Day 29 - Saucha

9:30am vinyassa flow this morning, with Yeva.  What an awesome class!  Yeva is one of Dana's favourite teachers, and I have to agree - she's top notch.

What are the important ingredients that makes a yoga teacher not just good, but great?

Well, I think it's a few things, beyond having a commanding voice, and being knowledgeable about the postures and proper allignment. The class needs to be fresh and interesting.  Teachers who rotate through an uninspired flow bore me to tears.  Be creative, keep me guessing.  Let me turn off my mind, and enjoy the guidance of movement from one side of my body to the next.  But don't be rushing!  If we are just rushing from one asana to the next, the mindfulness is lost.  I like it when we dig deep, to feel the tone, twist or stretch from the inside out. I also appreciate it when a teacher focuses on all or most of the basics - pranayama, asanas, twists, inversions and balance.  Show me something new, a different flow, or a variation of a classic.  And I love it when the teacher sets a theme for the class, whether it's a feeling, a jewel of wisdom, an intention, or a story.

Yeva touched on most of these elements today.  We did some interesting work with a block between our thighs to bring mindfulness to an inward spiral.  We also did some shoulder and chest opening exercises with a strap.  Plus many chataranga, twists, groin stretches, planks, and more.

Yeva especially had a nice theme.  She talked about SAUCHA, which means purity, or cleanliness.  Yeva encouraged us to practice saucha, by clearing the clutter from our homes and our minds, as a path to better balance.

This resonated with me. SOUCHA could be the theme of my 40 Day Yoga Challenge.  To understand more, I did a little bit of reading about saucha.  It comes from Patnajali's Yoga Sutra, which describes an eight-fold path for a purposeful and fulfilling life.  The second of the Eight Limbs of Yoga are the Niyamas, which help us to develop a positive attitude towards ourselves, so that we can live more peacefully.  The Nimayas are about self-regulation and inward focus, to create a positive environment for personal growth.



The first of the Niyamas is Saucha - the pursuit of purity or cleanliness of physical space, body, and mind.

For our physical space, it's important to have order.  At home, everything should have a place, and be free of excessive clutter.  This facilitates calmness and ease.  This can be a bit of a struggle for me, but I've made great strides over the past many months. I've rearranged my furniture for better feng shui, re-organized my closets and drawers for improved organization, developed new systems for paperwork, and I am clearing the clutter of excessive belongings.  The freedom that follows from this is astounding.  To no longer search, to not miss a deadline, to not be late, and to be prepared in advance is an enormous boost, not only to my self-esteem, but also for the manner in which others perceive me.  It helps to remove unnecessary stress, so that I can focus on what really counts.

For our bodies, we need nourishment with healthy food, plentiful water, and abstinence or moderation from toxins that hinder good health and clarity of mind.  I am fairly good in this department, but still have plenty of room for improvement.  I feel good that I made a choice nearly twenty years ago to  abstain from eating meat. My diet is low fat, with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and I cook wholesome foods often at home.  I've also gained insight from avoiding alcohol and marijuana over the past month.  I am not opposed to these substances, but with the clarity of mind and ease of energetic spirit, I've come to better realize that less is more, and none is often best.

For our minds, we need to avoid polluting our thoughts with negativity, and avoid emotionally charged obsessions.  We need to consciously avoid unwarranted criticism about ourselves and others, as well as thoughts of shame or unworthiness.  These negative emotions have no place in a healthy, pure mind.  Our minds should be filled with positive and calming thoughts.  This is something we have the power to control from within.  Saucha of the mind is where I need to focus the most.  Sometimes my thoughts are pure, but sometimes I am troubled.

Here are the five Niyamas - I will strive to learn and practice more:

1. Saucha – Purity, both inside and out. It means we keep our bodies clean, we practice asana and pranayama to clean the insides of our bodies, and we practice meditation to cleanse the mind of it’s disturbing emotions like hate, greed, delusion and pride.

2. Santosa – Contentment. Simply being happy with what we do have, rather than being happy about what we don’t happy. Being happy in child rather than unhappy we can’t do wheel

3. Tapas – Disciplined use of our energy.




4. Svadhyaya – Self study, cultivating self-reflective consciousness so that we can truly see who we are – shadow and light.

5. Isvarapranidhana - Celebration of the Spiritual, laying all our actions at the feet of God. Surrendering to Divine Will.