This morning I was recording a podcast with my dear friends Jill Harris, from Kyo Yoga and healing. We covered Kriya Yoga, the first Sutra of the second Chapter in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
I want to write today about Isvarapranidhanani , which in translation means, (Frans Moores, Liberating Isolation) ;by letting go of the fruits of ones actions, humility, active surrender to Isvara, devotion to Lord, faith in a superior force, service, offering.
Yoga is for all denominations, doesn’t matter which God you believe in, You’re welcome to bring full awareness and respect. However this works for you.
Or not.
What does this mean in our shifting world? In a world where we are beginning to seek our internal permission to live the life we love. Those external beliefs are changing and we are turning inward to find ourselves and our way.
I love this idea of one superior force. Once this superior force was God. A big guy in the sky who’s rules we had to abide by. So we either accepted this or rebelled against this and of course our sins were all answered by guilt and shame that we carried with in us for the rest of our lives . These beliefs kept us at bay as a society. In those wild times, times are a changing”
When I was a little girl in grade 4, I remember one very important moment in my weekly Religious education class. The teacher had told us a story about how amazing Jesus was, that he loved all people, healed the sick and fed the poor ( it was along time ago Im a bit vague on the details…. you get what Im saying), and that he was a very special man. My 9 year old mind said, he’s not special we should all be like that! And I still believe that to this day. Yes, Jesus was a special man as were many of the people we look up to in our different religions and beliefs. They are living examples of how we can be, they are our benchmarks for spirituality. As we come into this new world and these new changes we can all begin to feel the superior force inside each one of us.
Surrender, to this, as this superior force, that lives in each one of us, as this force knows the way forward for you every day. As we hit the mat, we move, breath and find clarity and inquiry. We move through the Crust, through the crud and into our core being. Our unique self that is connected with all things.
The Crust being the face we put on for the world, the mask we cover our uniqueness with in order to “fit in”. How we’ve learned to be an acceptable human, forgetting our own needs and boundaries and taking a hit on our full range of emotion. We feel only what we are allowed to feel by our tribes. The crud is the quagmire of protective mechanisms we have developed over the years in order to protect our uniqueness. In the beginning, as a child, this was useful as it kept us safe and belonging to our tribe. To continue to protect ourselves and let these old stories direct our lives as adults, keeps us projecting these old experiences into our present moment awareness , which of course is not present moment awareness, it’s living from the past. From this crud our life circles, ground hog day, and creates a weight that seems impossible to shift. Our core, our unique beautiful selves, I believe is a part of this superior force. As each cell is vital to our existence as humans, each one of us is vital to this superior forces existence. Each one of us when living from this place of core will act in a way that creates a world of unconditional love and peace.
As we practice our self care through Yoga each morning and move in our world with an attitude of giving and serving, we begin to feel a part of something that is greater than us. We refine the energy that is within us. We begin to feel our humility, devotion and offerings to a world of peace and harmony. First each of us must find this in ourselves, then we will be able to see it more clearly in the world around us.
For me in this present time, Isvarapranidhanani is about honouring myself, seeing my crust and crud at work and shifting to core. From this as I accept myself, I accept all other human beings for their individual uniqueness.
In my daily practice of yoga I am striving for growth towards core or this superior force, towards my uniqueness in my life always, I see I have what I need. I am grateful for what I have and find contentment in this. The trust, commitment and care I have for my precious uniqueness, for this precious life, matters to me. When I find this superior force in myself, I find it in others and the world around me.
Isvarapranidhanani is core, essential and unique. It is surrender to this force and live the life you love by simply being who you are. You may have some big hurdles to go through or push over. Your internal call towards the life you love will ask for you to heal your crust and crud, to reclaim your whole unique self. To restore your self esteem to 100%. To feel your feelings, to meet your needs and to honour your boundaries.
This is a very different view to the old days of God. Im sure you will have your own views on this and what it means to you.
Namaste
Madhu
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