Hello there.
Today we're going to talk about choosing a spiritual practice.
And why it must be challenging.
In fact,
Why it might be something,
Or it should be something,
That you actually don't want to do at all.
Now the word sadhana.
Sadhana.
Is a Sanskrit term.
That is a means to accomplishing something.
So in spiritual traditions,
When you choose a sadhana,
This is a daily practice.
That helps us.
Go beyond our limitations and actually experience the divine in the world.
And the divine within us.
So if I was to say,
You know,
What kind of spiritual practice would you like to do?
And you think,
Oh,
I love this one yoga practice.
Makes me feel so good.
I do it every morning.
It's wonderful.
Or maybe you love this one meditation practice.
It's just so grounding and wonderful.
Or maybe even you like to get up and you like to do automatic writing in the morning and journal.
Now these are all beautiful practices.
They are touch points in our day.
They help us connect with who we are.
They help us grow.
They help strengthen us.
These are all wonderful practices.
But they are to sadhana.
Because a sadhana expands us beyond our comfort zone.
This is why they have to be difficult.
Because when you really think of it,
Why do we have limitations?
Why are there things that we absolutely don't want to do?
And I don't mean weird things.
You know what I mean.
So I teach Kundalini Yoga.
Kunalini Yoga is a series of sets of exercises that all kind of work with us like a Rubik's cube.
It kind of turns us one way,
The next exercise turns us another.
By the end of a kriya,
They call it a kriya.
By the end of the kriya,
Many people will say,
Oh,
I love that kriya.
It's just so easy.
It makes me feel so good.
Other times.
People are like,
Boy,
I hate that crew.
Just urgh.
Why do we hate it?
Because it brings up emotions that we don't like.
It's showing us limitations about our abilities,
Our thoughts.
Whatever.
Those limitations exist in every aspect of our life.
Not just on our yoga mat.
They appear in our relationships,
In our careers,
In our family,
Everything.
These limitations are throughout mind,
Body,
And soul.
So for those people who say,
Boy,
I hate that career,
I don't like that career.
There's a very,
Very high chance.
That that is the Kriya for their next life.
30 day or 40 day sadhana.
Why?
Because it forces them.
To go right to the edge of their comfort zone.
And then you have to dig deep inside.
And find something,
Find the courage,
Find the breath,
Find the faith.
To say,
I will stay with this and see what's on the other side.
And then you stay with it and you expand a little,
You expand a little.
And then you uncover something that's actually been holding you back,
Maybe your whole life,
Maybe many lifetimes.
Sadhnas are serious.
You know,
In the West.
Yoga,
Tantra,
A lot of spiritual practices have become very vogue.
They've become a sport.
They've become something that,
You know,
It's just really fun to do.
It makes me feel good and all that kind of thing.
But historically.
Yoga and tantra,
They were passed down from master to student in secrecy in a lot of situations.
Gurus and teachers wouldn't just take on everybody.
Why?
Because these were transformative tools.
And they only wanted to actually work with people who were ready.
To expand beyond that.
That's where the gurus and the teachers could help you.
That's where they could say,
Here.
Think of it this way.
Now go do the practice.
Come back in 30 days.
And now let's have another conversation.
But if we are not at the edge of our comfort,
We're just swimming around where we're accustomed.
We know it in there.
That's the world we're already living in.
Asadna helps us expand,
Heal,
Confront,
Look at all the aspects that are actually limiting every aspect of our life.
So what would a spiritual practice look like?
Look into the traditions that you love.
Maybe for me,
It's Kundalini Yoga often.
What's a Kriya that I find incredibly challenging?
And that's probably my next sadhana.
I really want to move beyond where I am right now.
Helps us develop muscle strength or flexibility,
It's all good.
But when we're ready to really expand into a new way of being.
We choose one that's hard.
Maybe it's a meditation practice that you find particularly difficult.
And again,
This won't be like a guided meditation.
Guided meditations are beautiful and they have a whole other application for healing and creating a new set point.
But they don't require you to go deep inside and actually access a part of you that you've never touched before.
Maybe it's something out in the world.
In one of my tantra courses,
The people's first week,
Their first sadhana,
Was actually that they had to be kind.
To their partner for one week.
Over 50% of people said no.
That that was impossible.
Imagine.
What would happen if they did it?
Imagine the spiritual growth,
How deep down they would have to dig inside of themselves.
To not only do it,
Than to also have the introspection to think.
Why can't I be kind?
Why don't I want to?
Where is this coming from?
See how this opens up a whole kettle of fish that maybe stems from their childhood.
Stems from some other wound,
A trauma.
It's an opportunity to heal.
So your daily practice can be many things.
But it needs to be challenging.
And I think sometimes we don't realize just how powerful we are.
How we have so much courage inside.
All we have to do is access it.
Choose the sadhana.
Practice it every day for a month.
And see how much our life changes.
See how much we change.
See how happy and interesting our life can actually be.
