Welcome to today's meditation,
Inspired by Yoga Sutra 1-4.
Allow yourself to settle in to whatever spot that you have chosen for this moment.
As you settle into your seat,
I invite you to close your eyes gently or allow your gaze to soften.
And then allow yourself for the first few breaths to just be.
Feel the air around you.
Listen to the sounds.
Notice the sensations moving through your body.
And then begin to understand that the place you have chosen for this practice today is just right.
It is just the right spot for you and for this moment.
And together,
Let's take a slow,
Deep breath in.
And with a gentle exhale,
Begin to relax your shoulders.
Another slow,
Deep breath in.
And with a gentle exhale,
Begin to relax the muscles in your face.
One more breath in.
One more breath out.
Relaxing any space where you notice tension.
Perhaps what you'll begin to notice over time with this practice is there is a beautiful harmonizing between you and your space.
You with your environment.
It comes one breath,
One moment at a time.
Things begin to feel a bit more peaceful.
A bit more grounded.
More secure.
More safe.
Today,
We sit with Yoga Sutra 1-4.
Looking to it as a guidepost for our everyday living.
Looking to it to help with those fluctuations that feel like are constant in our mind.
So we'll begin our practice by sitting here together.
Each of us noticing our own fluctuations.
Not trying to change them or becoming frustrated by them.
But truly being here in the just noticing part of our practice today.
So just continue to breathe.
Continue to settle.
And notice.
When we arrive at meditation,
It's important that as we pause,
We feel safe and grounded in the spot that we have chosen.
It's important that we feel secure.
That we feel in harmony with that space where we are.
Because we know our mind is busy enough on its own.
It's already trying to distract us even as we begin to sit.
But as we begin to harmonize with our environment,
The spot that we've chosen for our practice,
Perhaps we won't feel the impact of the busy mind and its constant chatter nearly as much.
It's still there.
But over time,
Through this practice,
Its impact becomes less and less and less.
The fourth Yoga Sutra that Patanjali gave us so long ago says,
Vritti sarupyam itaratra vritti sarupyam itaratra We translate this to mean that we must be intentional with our practice.
Because if we're not,
If we're not mindful of this practice,
Instead of beginning to look like the true version of who we really are,
Over time,
Instead,
We begin to look like those fluctuations,
Those disturbances,
That vritti in our minds.
If we're not careful and mindful,
He says,
The fluctuations will begin to create reality for us.
When Patanjali gave us the Yoga Sutras,
He began by assuring us that this practice can calm the fluctuations in our minds.
And he went on to encourage us that when they are calmed,
Not if,
But when,
When they are calmed,
We will begin to see the true authentic us,
Instead of allowing those fluctuations to create reality for us.
Just imagine this.
The last time you were in a movie theater,
You were watching one of those films that really touched your heart.
It had a storyline with all the characters that you actually like,
People that you actually champion for.
You like the people that the actors are representing there on the screen.
You watch as one character is struggling.
You watch the suffering that they experience.
And as you watch this path that they're on,
The things that they encounter,
You notice tears are running down your cheeks.
It's a beautiful thing that we can feel the way we feel.
But what Patanjali was cautioning us against with this particular sutra is that if we are not mindfully aware,
The same parts of us allowing us to feel could distort our view of who we are and of the world around us.
We actually become those mental,
Those emotional fluctuations in our minds.
It's subtle,
But we look up one day and hardly recognize ourselves,
Hardly know ourselves.
We'd never leave the movie theater after feeling the struggle of that character and then spring into action on their behalf out in the world because we know better than to attach to whatever that person in the movie was experiencing.
We know it's not reality.
So now what we need to do is practice not attaching to all the things,
The vritti that are making their way into our thoughts and into our mind the same way.
And as we cultivate this keen sense of awareness,
We begin to see those disturbances come in,
We recognize them,
And we let them go.
We don't attach to them.
We let them go.
So now as we pause here together,
Sitting with this understanding of what Patanjali was trying to teach us,
I encourage each of us to notice the disturbances.
Notice the agitations in your thoughts.
Notice the vritti.
And while we sit and we settle in this beautiful,
Safe place we've each chosen,
Let's practice recognizing what those disturbances are.
See them.
And then allow yourself,
Breath by breath,
To let them go.
Allow yourself to let them go so they do not distort the true,
Authentic us that we so very much want to share with the world.
Let's pause here together,
Breathing slow,
Deep,
Nurturing breaths,
Practicing noticing,
Recognizing,
And letting go.
Vritti sarupyam itaratra I see the fluctuations.
I let them go.
Itaratra I see the fluctuations.
I let them go.
Breathing in.
I see them.
Breathing out.
I let them go.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Seeing them.
Seeing them.
Letting them go.
Namaste.
