Satya…

Happy Friday Friends!

I’ve been working around this Sanskrit concept of Satya which translates as truthfulness.

Let me start with a little yogic philosophy.

Satya is the second of the yamas (or ethical restraints) and it represents integrity and honest alignment of one’s mind, words and actions with what is real.

Being truthful is all about the throat chakra and how one expresses oneself. What is interesting about truth is that it changes all the time.

Deborah Adele wrote in her book The Yamas & Niyamas,

“To be a bold person of truth is to constantly look for what we are not seeing and to expose ourselves to different views than the ones we hold sacred.”

Our truth evolves as we move through our years on this Earth and the truth of the collective changes as well. It takes courage to step away from our own truth and hold space for another person’s truth.

As much beauty as this type of truth brings to me, I was looking at Satya in a different way these past couple of weeks, spending some time with it in my yoga practice and through my daily routine.

As I was moving through my yoga practice, I looked at this idea of Satya from my physical body’s point of view. I wanted to hear the truth of what my body was telling me.

Our bodies are a barometer, and feedback is often given. As we get older, sometimes we experience more feedback than when we were young, if you know what I mean. *wink wink*

I have been working with some wrist discomfort. It’s new and I assumed that with my yoga practice it would go away as aches and pains often do when I practice.

However, it hasn’t gone away, and I have implemented all of my healing techniques to try and heal it and send the pain away. There was one thing I did not try:

Acceptance.

I know this may be controversial, but I do not believe in old age. I believe that there are layers and layers of conscious and subconscious thoughts, emotion, sensations, reactions and experiences that are not integrated within our bodies, and this creates aches, pains and disease.

So instead of trying to heal this body part in my not-so-traditional way, I felt into my wrist, allowed the discomfort, let that part of my body know that I noticed it and I accepted what feedback it was offering me. I accepted its Truth, even if the only information I received about my wrist was the physical discomfort.

I realized and surprised myself that this is another version of unconditional self love: to accept myself just as I am and hold space for any discomfort.

My wrist started feeling better. This was a big a-ha moment for me.

This week I found myself with my yoga Community and we talked about the Kleshas. Another Sanskrit word, the Kleshas are mental afflictions that cloud our perception and create suffering. I will admit, even with my extensive yoga background, I had forgotten about the Kleshas.

Of the five Kleshas, dvesha was active here for me with my wrist. Dvesha means to avoid pain. I wasn’t just avoiding it, I was pushing it away.

Getting specific, I was pushing my body away and avoiding it, and not giving it the attention it deserves.

If you’ve been following me, you know that I bring in my mystical understanding of the world as well. I adore Ayurvedic medicine. I adore Chinese medicine. I adore holistic medicine. I am grateful for western medicine and I adore my spiritual and energetic medicine.

With that, I bring to you the body elemental.

This is a part of our energetic body that is an exact PERFECTLY HEALTHY AND WHOLE replica of who we are as a physical system. Our body elemental is a blueprint for the physical body. The body elemental works very diligently to keep the systems running smoothly.

Our body elementals work very hard to move us into wholeness and if it feels right for you, take a moment and honor this energetic part of you that helps you to remain so strong on this earth.

Bring your awareness into your heart and breathe and thank…

This reminds me of my dear friend who said to me a while back, “Lean into the ___,” be it fear, anxiety, worry, grief, etc.

Lean into the discomfort; feel the physical, emotional or mental discomfort and allow it to just be. It will move through, I promise. Just know, all of this discomfort is an onion and we can serve ourselves best by continuing this process.

Beloved Pema Chodron, a Buddhist nun and author wrote in her book Start Where You Are,

“Resistance to unwanted circumstances has the power to keep those circumstances alive and well for a very long time.”

AND

“Feel the feelings and drop the story.”

When we lean into our pain, whether it is physical, emotional, mental or spiritual, we find self-love and self-acceptance. This love helps us to integrate more fully that which is challenging us.

This is what I also call Empowered Self Compassion. It is a mighty unconditional love that accepts and holds space for all that is happening within ourselves and our lives. It is very strengthening.

The next time you feel an ache, practice this concept of Satya. Take a moment, say hello to it and let it know you accept it and are listening to its truth. Then notice the changes.

I offer you and your body elemental unconditional love,

Ellen x