The five basic points the yoga I practice returns to are: proper breathing, proper exercise, proper diet, proper relaxation... and “positive thinking and meditation”. I translate that for myself as proper mental health.
Stilling your waves of anxiety is partly perspective. I don’t believe it is all just about “how you see things”. There is real work that needs doing, but you also need a framework that works specifically for you and your ego. For the voices in your head that judge, compare, motivate, and care for you. Yogis call this “Ishvara”.
Real truth is too complicated and not constrained by human thought. We have limits to how we can see and understand. Within our limits, experience, and understanding, reaching for our own Ishvara is the closest we can possibly come.
Yoga offers a wild array of stories and deities as options for you to choose something that resonates for you, as a tool. I chose Saraswathi... the goddess of creativity and learning.
In meditative practice, you can focus on the various objects and symbols that are being held. Saraswathi sits on a Swan. The Yogic name I was given by the Swamis at my Teacher Training was Hamsa (the name for that Swan).
“A hamsa can differentiate between milk and water. Give the bird a bowl with milk and water mixed, it will only drink the milk and leave the water alone. This signifies that the hamsa knows what is pure and what is not, and can separate the true extract from a mix of things.”
The Swan’s self-grooming is seen as a metaphor for a knowledge seeker.
For some people, mantras are useful. Coming back to a sound or idea, that gives you guidance. It doesn’t have to be obscure... you can just return to thinking about your breathing. It could be a mentor. Someone you have a conversation with when you realise you are not feeling okay.
What you are doing is building a framework that works for you. A daily practice that allows you to exist in a world that constantly asks uncomfortable questions.
No comments:
Post a Comment