Yoga and meditation teacher SUSAN NI RAHILLY invites us on a yogic journey of love and adventure
Take time off from the intelligence-sapping mindset of consumerism and enjoy some precious moments of love from Yoga. I always think of Yoga as an adventure in receiving love. I fell madly in love with Yoga early on in my development. I “jumped in” heart and soul into the practice and discovered in it the greatest, love-filled adventure. So, let’s go on a journey of yoga with love and adventure, keeping in mind three to dos.
1. Self-care is essential
This very body is the Buddha: give yourself a massage! Bring your mind down into your body and focus completely on putting something back into your mind-body system for half an hour. Self-massage with oil. It keeps the body-mind in a balanced place for all the experiences of meditation, making it more comfortable for the spirit to “dwell”.
And, in that spirit, why don’t you try self-massage at the end of the week: try to make it last for half an hour in a warm bath/shower room, use olive or sesame oil (not the toasted variety!) and have a warm bath or shower afterwards.
2. Essence is in Practice
Yoga is described as “the many threaded tapestry” in the sacred text of Yoga, the Upanishads: it’s actually totally non-sensicle to try and give an essence of the ultimate state of meditation in the short streams and downloads that we’re expected as teachers to deliver on the internet today.
However, my lovely old meditation teacher Sam always told me just to go out and teach, everything helps, and all the threads in the tapestry eventually come together as realisation of the self.
And, in that spirit, why not just try some of the short practices that are available for free (on Youtube for example): it’s the adventure of practice that’s important, and with enough dedication to practice you’ll probably eventually experience the wonders of At-one-ment!
3. Inspiration is Transformative
“Take your heart out into fields of light” – Rumi. As teachers, we’re taught to inspire our students and practitioners with the beautiful truths, prose and poetry of the masters, teachers and mystics. I love what the Sufi poet Rumi infers with these words: what good is your heart unless you go out into the wide, wild wonder of the world?
Better said than done, I know, when you’re confined in small spaces, or uninspiring living conditions. But, in the Yogic tradition, hearts need independence for transformative love to flow ― so, before or after trying any new practice, take a walk if you can and tell someone what they do is important to you.
I wish I could write poetry like “Conversation in the Mountains” by Li Bai ― this is pure adventure to my spirit:
You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain;
I smile and make no reply for my heart is free of care.
As the peach-blossom flows down stream and is gone into the unknown,
I have a world apart that is not among men.
And, in that spirit, you can try this short practice for free: The walking meditation has always been an essence of Zen. Take 5 minutes and a regular route, focus on your breath, evening out the in-breaths and the out-breaths, and simply be conscious of your step, your body, the air you breathe. Be conscious of your heart and take your heart out for a walk.
Thirty years in her own practice and teaching meditation now for more than 25 years, Susan Ni Rahilly’s Hatha Yoga teaching is inspired by Zen. She lives in Spain.
At-one-ment, Being that long lost Oneness, that as such is the fusion facilitated by Yoga…योग्यम् योग्येन योजयेत्…connect the worthy with the highest worth, indeed, what else is required more than that?
How succinctly, lifestyle of modern day is making us estranged from this fusion which is the only way of balance and equilibrium of our inner Self!
Any moment could be a Zen-moment, & we could be a “Pratyeka Buddha”, Each-a-Buddha, as Buddhist schools say, once we are ready to walk towards That.
Thank you Susan for hinting at That ??