Brahmacharya, intimacy without loosing yourself!
Yamas & Niyamas
Brahmacharya- "Walking with divinity"
So this weeks droplet of wisdom comes from a similar ilk to last weeks Satya- truthfulness, but with perhaps a slightly more challenging concept- celibacy.
Ok, so it needn't be actual celibacy, otherwise things could get difficult for the survival of the human race, however, the idea that we can retain as opposed to suppress or deny, and redirect the sense of release of our inner volcano of energy, is the premise of this practice. So, where does it go? well, as with any diversion, it will find a way, but you can also direct this flow with a little guidance and experimentation, and as in the Native American Cherokee parable, (in the question below) whichever wolf you feed will create a passageway for that reserve of vitality and energy.
I'll let you into a peek of my inner world: ( hopefully helpful, not dull) as a child I would ask people to help me with things, and if they did it "wrong" I would be irritated or disappointed or both, so I stopped asking and did it all myself. Yes, that set up a self-imposed condition of my character, (a fixer?) but since becoming a mother and having an inescapable desire to teach my children to learn for themselves I've had to learn how to let go of that control and let the mistakes happen so they can learn themselves. It's brilliant agony. I love being a parent.
Studying this subject shows me that this is a facet of Brahmacharya in action, and helps me to understand that holding control can be useful, but it can also overburden and can eventually be toxic. It is necessary (for decent evolution prospects at least) and kind to delegate and empower others to do whatever they do without my/our judgement, even if, or especially if- they get it wrong- whatever wrong is.
3 Ideas
1-In yogic thought there is a moment in time when we reach the perfect limit of what we are engaged with, it is this place of "just enough" that helps us balance need with want.
2-"...The cosmic force is guiding all action and you/we are the instrument (s) of that force". Hatha Yoga Pradipika.- A reminder that our life energy is way bigger than us.
3-"Those who offer quick fixes often have a product to sell... Infinite patience brings immediate results". Wayne Dyer.
2 Quotes
1-"Let us not be like little children who sow a seed today and dig it up tomorrow to see how much the root went down".
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali -Satchidananda commentary.
2-Patience is not simply the ability to wait, its how we behave while we are waiting.
Joyce Mayer
1 Question
There is an Indian American Cherokee parable about the metaphorical inner wolves, I'm sure some of you know it; the elder and the child are together trying to understand about the darkness and the light within us.
The elder says to the child, that there are two wolves inside you, one is for good and one for bad, and the child says, "how do you help the good one be stronger?" the elder says; "whichever one you feed with be strongest"
The question we could be considering is which wolf is with us at any given time? And how do we feed the one we want to feed?
Katies sessions:
Chapel House studios
10.45-12 noon Easy Holistic Hatha yoga
if you book 6 or more sessions you get 10%discount.
Easy sessions @Chapel House studios-Book here
The Forge Therapy
Tuesdays 11am-12. Bookable on this link:
Easy sessions @The Forge
If you book 6 or more sessions you get 10%discount.
Birdwood House
Fridays-Sun Salutations- 9-9.30 By donation.
Fridays -Hatha Yoga 10-11.30
If you book 6 or more sessions you get 10%discount.
Hatha yoga Summer term booking
I will run workshops and courses through the year, I'll keep you posted.-Look at the workshops page!