Podcast 04 Satya Truthfulness

​Let's take a couple of breaths. I've been thinking about, in my own practice lately, this idea of rigidity and where it shows up. And that's as I'm paying attention to when I get rigid in my practice, what I'm finding is that it's coming back to this concept in yoga. One of the yamas is satya which is truthfulness, it's one of the practices that we do as yogis. So truthfulness, the interesting thing about truth is that it changes. And so sometimes we get so locked into a truth and we never open up to the possibility that there could be a different way or that there are more than one truth is another way. And that I have a truth and you have a truth and everyone in this room has different lenses really that we look through.

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Part of that is the satya, right? It's what we believe to be true. One of the most valuable teachings for me over the years has been just that because I didn't hear this until probably a few years ago. I had never thought about it this way that truth changes. And even if you think about it in the most simplest of terms like you're also in a practice, so you could take a Warrior II or whatever it is that you want to visualize. We want to approach it in a way that there could be different answers, right? Different ways to do Warrior II, we'll just say. You could have the front going at 90 degrees, you could have it backed up a little bit, you could have your palms open, you could have your palms down, your arms straight, your arms bent, and on and on and on, and it really is infinite.

But so often in our practice and in our lives we get stuck, I think back leg straight, front leg 90 degrees, arm straight out, elbows straight, palms down, fingers open, whatever it is. And so the invitation would really be to be willing to have an inner experience and explore what feels best and most spacious in each moments, and that it's not one way all the time. It will really give you a big opportunity to expand your lens. Sometimes when one of the ... So at teacher, Richard Freeman, who often talks about standing before the mystery, to not be so quick to conclude and to stay open. And really it's not that we can experience pure awareness or presence or even a full experience, those things are the gifts that are given.

So what can we practice? How do we expand our lens? Is it true what we are thinking during our practice about ourselves, about the person next to us? So to hold that satya maybe at the beginning of the front of your practice today if that makes sense to you. And if it doesn't resonate, then you'll find your own way. But these are just offerings, how can we be more truthful in our practice and expand the lens that we're looking through? So with that satya comes kindness and compassion and patience. What I'm learning is that it becomes that we can be kind and compassionate and patient even when we're rigid and irritable and discontent. So it's holding the space. So let's keep your hands maybe as they are and we'll begin with some ...

Thank you for listening to Episode 4 of our Embodied Living Yoga Podcast on satya, truthfulness. As I was thinking about the idea of truthfulness and the rigidity around it, the reality is for many of us and most of our truths that we believe helps protect us at one point and they were true at a point. And, especially, if we come from a background that held trauma or abuse, the truths that we held onto in those times literally could have saved our lives emotionally, spiritually, and possibly even physically. So those truths what we want to start to mold a little and have it be a little bit pliable, and maybe that's a good word, is to expand the boundaries of what it is that we believe. Because now that we are in a different state, those truths may not serve us.

So, for example, silence keeps us safe or it's when we love we get hurt and love is dangerous and on and on and on. We can have all these truths that helps protect us at one point. And now it may be time to start to explore how holding on so rigid to those beliefs have only caused us more of a narrow lens and possibly even more pain and suffering in our lives. So I hope that I hope that you got something in the sense of the willingness to explore a little bit more about the truths that you believe. The one other thing that I do like to do ... I say I like to do, but I'm not always great at it, is when I'm in conversation or getting other people's opinions and I really hold strong to my belief.

I think it's really helpful when I can do it to try to find at least one other possibility of a viewpoint before I respond. So it just helps to show me that my way and my belief is not the only way and everybody has a right to their own truth. And if we can really hold that space for ourselves and one another I think the result is that we end up getting deeper connection. So, again, thank you so much for listening. If you feel inclined, if you liked the podcast, please feel free to give a review. It's super helpful for us and if you have friends or family members or coworkers that you think would enjoy the podcast, please feel free to share.