Day 20
We’re halfway there…
Samatvam Yoga Uchyate
“Samatvam is Yoga;
Equanimity (balance) is yoga.”
The last Sutra we explored was 2:48 tato dvandvā-nabhighātaḥ
(By the mastery of āsanas a yogi is able to overcome pairs of opposites or dualities like success or failure, praise or blame, hot or cold.)
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna that yoga is Equanimity (Samatvam) He defines yoga as: Samatvam Yoga Uchyate (2:48): Samatvam is Yoga; equanimity is yoga… samatvam is being able to maintain one's balance of mind in success and failure, gain and loss, pleasure and pain, and that is the capability of a perfect master who remains equipoised in all circumstances.
Kiyah in Eka Hasta Adho Mukha Vrksasana (One Handed Downward Facing Tree Pose)!
I love this story of one of the world’s greatest yogis:
Before he became The Buddha (The Awakened One) Siddharta Gautama moved out of the royal palace to the forest.
(And before Keanu Reeve’s played Neo, he played Buddha in the film Little Buddha! LOL)
Check out the 4 minute 34 second video (or read the transcript below)
The Little Buddha
For six years, Siddhartha and his followers lived in silence and never left the forest.
For drink, they had rain.
For food, they had a grain of rice, or a broth of mud, or the dropping of the passing bird.
They were trying to master suffering by making their minds so strong they would forget about their bodies.
Then, one day, Siddhartha heard an old musician on a passing boat, speaking to his pupil:
- If you tighten the string too much, it will snap, and if you leave it too slack, it won’t play.
Suddenly, Siddhartha realized that these simple words held the great truth, and that in all these years he had been following the wrong path.
- If you tighten the string too much, it will snap, and if you leave it too slack, it will not play.
A village girl offered Siddhartha her bowl of rice, and for the first time in years, he tasted proper food. But when the ascetics saw their master bathing and eating like an ordinary person felt betrayed, as if Siddhartha had given up the great search for enlightenment.
- Come and eat with me.
- You have betrayed your vows, Siddharta.
- You have given up the search.
- We can no longer follow you.
- We can no longer learn from you.
- To learn is to change. The path to enlightenment is in the middle way. It is the line between all opposite extremes.
- If I can reach enlightenment, make this bowl float upstream.
The Middle Way was the great truth Siddhartha had found the path he would teach to the world.
WE ARE HALFWAY THERE:
We've got each other and that's a lot
For love - we'll give it a shot
Whooaaaaaa! We're half way there
Whooooaaaa! Livin' on a prayer
Take my hand- we'll make it - I swear
Whooaaaa! Livin' on a prayer
Hello, Inversions!
In case you missed it, here’s the replay for Ryan’s workshop yesterday morning. You will be able to view class until midnight PST Thursday - we gave you a bit of extra time with this one because we’ve gotten inversion requests from so many of you!
REPLAY LINK FOR RYAN’S WORKSHOP YESTERDAY
Interested in Ryan’s inversion swing? We’ve got a few in the online store right now. Grab yours here:
THE DIGITAL STUDIO CLASS SCHEDULE
Today, Wednesday, January 20th:
8-9am PST Vinyasa with Kiyah Leier-Marshall
4-5pm PST Vinyasa with Vanessa Bourget
6-7:15pm PST Vinyasa with Risto Duggan
Tomorrow, Thursday, January 21th:
7-8am PST Karma Vinyasa with Evanna Kieran
9-10am PST Vinyasa en Española with Sandra Jara
12-1pm PST Vinyasa with Mari Dickey
4-5pm PST Vinyasa with Christie Baumgartner
6-7pm PST Spa Flow with Carolyn Anne Budgell
And don’t forget, Ryan’s recorded class and playlist are available for you here:
40 DAYS OF PRACTICE FACEBOOK GROUP
4O DAYS OF PRACTICE DAILY EMAIL COMPILATION