Hello January 2025
As you approach another new year, instead of adding what you feel is lacking, take time to reflect. Yoga can help you with this. Whether through the physical practice of yoga, seated meditation, or walking in nature, each of these practices bring you into presence, quieting the mind so that it reflects what truly is to bring you into balance.
Everything in the physical universe is made up of three energies or qualities (gunas), in the yoga tradition, and these are always in flux. The three gunas are tamas (a quality of heaviness and stability), rajas (the energy of action and movement), and sattva (lightness that balances). At any given moment, one of these predominates, usually either resting or movement. Yet, sattva—lightness—manifests in quiet presence. To rest in this lightness is to alleviate the heaviness that sometimes traps us and still the movement that can distract us from introspection.
All eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga shift between physical, mental, and energetic exertion, and in doing so, they embody the gunas. Take asanas (physical poses), for example. The physical poses are the third limb of yoga. In an inversion pose like Pincha Maryurasana(Forearm Balance Pose), various parts of the body are active while others are heavy. We support our body with our forearms to lift our legs upwards. We press the hands, wrists, and forearms down to lift the upper arms, side chest, and the legs more. We adjust in the pose until we find a balance of and in effort. We become a reflection.
This shift between the gunas also occurs in the more subtle practices of yoga, such as withdrawal of the senses, concentration, and meditation. In the seventh limb, dhyana (meditation), for example, the body may appear still, but it takes significant effort and strength to maintain that stillness. And yet, once we settle into that quiet, we again become a reflection in balance.
As you prepare for 2025, may you take time to find lightness and stillness so you can clearly see what you need to add or let go of in the coming year.