose of your life is being accomplished.” Anonymous. This is why we do this work beyond the physical practice of yoga, to nourish our soul as well!!!
Can we use this week to watch our actions and our thoughts? are we being excessive in any area? If so, can we see how this takes us out of the sacredness and pleasure of life to a place where peace is elusive?
Today I am meant to live in peace! Let’s use our awareness, our yoga practice and our quiet times to shift from excessiveness to balance and discomfort to peace!!!!!!