Yoga Every Damn Day, pt. 2

Let’s pick up where we left off last month. If you haven’t read part one yet, hop back here and check it out before reading part two!  

What does it mean to practice #yogaeverydamnday? It doesn’t mean working real hard on a fancy looking āsana (posture) to photograph and hashtag for likes and attention from a social media post.  A daily yoga practice is an opportunity to spend time with yourself, moving, breathing and practicing the art of keeping your attention directed towards an object, image or feeling that brings you a sense of peace, joy, hope, groundedness-- whatever it is you need to feel more steady and balanced within your own personal emotional landscape.  

There is, however, another way we can practice yoga every day, and that is through something called kriya yoga, or the yoga of action / yoga in action.  Kriya yoga consists of three parts, the first of which is svādhyāya,  self reflection, or examining why we do what we do-- or don't do.  Many of our actions stem from the patterns of behavior we have developed over time; we become quite unconscious of the motivation behind our actions.  More often that we like, these patterns and actions lead us to suffer, whether on a small or grander scale. We humans are so predictable in the reasons behind these patterns that Patañjali names them in the yoga philosophy text, the Yoga Sūtra.   Called the kleśa, these five causes of suffering are taking action out of misperception of a situation, false notions we have about ourselves or identity, desire to repeat a pleasurable experience, wanting to avoid repeating a painful experience, and fear.  

Let's look at an example from my own life.  I have always had a deep fear of failure, and while I have known this for quite a while, it has only been recently that I have seen the ways that this fear of failure has created patterns of action within my life.  About a year ago I had the opportunity to apply for a really exciting position that would further my skills as a yoga therapist, yoga teacher and mentor, but I did not put myself out there and apply.  I didn't apply because I was afraid I wasn't qualified enough and therefore would be rejected.   I really wanted this, and when I found out other people with very similar experience and qualifications were accepted into this role, I felt physically ill.  I was so angry and disappointed in myself for not taking the risk. I realized that whatever fear of failure I had was nothing compared to how it felt not giving myself the chance to succeed. 

This was the turning point that helped me see that not only did I have a fear of failure, but I had created a pattern of behavior in setting my life up so that I never had the chance to fail.  I saw how this limited my possibilities in a really detrimental way. Recognizing this pattern was the result of svādhyāya. Having made the insight, I was ready for the next step, making the effort to change-- tapas. Making change is really hard.  It was so scary to step into situations and endeavors in which I might not succeed.  Gradually, however, it's getting easier.  I’m doing things I had dragged my feet on, like publishing my website, offering more programming, classes and workshops, even writing blog posts!

The final step of this process comes into play once we have made some efforts to do things differently.  This last element is īśvaraprāṇidhana, realizing that you cannot control the outcome, and therefore letting go and having trust or faith that it will be what it is meant to be.  Letting go is not easy either, but it is essential to the process.  I don’t know if I will succeed when I try new things, but I now do it nonetheless, regardless of how it turns out. 

Kriya yoga, or yoga in action, is to practice these three things: self observation, making efforts to do things differently when needed, and maintaining a faith and trust that even though the outcome of your actions is beyond your control, it will work out the way it is intended to be. While we have the opportunity to do this with any and every action, your first attempt at this practice need not be so grand as the example I have given, you can surely start small.  Maybe find one thing in your day, one thing in your life to examine and reflect upon, and go from there.  Be prepared to offer grace to yourself when you slip back into your old patterning. This is not necessarily easy, it takes time, but no effort is wasted, and it is well worth it in the end.