Free Diwali Gift from Sadhguru

Diwali is the Indian "Festival of Light", conveying prayers and blessings for clarity, brilliance and illumination. 

To celebrate, Sadhguru, the founder of Isha Foundation is offering his online "Inner Engineering" course for free only until October 29. 

Click here to learn more and to register.

Happy Winter Solstice

Source: Museum of Fine Art, Boston

Best wishes for enlightenment, outside and in!

I pray that you are well, navigating the darkness with courage and cheer, getting the rest you've earned, and time for the introspection that awakens inner wisdom.

If you're looking for ways to celebrate, here are some simple ideas:  8 Winter Solstice Traditions

If you're seeking revelations read this CBC 2018 Winter Solstice Horoscope.

Recognizing that this is a challenging time of year, to say the least, know that if you're grieving, there is help.  For a supportive yoga practice, contact Sandy:  Yoga for Grief Support

And if you would like some uplifting music for the longest night of the year here is a short YouTube playlist to get you started:

Yule (Winter Solstice) Song
Solstice Night
Wyrd Sisters - Solstice Carole
Ravens - Solstice Carole
Ring Out Solstice Bells - Jethro Tull
Mary Chapin Carpenter - The Longest Night of the Year

Tomorrow, the light begins its slow return.  Until then:

Go merry met, my gentle friends, let nothing you dismay The bright Son of our Lady comes birthing with the day To free us all from winter's grasp and mind us all of May Oh tidings of comfort and joy... Source

Light in the Lotus

Radha and Krishna Standing on a Lotus

The Sacred Lotus or Padma is one of the most prominent symbols in yoga, representing purity and enlightenment.

"One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by harmful action, as the lotus is untouched by water."

—Bhagavad Gita 5.10:

With its roots in the mud, and its fragrant, pure beauty rising up, the lotus is also a metaphor for our human experience. 

We have roots in the muck and mire, and yet we rise above the waters of life to fulfill our aspirations and blossom into the light.

Many spiritual teachers use the image of the lotus to encourage us in times of difficulty to show our highest Self to the world no matter how murky our circumstances.

In other words, they advise us to allow insult and injury to roll like "water off a lotus leaf", or as we say in the west, (like) water off a duck's back. 

It is also said that in the lotus of the heart, or the Anahata Chakra, there is a divine light.




Lakshmi (left) and Saraswati (right) seated on Lotus flowers
beside an altar at the Sivananda Ashram. 
Note the Lotus rising from Vishnu's navel. 
Seated in the Lotus, is Brahma, the God of Creation.

Chapter One, Verse 36 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali says:  "Vishoka va jyotishmati"

Meaning roughly, "Concentration on the inner light brings stability and tranquility."

Take a look at the following commentary from Swamij.com:

Concentration on painless inner luminosity:

The easiest way to practice this is to place your attention in the space between the breasts, the heart center. Simply imagine that there is a glowing luminosity there, about the size of the palm of your hand.

Whether or not you literally see with your inner eye is not important; the practice works either way. Maintain an inner attitude that it does not matter what other thoughts, images, impressions or memories might arise in the mind field; you will hold that stance that these will not disturb or distract you. Stay only with that glowing inner luminosity in the heart.


And here is an excerpt from The Himalayan Academy, Merging with Siva, Chapter 9, The Lotus of the Heart:

"A beautiful practice is to try to sit quietly, visualizing within the lotus within the heart a light, a strong light emanating clearly, a light that is always there. This light is radiating at a higher vibration than any form with which you are familiar.

Let us say, if you were to have this light in your hand and were able to use it in the external world, each form you turned it upon would disappear under the vibration of the light itself. That is as powerful as the effulgent light emanating from the Self, the Sivaness, which you will see within the lotus of the heart."

Lotus Candle Holder Photo Courtesy of one love origami

If you would like to create an outer reminder of this inner light, I invite you to fold an Origami Lotus Candle Holder.

And if you would like some music to accompany your peace-crafting, click here to listen to a beautiful track from The Beatles, called The Inner Light.  It was recorded in India, inspired by a letter from Sanskrit scholar Juan Mascaro.

Surya Namaskar - A Prayer to the Light

In yoga, one of the most challenging and active practices is a series of flowing movements known collectively as The Sun Salutation or Surya Namaskar.

Although many schools of yoga focus on this series as a central practice, others consider it a warm-up to the asanas, a way to heat and stretch the body to improve flexibility and lessen the chance of injury.

What many modern yoga students in the west do not realize is that it is actually an ancient and timeless prayer to Surya, the Sun. 

  
photo from iloveindia.com

It is traditionally performed at sunrise with awareness and devotion, honoring various aspects of the Sun's divinity and our own radiance. 

Many yogis begin each day facing east, repeating this series of asanas 3, 9, 12, 54, or even 108 times!

Special mantras accompany each posture.  Chanting them sharpens the intellect and helps us to grow in reverence for the brillance of nature - both external and internal.

According to the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre Kirtan book, here are the mantras and translations which accompany each posture.  In the diagram below, position one is depicted just above the posture at the far left, with hands together in Namaste.



Position 1:  Om Mitraya Namaha, Prostrations to Him who is affectionate to all.
Position 2:  Om Ravaye Namaha, Prostrations to Him who is the cause of change.
Position 3:  Om Suryaya Namaha, Prostrations to Him who induces activity.
Position 4:  Om Bhanave Namaha, Prostrations to Him who diffuses light.
Position 5:  Om Khagaya Namaha, Prostrations to Him who moves in the sky.
Position 6:  Om Pushne Namaha, Prostrations to Him who nourishes all.
Position 7:  Om Hiranyagarbhaya Namaha, Prostrations to Him who contains all wealth.
Position 8:  Om Marichaye Namaha, Prostrations to Him who possesses rays.
Position 9:  Om Adityaya Namaha , Prostrations to Him who is the Son of Aditi.
Position 10:  Om Savitre Namaha, Prostration to Him who is fit to be worshipped.
Position 11:  Om Arkaya Namaha, Prostrations to Him who is the reproducer of everything.
Position 12:  Om Bhaskaraya Namaha, Prostrations to Him who is the cause of luster.

If you'd like to hear these mantras pronounced, you can check out this kind-of-scratchy but cool, old-school recording at Geet Ganga by clicking here.

Last summer, at a particularly challenging point in our lives, my Mom and I composed the following prayer together to encourage ourselves and our yoga practice. 

It is a liberal translation of the original Surya Namaskar mantras written in affirmation style.  For us, it personalizes and embodies the feeling-vibration of each mantra and its accompanying position. 

Just like the Sanskrit version, we chant each line mentally (or out loud with the drone of the Shruti Box) as we move through the asanas.

It is very close to our hearts, so truthfully, it is with some hesitancy that I post it. 

I generally prefer to keep it to myself, or include it only orally as part of live teachings to promote a more traditional and intimate understanding of the Philosophy of Yoga.  But so many of you in Yoga teacher training programs in the last year have requested it, that I offer it to you with thanks and love, here in writing now. 

I hope that by doing so, you will be encouraged to salute and radiate your own highest Self regardless of what's happening (or not happening) in your life today. 

A Prayer to the Light

I am a friend to all.

I open myself to change.

I bow to the Light.

My inner Light shines.

I move through life with Grace.

I am helpful to all.

I am generous, warm, and open-hearted.

I am strong.

I am part of Divine Creation.

I like who I am.

I am growing.

I radiate Peace.

- Colleen and Tara Woltjen, August, 2010

The following mantra may be chanted at the end of Surya Namaskar practice to reiterate the benefits:

ādityasya namaskāran ye kurvanti dine dine
āyuḥ prajñā balam vīryam tejasteśān ca jāyate
आदित्यस्य नमस्कारन् ये कुर्वन्ति दिने दिने
आयुः प्रज्ञा बलम् वीर्यम् तेजस्तेशान् च जायते

By performing Sun Salutation day by day,

your age, consciousness, strength, essence of humanity
and glow will never fade away.

Om Hraum Mitraya Namaha - May the light of friendship shine, drawing noble companionship!