This is the End, Beautiful Friend

That is happiness; to be dissolved into something

completely great. ~Willa Cather

Holy Crap! This is one of my favourite phrases and now a favourite cereal  that I found at Planet Organic today lol. You may want to try it because it's that good as well as exploring some of the other things I'll be contemplating. This is the last assignment of my Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Certification :) Hence the title and my exclamation. The topic? Endings and beginnings and the last three Niyamas (read: observances and the second limb of yoga)... Tapas, Svadhyaya and Ishvara Pranidhana. I have been playing with these for this last packet since December. Together, these also make up Kriya Yoga: Yoga of Action. I'll talk about all these more later.

The ending is of course my certification, that this assignment completes, and  the month of February. The beginning is March which always seems to hold new beginnings for me. These new beginnings include becoming a Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Practitioner (I won't have to add "-in-training" anymore) and beginning training to become a "listener" at Crossroads Hospice (Tapas/Karma Yoga). Of course March also holds the Spring Equinox which is much anticipated. I love Twitterpated season ;) I hope you know what that means without needing to click, but it's a cute video. Tapas as zeal and igniting the inner flame comes to mind here and of course Love.

Though all seasons are lovely for it, Spring is especially lovely for Svadhyaya: Sacred Study. I find nature so fascinating and I can get lost in it for hours. I find the same thing with yoga, reading, photography and introspection, which can all be part of Svadhyaya. Yes this makes me a yoga nerd and I'm always proud to admit it. PRYT training has been quite a lot of study, both of self, the Sutras and others. It adds another layer (not sure how many there are yet lol) to my yoga practice as does Ishvara Pranidhana: Dedication to the Divine in all. With this, each breath becomes divine, each time I place a hand, a foot or a finger and every posture or sensation. Within sessions, I see "the third thing" that shows up to guide the outcome or the postures, words, silence and much more that will arise. I must pause here to teach a class, which I hope will celebrate all of this with me :)

INTERMISSION.... ;)

What a beautiful class! An incredible celebration of yoga and life. I'm so blessed to practice yoga with such an amazing Kula (community). Gratitude to all who were present! This was the kind of Tapas: Zeal and Sincerity/Service that I adore. I find every class and every session that I give to be service... unless it's not ;) I trust that they are in some way. Yoga and Yoga Therapy have a way, like life, of giving me the things I need, the mirrors that help me grow and the inspiration to keep going. Do you find the same?

Yoga of Action includes the same ideas in another way. Tapas as Karma Yoga: Selfless Service, Svadhyaya as Jnana Yoga: Knowledge and Ishvara Pranidhana: Love and Devotion. When I am conscious of all of these or when I let go of judgment, ego or anything else that may get in my way, I find a bliss, a deepening and a love of all things. This is difficult to put into words but playing with these aspects has changed the way I may see many things and has deepened my appreciation for nature. Uh oh, I'm already considered weird or interesting for the amount of attention I give to small things especially in nature ;) I love to let the Divine in all touch me and remind me that everything is connected in some way, that wisdom can be found in a body, nature, a seemingly difficult situation and everything else and that I can always choose my point of view.

Though it was a lot to choose three Niyamas instead of just one (how does that show up in my life? ;)), it was also a blessing. I love that yoga is so much more than just Asanas or postures. Though the body and postures are where so much can be found... the combination of all else adds those beautiful layers... like a rainbow. The Yamas and Niyamas are definitely the first two limbs before Asanas for a reason. I'm excited to continue to play with all of them. Thank you PRYT for the Svadhyaya and so much more.

Time to celebrate again and that is definitely a core asset ;)

Amazing Sutra book containing the quote I brought to class today... "The body itself is to reveal the light that's blazing inside your Presence." ~Rumi

If you're interested or curious about Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy please send me an email (alissa@kulayoga.ca) or comment here.