Happy Friday beautiful hearts...I hope that your holiday celebrations have been full of wonderful moments with family and friends!
I was thinking about today's Friday Favorite and in the hustle and bustle of this rich season, my focus shifted towards a Yogic principal, the final Yama; Aparigraha- Non Possessiveness. This season can at times highlight the accumulation and excess that we cultivate in our own lives. It seems rather fitting then to explore this Yama. When we think of the concept of Aparigraha, words such as nonattachment, nonadhearing, and nongrasping come to mind. Through our journeying, through our wanderings, through our loving and through our heartaches, we can practice this principal of awareness. We are awake people who live our dreams, embrace our discoveries, and believe in the authentic nature of life. Life is constantly conversing with us, requesting that as we practice Aparigraha we simply LET GO. When I think of this Yama, I think of the words of Leonardo de Vinci, "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return."As the New Year is approaching, I love fully exploring this concept. This Yama translates into the body, mind and spirit. In the body we focus on cleansing and releasing. We use the body as a vehicle of exploration, finding edges, finding breath, and finding release. We are creatures who crave movement. In the mind, we surrender to thoughts of "having less." We metaphorically clean out the closets of our minds, we let go of the lack, we come to the edge of desire and with our next breath we move into a new moment. In Spirit we realize our eternal nature and cultivate a knowing that all is well. Our spiritual lives invites us to notice the bondage of things, of grasping, of clinging. Through the practice of mindfulness we can notice how our attachments keep us from our spirit life.
As you practice noticing this Yama, or ethical principal in your daily life, keep this Buddhist fable in mind:
Two monks were returning to the monastery in the evening. It had rained and there were puddles of water on the road sides. At one place a beautiful young woman was standing unable to walk accross because of a puddle of water. The elder of the two monks went up to a her lifted her in his alms and left her on the other side of the road, and continued his way to the monastery.
In the evening the younger monk came to the elder monk and said, "Sir, as monks, we cannot touch a woman ?"
The elder monk answered "yes, brother".
Then the younger monk asks again, " but then Sir, how is that you lifted that woman on the roadside ?"
The elder monk smiled at him and told him " I left her on the other side of the road, but you are still carrying her "
Notice what you are still carrying with you as you move towards 2015...what you are grasping for, notice the story you continually tell yourself...practice this Yama with kindness and compassion for yourself and others.
May you Sweetly Seek
In Gratitude:)
Sarah
I was thinking about today's Friday Favorite and in the hustle and bustle of this rich season, my focus shifted towards a Yogic principal, the final Yama; Aparigraha- Non Possessiveness. This season can at times highlight the accumulation and excess that we cultivate in our own lives. It seems rather fitting then to explore this Yama. When we think of the concept of Aparigraha, words such as nonattachment, nonadhearing, and nongrasping come to mind. Through our journeying, through our wanderings, through our loving and through our heartaches, we can practice this principal of awareness. We are awake people who live our dreams, embrace our discoveries, and believe in the authentic nature of life. Life is constantly conversing with us, requesting that as we practice Aparigraha we simply LET GO. When I think of this Yama, I think of the words of Leonardo de Vinci, "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return."As the New Year is approaching, I love fully exploring this concept. This Yama translates into the body, mind and spirit. In the body we focus on cleansing and releasing. We use the body as a vehicle of exploration, finding edges, finding breath, and finding release. We are creatures who crave movement. In the mind, we surrender to thoughts of "having less." We metaphorically clean out the closets of our minds, we let go of the lack, we come to the edge of desire and with our next breath we move into a new moment. In Spirit we realize our eternal nature and cultivate a knowing that all is well. Our spiritual lives invites us to notice the bondage of things, of grasping, of clinging. Through the practice of mindfulness we can notice how our attachments keep us from our spirit life.
As you practice noticing this Yama, or ethical principal in your daily life, keep this Buddhist fable in mind:
Two monks were returning to the monastery in the evening. It had rained and there were puddles of water on the road sides. At one place a beautiful young woman was standing unable to walk accross because of a puddle of water. The elder of the two monks went up to a her lifted her in his alms and left her on the other side of the road, and continued his way to the monastery.
In the evening the younger monk came to the elder monk and said, "Sir, as monks, we cannot touch a woman ?"
The elder monk answered "yes, brother".
Then the younger monk asks again, " but then Sir, how is that you lifted that woman on the roadside ?"
The elder monk smiled at him and told him " I left her on the other side of the road, but you are still carrying her "
Notice what you are still carrying with you as you move towards 2015...what you are grasping for, notice the story you continually tell yourself...practice this Yama with kindness and compassion for yourself and others.
May you Sweetly Seek
In Gratitude:)
Sarah
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