Make The Effort | Devotional Yoga
The first step for most things we don’t understand is making the effort to find the true meaning.
I find a lot of people don’t understand what Yoga is. And to some, Yoga leaves the impression of inactivity and passiveness.
Additionally… when Sanskrit terms like Ishvara Pranidhana are used, loosely translated as ‘surrender to God’, this leaves the impression Yoga is a religion.
Ooops! Was I Mistaken?
Both are misleading and completely wrong.
Both can lead the ‘yoga curious’ to run for the hills. So, they head to the gym where Yoga has been stripped back to appeal to ‘normal’ people who just want to exercise.
This is what the Yogis would call trading a ‘diamond’ for a ‘lettuce’, because you’re actively choosing the route without substance!
The substantial route is the type of Yoga that leads to stillness of mind, and it couldn’t be a more active way to cultivate strength, endurance and resilience.
So, what is Ishvara Pranidhana if not religious?
Ishvara Pranidhana is nothing to do with religion. It is a devoted and unshakeable desire to remember and reconnect to your truest self.
We aim to reach Ishvara Pranidhana through mental stability. And it’s in fact, the end goal to our Yoga practice. Remembrance of the self.
Get Our Heads Around this!
When we infuse all our actions in something bigger than ‘us’ on a physical level, we can grasp what Ishvara Pranidhana means.
It is, like most of the teachings in Yoga, a tool or measure to help us get our logic minds around ideas that can’t be seen or touched.
It might be that we need a surrendered attitude for sure, but the work is hard and disciplined on this journey to fully realise our potential.
This means, the yoga postures alone won’t get us there when taught on their own.
However, devotion to a ritualised, dedicated, complete practice. And making the effort to understand some of the meaning behind these time-tested practices. Well, that might!
Let’s Complete This Thing!
Join us to explore the concepts of Yoga in all its completeness. This month, we are exploring the three elements of Kriya Yoga—Tapas, Svadhyaya, and Ishvara Pranidhana.
Combined they help us detoxify the body, nurture the senses, and purify the mind and create a landscape for eliminating all fears and doubt on this grand adventure called life.
