The philosophy of Soucha,
The Niyama,
The Niyama of Soucha and Soucha essentially,
It's a Sanskrit word,
It translates to purity or it translates to purity or clarity,
Cleanliness.
Starting off with a small incident that I remember,
There's this friend of mine,
Whenever I go to visit him,
He lives in a small apartment,
Nothing big,
Nothing fancy,
But whenever I visit,
There's always,
I get that feeling like I've stepped into that sense of calm.
I don't know if you'll have experienced this,
Sometimes maybe when walking into a spa or the fancy hotel,
You get that sense,
That feeling of calm.
And whenever I would enter his house,
I would get this feeling of calm.
His place was clear,
Soft lighting,
The air kind of smelt of the incense of sandalwood,
He would always have tea brewing,
His phone would not be buzzing,
There would never be that chaos.
And I asked him,
How do you keep everything so peaceful?
And his answer was simple,
He said,
I simply don't let things pile up,
Whether internally or externally,
I don't let things pile up.
And this was one of my first introductions to Soucha.
Soucha,
Which is one of the yogic niyamas,
It's traditionally translated as purity or cleanliness.
Today we will go a little bit deeper into this niyama.
So Soucha on the surface,
It means cleanliness,
Cleanliness of the body,
Of the surroundings and most importantly of the mind.
But more than that,
Soucha is also the art of making space.
It's the art of noticing what doesn't serve us anymore and then gently letting it go.
It's not about being a clean freak,
It's not about chasing perfection,
It's about creating that environment inside and outside where peace can really show up.
If we look at something simple like our environment,
You can think about how you feel in a messy kitchen versus one where all the dishes are clear,
All the counters completely clean.
Or you have a cluttered inbox,
Lots of mails and lots of folders,
Lots of unread mails,
Everything all over the place.
And simply looking at that inbox,
It gives you that feeling of overwhelm before you even start doing your work.
So Soucha in your physical space,
You can implement this practice by decluttering one drawer in your house every weekend,
Just one drawer.
Keeping your nightstand free of stuff,
Maybe just have a lamp,
Have a book,
Have a crystal or have a candle there.
And making your bed every morning,
Not for that perfect picture but for your nervous system.
So that's how we can implement this practice of Soucha in our physical space.
And then talking about digital Soucha,
Digital cleanliness,
Digital purity,
Deleting apps we don't need,
Turning off notifications which are non-essential and unsubscribing from those emails that just add noise.
And this is an important one,
Unsubscribing from those emails,
Taking that little bit of effort to click that unsubscribe button and follow that flow.
Because over the period of time,
Your inbox can look like just noise,
Just noise,
You're just being bombarded for things you don't need.
When your outer world becomes lighter,
Automatically your inner world also experiences that sense of lightness.
Then looking at our body,
Our body is the most direct place to practice Soucha and you would want to have a clean body.
Who wouldn't want to have a clean body?
So practicing Soucha with regard to our body,
Drinking a glass of warm lemon water in the morning,
It's very effective in rinsing our system from inside out,
Warm water in the morning.
Choosing whole foods that give you energy instead of fast foods that leave you bloated,
That leave you drained.
You're taking a shower,
Do it with intention,
You're brushing your teeth,
Do it with intention and maybe adding essential oils to your bath or maybe just slowing down enough to actually experience that water on your skin.
And these small acts,
These small acts that you can do,
These are acts of love towards yourself and they matter.
So even things like cleaning your yoga mat regularly,
Washing your bedsheets regularly,
Wearing clothes that feel fresh even if they are not new.
And then there's Soucha of the mind,
Purity or cleanliness of the mind because the real clutter that's usually in our mind,
Text,
Emails,
Notifications,
Headlines,
Advertisements,
You name it,
Life is continuously bombarding us with all of this and thoughts are thoughts,
They start to pile up like unopened mail,
Thousands of notifications,
Like thousands of thoughts,
They just keep piling up.
So mental Soucha,
It's about clearing your inner space.
Five minutes a day to sit and breathe,
Nothing fancy,
No need of candles,
No need of incense,
No need of even going into lotus posture.
Take five minutes,
Simply sit and breathe.
Journaling or rather a brain dump at the end of the day,
Everything you're thinking without judgment,
Without editing,
Just let it spill on the paper,
Do a brain dump.
And then media hygiene,
Doom scrolling because doom scrolling can leave us feeling drained,
Taking a social media fast or reading nourishing content instead of falling for clickbait.
Even more powerful is choosing what thoughts you want to keep,
Choosing what thoughts you want to keep.
Just because a judgmental thought came up,
It doesn't mean you're the bad person.
It doesn't mean you have fallen back in your personal development or in your growth.
A bad thought comes up,
You don't need to keep feeding it,
You can let it go.
So mental Soucha,
Mental cleanliness,
Mental purity,
It's about noticing that mental junk,
Noticing that mental junk,
Being aware of it and then consciously choosing to let it pass.
Let it pass like a cloud in the sky,
Let it move like a wave in the ocean,
Let it pass.
And then Soucha in relationships,
Because relationships are one of the main areas of our life where we need this clarity,
Where we need this cleanliness,
Where we need this purity.
Having an honest conversation now instead of letting that resentment simmer,
Setting your boundaries lovingly,
Like not answering work emails after 7 pm,
Clearing emotional residue,
Saying I'm sorry when needed or I forgive you,
Even if you're saying silently to yourself that's fine.
So Soucha is not,
It's not about avoiding discomfort,
Especially in relationships.
Soucha is not about avoiding discomfort,
It's about facing it,
Facing it with intention so that it doesn't turn toxic.
And sometimes in relationships it's also about letting go,
Letting go of the situation or sometimes even letting go of the relationship because some relationships serve a season,
They don't need to serve a lifetime and that's okay.
So how to get into this practice of Soucha,
How to get into this practice of clarity or cleanliness or purity?
You don't need to overhaul your whole life in one weekend.
Soucha is not a one-time cleanse,
It's daily,
It's a daily practice,
It's a gentle return to clarity.
So tonight or today,
Some of y'all are starting the day,
Today or tonight,
Try to drink water mindfully.
Sometimes we can just take the glass and simply gulp it down.
Try to drink it mindfully.
Try to let go of one thought that's taking up too much space.
Try to forgive someone and that someone could even be yourself and it's a,
This is a practice,
You need to keep doing it.
Soucha is less about having everything spotless,
It's about being intentional with your energy.
Your energy is precious,
Be intentional with it.
So what's one thing that you can clear inside or out?
What's one thing that you can work on today?
One thing that you can clear today that can make space for peace to land and this one thing need not be something big,
It can be,
It can be a drawer,
It can be a purse,
It can be a wallet,
It can be your car but start with something because at the beginning I told you the story of my friend,
His secret wasn't having more time or exerting more control,
It was simply more space,
More space in his home,
More space in his heart,
More space in his mind and that's the gift that Soucha gives us,
Not perfection,
Not performance,
Just clarity,
Simplicity and care.
Thank you for listening.
