The word 'solstice' combines the Latin words sol for 'Sun' and sistere for 'to stand still'. 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.
I'm learning through my practice of 'being in the cycles' that many of our outer seasonal customs mirror beautifully our inner experiences should we care to pay attention to them. So, as we prepare to light bonfires and send fireworks into the sky I figure it makes perfect sense that once in a while I might have an inner bonfire, or festival of sparks, that forms a perfectly normal and natural part of my own inner seasons and cycles.
At equinox there is a balance in the hours of daylight and darkness. In āsana practice (postures) we seek balance between the left and right side of the body. In meditation we seek balance between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
Today is the first day of August and it is on or around this day that the festival of Lammas is celebrated. We are now half way between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox. The days have been shortening since the end of June and an 'exhalation' into the darker half the year is… Continue reading Lammas / Pratyahara
Continuing our journey through the seasons and the eight limbs of yoga here we arrive at the Summer Solstice and our fourth gateway - the traditional yogic practice of prāṇāyāma. The word prāņayāma consists of two parts: prāņa and ayāma. “Ayāma” means “stretch” or “extend” and prāņa refers to our life force or energy. So, literally what is meant by prāņayāma is to stretch or extend our energy (I like the phrase 'conserving our energy').
Most of us begin our yoga practice with an interest in āsana (pronounced ah-sana) - otherwise known as postures. Practicing āsana allows us to develop a better relationship with our body, to really feel our body and learn how to use it and move it wisely. For many of us this deepening relationship with our body begins an enquiry into other aspects of ourselves, like our breath, our thoughts, our feelings and our spirituality. Whether or not that's what we intended, we find ourselves on the path of yoga and we might start to seek for a map of the territory.
