20
Aug, 2021
inner freedom, self realisation, awaken

Now is the time to get back in touch with your Self, to come home to your Self.

This quote is a good reminder for me that right now is where our work is.

Not in some future time when everything about life is more tidy and organized. Not when we have more money, more time, better relationships etc. No, that is an excuse to put it off. Why wait?

Why not experience inner freedom now?

If not now, then when?

Patanjali used the word ‘atha’ in the first of the Yoga Sutras, which is ‘Atha yoganusasanam’. I am not a Sanskrit scholar, but my understanding is that this translates as ‘now to Yoga’. Now is the time.

Not some other time, but right now.

Why waste another day not exploring the possibility of feeling connected and free?

If we are willing to let go, willing to drop back from the mind, we are there, home with our Self.

Still-mind Meditation and contemplation are the means that worked for me to experience this, along with my practice on the mat. I don’t think anything works sufficiently without some guidance and support. Some help to tease out the way we live in our heads…

The usual ways we think of our ‘self’ is a person with a body and a mind isn’t it? The mind comes up with a ‘me’ that describes our roles, our relationships, our desires, our problems, the whole lot.

We think that mind-created ‘me’ is who we are.

It takes a lot of effort to see that ‘me’ is something that the mind creates.

That the mind creation called ‘me’ is only some thoughts and has no substance really – isn’t that mind-blowing?

What this card suggests is that there is a Self to come home to, and that Self becomes apparent when we drop the ‘me’ self, when we drop back from the thoughts altogether. What may become apparent when we drop the body and mind (like we do when we practice corpse pose, and also when we meditate) is a stillness and quietness, a place from where the mind can be observed.

To me, this is much more where we want to keep our awareness. That quiet, watching, non-commenting Self. The expansive and unlimited space. The place where we experience what I like to call inner freedom.

Lets do all we can to get in touch with that now!

To realise your Self, to come home to your Self.

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a starting point.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

*If you are interested in the possibility of experiencing more inner freedom in your life, then my online course Fluff-free freedom might be just perfect for you. Find out more HERE

17
Nov, 2020
Yoga off the mat contemplation cards to inspire your practice

Find the bliss and freedom that is dancing and sparkling within

You may or may not believe that every cell in your body is alive with prana, with subtle energy, as well as the oxygen required for cellular respiration.

In her book ‘My stroke of insight’ Jill Bolte Taylor calls her cells her ‘girls’. She talks to them and encourages them. She has a unique insight due to her stroke and subsequent recovery.

In fact what you believe doesn’t really matter, it is the experience that matters.

You really can experience the inner bliss and freedom that yoga talks about and offers.

Maybe you have been fortunate enough to experience this in your meditation practice or at some other time, or maybe not. I can’t put myself into your body, but I’m pretty sure that this experience of bliss is available to all serious meditators at some point.

We soon realize that we can’t make these blissful experiences happen, but we can set up the circumstances and be willing to drop back and surrender to the experience.

I think dropping back or letting go is probably the hardest part of the meditation journey for many of us.

We just get a tiny taste of something that feels still and expansive and the mind jumps right back in. Have you experienced that?

Perhaps it takes a degree of courage to let go? A strong mind to let go of the mind?

The mind does not like to be let go of! It can’t know the experience that we have when it is dropped. But really, when you finally do manage to let go and drop away from the mind, that is when the magic happens. That is when we really do experience the feeling of bliss.

A feeling of love, a feeling of being peaceful and expansive …I do encourage you to find this out for yourself.

A place from where you can witness without having to be drawn in. You can see the mind but not have to take it so seriously. See it for what it can do, but see also that there is a watching aspect that is the observer of the thoughts.

Drop back, let go, find this inner place of observing and it really will change your experience of life.

Please share your experiences!

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a start. I’d love your feedback and look out for my blog about the next card soon.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE and postage is free in Australia. They make a perfect gift too.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.