The word ‘solstice’ combines the Latin words sol for ‘Sun’ and sistere for ‘to stand still’. At Winter Solstice, the Sun reaches its lowest point in the sky for the year. For a few days either side of the solstice the sun rises and sets at a similar time and in the same place, causing ancient astronomers to name the day as one where the Sun appears to ‘stand still’.
To simply stand still is an important yoga posture, one we learn as beginners and return to again and again. We often call this ‘mountain pose’, but one of its Sanskrit names is ‘samasthiti’. This word combines sama for ‘even’ and sthiti ‘to stay still’. We stand still, with our weight balanced evenly over both feet (or sit with our weight evenly balanced on each sitting bone).
Today, yoga is widely known as a movement discipline, but these simple experiences of stillness have always been the goal. Without stillness there is no samādhi.
The Eighth Limb of Yoga – Samādhi
I am often asked by people who know me to be yoga teacher ‘ooh! and do you meditate?’
This makes me smile.
The answer is ‘yes’ but the question perplexes me – meditation is not an adjunct to yoga, it is the goal of yoga! The culmination of Patanjali’s Eight Limbed path is called samādhi, referring to a state in which the mind is calm, and clear. All the other practices (e.g. postures, breathing techniques, relaxation, chanting) are designed to lead us towards this state.
Our mind is like a lake. The objects in the world are like stones. If we toss the stones in the lake, there are many waves. Like that, the objects create waves in the mind. Our mind becomes deeply content when it is in samādhi.
Sri Krishnamacharya (1888-1989) – all of my teachers’ teacher!
Samādhi is not something we can achieve once and keep forever. Like reaching a mountain summit, we have to return back down, or like walking into the labyrinth we inevitably must come back out. If we live in the world of family, work and responsibilities samādhi will be found and lost over and over again. We must remain vigilant towards whatever it is that disturbs our ease – whatever or whoever is throwing stones in our lake!
Samādhi is not equivalent to enlightenment, or the Buddhist nirvana (think of it more like needing to get to Everest base camp before you can tackle the summit). Within the Yoga tradition the ultimate state of freedom, or liberation from suffering (attained through deep introspective meditation) is known as kaivalyam.
I wanted to share with you a few thoughts I have had about meditation, but please note I am writing here about the forms of meditation that many of us turn towards for support amid the relative chaos of our daily lives. The aim of such practices is typically that we feel more calm, relaxed, centred and able to contain or process our thoughts and emotions. I am not writing here about the quest for enlightment that is typically undertaken by renunciates and monastics.
In my opinion, many of us are turning to meditation when what we really need is sleep, relaxation or simply time to ourselves for thinking and dreaming.
Meditation is not a substitute for daydreaming.
If you frequently find yourself lost in thoughts and daydreams when you try to meditate perhaps this is a sign you need to create more time in your life for thinking and comtemplating? This is an important and normal part of life, especially if you want to connect with your creativity.
Meditation is not a substitute for sleep.
There have been times (especially when the children were younger) that I frequently fell asleep while trying to meditate. Eventually I had to concede that what I needed in those few precious moments of quiet time was rest, and I embraced this wholeheartedly.
It is not necessary to choose an uncomfortable position for meditation simply to prevent yourself from falling asleep. With the benefit of experience I now know that when I am well rested I can remain awake and meditate in comfortable positions for long periods of time.
Of course there are some contexts where it would be culturally insensitive to lie down and meditate (e.g. in a Buddhist temple), but this often more tied up in culture and religion that relating to the actual mechanisms of practice. At A Space to Be we are not offended.
Mother Earth is not offended.
I personally choose to believe that each time one of us lies down for meditation (or relaxation, or sleep) a small bolt in the underbelly of our patriarchal culture is loosened.
The beauty of Yoga is that it provides us a holistic path with practices for every stage and phase of our life, from the social to the physical to the psychological and spiritual. All of this is needed to maintain our samādhi, our calm clear mind.
We continuously cycle through all eight limbs of yoga like the seasons of the year, returning again and again to the same teachings and same practices, and receiving each time new insights and perspectives.
Being in the Cycles
This post is part of our journey through the eight festivals of the Celtic calendar – Being in the Cycles – during which we are encountering each of the eight limbs of yoga like a series of gates to pass through on our path.
Each season there is an online yoga class and a labyrinth walk, which all are welcome to join.
