LIVING YOUR YOGA

Living your yoga assignments are given out in Aparna's classes each week.If you missed one you can also find them here.

JULY  2020

Week I - This week dare to dream, but even more importantly, dare to put action behind your dreams.

Week II - This week listen with the intent to understand, not the intent to reply.

Week III - This week if opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.

Week IV - This week follow your passion, be prepared to work hard and sacrifice, and, above all, don't let anyone limit your dreams..

Dearest yogi & yogini,

"By letting it go, it all gets done."
- Lao Tzu

I was teaching my Tantra class explaining how each of the chakras  is symbolized by a Lotus flower , balanced by visualizing the Lotus blossoming and releasing its sweet fragrance into our lives. When I opened to questions a student asked,” Why a Lotus flower ?”.

The Lotus flower, a type of water Lily, is a powerful metaphorical symbol in Asian, Egyptian and Indian cultures. If you have ever seen a Lotus flower  in its surroundings then you know that it grows only in murky waters almost swamp like in consistency and yet it stands tall completely unstained and undefiled, lending itself to powerful spiritual interpretation. Purity, detachment, divine beauty, resurrection and awakening are all contained in this symbol.

The Lotus in spite of growing in water never gets wet. The surface of its leaves and petals are such that water simply drops away from it leaving it pristine and immaculate. Through out its life  from bud to bloom, the Lotus practices perfect detachment, unaffected by its surroundings including the very water in which it grows offering us profound lessons in living life unaffected by external circumstances, living fully in the world and yet untouched by the world. The blossoming of the Lotus flower is also powerfully symbolic. Buddhists believe that the closed bloom represents the heart with its infinite potential for wisdom and illumination, the open blossom represents the awakened Self.

The symbolism of a  Lotus is mentioned in the 5th (5.10) chapter of the Bhagvad Gita by Lord Krishna :

"One who performs all actions as an offering, abandoning attachment to results, is as untouched by karmic reaction as a Lotus leaf is untouched by water. And from such actions comes peace , contentment & liberation."