We have a bonus 5th week in September to focus on the 1st Niyama, Saucha and to Poke, Provoke, Confront and Elevate! This is perfect because I have 3 more ways to view Saucha that I want to leave you with.
1.Let go and accept!!
Saucha wants us to seek purity in every moment by allowing it to be as it is. We are asked to be with life, with others, with things, with the day, with the weather, as they are in the moment, not as we wish they were or think they should be or expect them to be.
Purity is not our attempt to make something different than it is; rather it is to be pure in our relationship with it, as it is in the moment. We have to let go of our ideals, expectations, illusions of “what should be” and “how we want it to be”. Can we not judge traffic jams, illnesses, losses, disappointments and detours but rather be with the moment in a pure way. Not to label as good or bad.
2.Practice purity with ourselves!
Can you be pure with yourself in each moment. Can you leave yourself alone? Being pure with ourselves means we are not afraid of our thoughts or our feelings, and we do not have to hide anything from ourselves. Being pure with ourselves increases our staying power with our own suffering, intimacy, joy, boredom, pain and anxiety. We become safe with ourselves, and we become safe for others. We become a person who can comfortably sit with another without the need to fix them and we create space for others to be comfortable with themselves.
There is so much I could write about this, but lets leave it here and know this is why we are together in the Calm Crew!!! So we can poke and provoke internally ourselves and as a community we can create a safe place for all of us and others to do the same because we know we are all on the same path.
3.The practice of purity asks us to slow down and do one thing at a time. Purity embodies the slow steadiness and integrity necessary to give all of our attention to one thing at a time. As we practice slowing down and giving each thing our undivided attention, we will find ourselves more integrated and more pure with the moment. Hurrying, multi - tasking, and busyness, all symbols of success in our culture, are killers of purity. Purity asks us to make full contact with the moment so there is nothing lost and no regrets. We need to take the time to go inward, to slow down otherwise we go through life missing the richness of what is immediately before us. Instead of entering the moment relaxed and spacious, we arrive frazzled, we are rushing mentally from one thing to the next and probably leaving clutter and mess behind, grabbing food quickly not mindfully.
Please take 10 minutes and re read the 5 writings on Saucha this month and sit with it for a few minutes. If anything comes up you want to confront and are not certain how or where to do this, please email me and we will non judgmentally uncover!