This month our Moving into Meditation class is studying the Yoga Ethic of Saucha.  Saucha is one of the Niyamas, the observances we practice to live in harmony with all of life.  These guiding principles comprise the yogic model of living a conscious life. This model is outlined in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra using the metaphor of a tree. The tree’s eight limbs describe the path.

In Yoga we climb these branches toward liberation – we liberate ourselves from unnecessary suffering. We free ourselves to embrace a deeper well being that includes all beings. Nischala Joy Devi defines the Yamas and Niyamas as “inspired offerings, not commandments, given to us gently and respectfully.” We can create harmony within ourselves and with our world relationships.

We drew inspiration from poet and philosopher John O’Donohue’s beautiful poetry.  Here are some of the resources we used in this morning’s practice of guided relaxation, mindful movement and sitting meditation.

Guided Relaxation

Welcome . . . to this present moment . . . letting go of movement . . . turning awareness inward . . . feeling breathing . . . we begin feeling our aliveness . . . the dimensions of our being . . . physical . . . energetic . . . feeling . . . thinking . . . Our awareness touching and being touched . . .  experiences emerging . . . inside . . . outside . . . and self-awareness – being aware of awareness . . . the miracle of empathy in our ability to sense each others’ presence and natural yearning for well being . . .

In living more simply we can enjoy what is revealed in the wondrous experience of being alive. Right now we can reflect on the pure energy that we enjoyed at different moments of our life . . . perhaps that first experience of feeling your body being carried by a warm ocean wave . . . or the fragrance of a forest you entered for the first time . . . the soft fur gliding under your fingers as you stroke your pet . . . or a baby’s new skin . . . I invite you to remember – to re-experience – the embodiment of some of the simplest joys you’ve ever had . . .

Saucha recalls this simple and pure energy. Perhaps in these moments we truly experience our hearts open . . . freely . . . purely . . . We are blessed with this reservoir of feeling that we can fill and draw upon over and over . . . Nischala Joy Devi writes that “Everything is Holy to Those With An Open Heart.” We can reflect on those moments in our lives in which we have given and received the blessings of an open heart . . . moments in which someone has tenderly cared for us . . . the times we’ve cared for others freely, simply offering our attention, time and often loving touch.

These moments are the blessings of simplicity. Joy and ease arise from the space we create by living more lightly. We can see the light in so much of the living world around us . . . birds in flight or song . . .the deer and foxes we glimpse at the forest edge . . . in stillness and quiet. Living with the barest of shelter . . . adapting to the seasons. We can reflect on those aspects of our lives that allow us to feel the sense of purity, simplicity – a sense of lightness.

Here is John O’Donohue’s invitation To Learn From Animal Being

Nearer to the earth’s heart,
Deeper within its silence:
Animals know this world
In a way we never will.

We who are ever
Distanced and distracted
By the parade of bright
Windows thought opens:

Their seamless presence
Is not fractured thus.
Stranded between time
Gone and time emerging,
We manage seldom
To be where we are:
Whereas they are always
Looking out from
The here and now.
May we learn to return
And rest in the beauty
Of animal being,
Learn to lean low,
Leave our locked minds,
And with freed senses
Feel the earth
Breathing with us.

May we enter
Into lightness of spirit,
And slip frequently into
The feel of the wild.
Let the clear silence
Of our animal being
Cleanse our hearts
Of corrosive words.

May we learn to walk
Upon the earth
With all their confidence
And clear-eyed stillness
So that our minds
Might be baptized
In the name of the wind
And the light and the rain.

Part II – Active Breathing

Begin deepening your breathing . . . letting the inhalation fill you . . . the exhalation empty you . . . let yourself receive with each in breath . . . let yourself give with each out breath . . .

One of the oldest meditation practices is simply breathing light inside.  You imagine a bright light over your head.  Then visually, using your breath, you bring that light slowly down through your body.  Through your head, neck, shoulders, stomach, legs, and out through your feet.  You can imagine a refreshing light.  This will fill your body with a sense of lightness.  When you breathe out slowly, imagine that you are breathing out the heavy darkness.  Clods of heavy charcoal sadness can leave your soul on the outward breath.

In this way we enter a new day by grounding, stilling, and centering ourselves in the light.

Inhale deeply & feel the breath filling you with light . . . as you exhale empty yourself completely . . . darkness leaving with the out flowing breath.

Purity, clarity & well being of the spirit come to flower . . .

Coming into the stillness of your own heart, you will find the spirit that is waiting ever present . . .