Abundance and non-attachment

by Katherine Girling, ERYT200/RYT500

Namaste, yogis! The holidays are a wonderful opportunity to appreciate our communities of family and friends, and truly experience gratitude and love for all our blessings. It's easy to be dismayed by the materialism of our modern world, where spiritual traditions have been largely replaced by commercialism. All too often, people tend to get wrapped up in their "stuff": what they have, what they're buying next, what they want but can't afford, what they're giving and receiving. For those engaged in conscious living, there's more to look forward to and appreciate beyond all the stuff. 

In the Tibetan language, the word attachment is translated as "do chag," meaning "sticky desire." It's human nature to become overly attached to the things that bring us pleasure, and to feel the pain of separation when we lose them. We also tend to form attachments to our dislikes, injuries and fears, allowing these aversions to throw us off balance.

The Yoga Sutras discuss non-attachment (vairagya) as an important step on a spiritual path. Embodying vairagya means being aware that your relationship to something - an object, person, or habit - causes you pain or suffering, and being able to surrender it completely. The practice of yoga leads to recognition of the things that bind us. What am I attached to? Why am I attached to it? How does it serve me? The first step is to acknowledge that it binds us and understand why. And then, continued practice in meditation helps dissolve those attachments.

As you engage in the traditions of your own family and culture this year, be mindful attachments, aversions and desires. A few suggestions for stress-free celebration:

• Focus on experiences and connections, which bring lasting joy.
• Avoid the accumulation of more stuff, which ultimately only leads to clutter and dissatisfaction. 
• Lend a helping hand to someone in need: a neighbor, a family member, your local food bank. Share your abundance with others.
• Show compassion to family and friends, to their quirks and eccentricities and button pushing. Don't make a habit of getting irritated or feeding negativity.  
• Let go of grudges and grievances - these are another type of attachment that only hurt you.
• Indulge your desires - whatever form of merriment you choose - in moderation. This prevents your indulgences from infringing on your overall quality of life.
• Carve out a few minutes each day to sit in stillness and silence. Regular meditation will keep you centered and calm.

From our family to yours, wishing you all much lightness, abundance, peace and joy for the New Year!

Living a life you are proud of

by Anna Rhein, Zuna Yoga 500 hour YTT graduate

Recently I exchanged emails with a good friend. We were chatting about our current life situations. She is NYC in her final year of grad school and was expressing how much this last year has already taken out of her, and how all the hard work is about to pay off. One more semester and she will be done with this chapter, moving into another as an Occupational Therapist.  It has been very inspiring to watch her as a student over the last five years, gradually developing into a woman with such passion for what she is doing in life.  

I let her know that I intended to stay in Bali now that my 300 hour yoga teacher training was over, to explore the possibilities of what life had to offer on this side of the world. I too had been living in NYC. However, unlike her, I was in a job that I had little passion for, just going through the motions to pay the bills. I admitted that living in another country was something I never would have imagined for myself, but that a lot of my old ways of thinking had changed during my teacher trainings. My experience helped me see that I had been holding onto past behavior and relationships that no longer served me. It provided me the physical commitment to my body that I love, and also the space and stillness that I needed to hear this inner voice clearly. The entire experience, from the asana practice, the intense meditation to the time alone in a different country had opened my eyes to so much: new friends, new ideas, and a confidence that I was lacking to create this new life.  

Self-discovery during yoga teacher training

She was very excited for me and said, “I had a feeling you would find your groove over there this time. We will miss you, but I am happy you are living a life you are proud of.”  Those few words really hit that place in me, you know that place that makes you instantly tear up, right in the center of the soul.  Not only did the words hit home, but also hearing them come from a person I had been admiring for all her hard work was also very emotional.  I thought -  wow, I am in the midst of living a life I am proud of and others can see it too, how lucky am I! So here I am beginning a new chapter in Bali, making new friends, learning Indonesian, living steps from the sea, using the yoga tools I’ve learned in the last few months to steer my vessel and hopefully inspire others to live a life they are proud of.