Driving to the venue Friday afternoon, 27 December, I noticed in my mirrors the haze and smoke hanging heavily in the air over the city which made me realise the importance of stepping away in order to see clearly the situation we are in. How appropriate, I thought, to keep this in mind for a retreat especially at the end of the year.
It was official! December has come, the 12th month of the year. If you think of the year as a clock face, we were somewhere between 11 and 12 o’clock, in fact, in the very last few minutes of the day. Time for reflection. The whole year has nearly passed. We have done many things that are now history as we tiptoed into the new year with mixed emotions.
Out with the old, in with the new. Freeing the mind of the old and preparing it to receive the new with appropriate openness has thus become the theme of the retreat running through classes and satsangs.
Every morning 7.30 am we started connecting with the body and quieting the mind. We watched how our mental distraction lessened with the right combination of physical engagement to hold attention as time passed by. This relatively silent work of stretching and strengthening smoothly replaced our noisy thinking and shifted mental patterns we have developed over time. Asana by asana we renewed ourselves and learnt to be different because a new physical shape always means new thinking. I kept reminding them that every asana has its corresponding mental shape. Practising being non-violent to our body we do develop non-violent and peaceful tendencies in our mind. Only such a peaceful, fearless, trusting and open mind can welcome the future freely.
Learning about the present condition of our body and mind, getting familiar with their ways of handling life was the first step in developing trust, confidence and faith in ourselves. Seeing the change in the physical and mental faculties we are more likely to start believing in the possibility of change along the positive lines. The progress of expanding our limitations clearly liberated some from the fear of the unknown making them more confident around the unfamiliar. Day by day, more and more they have developed the courage to enter states where challenge was apparent, on the edge of their perceived limits where things felt a bit shaky and risky. It was beautiful to see them becoming more comfortable with their discomfort.
Everyone enjoyed the afternoon Yoga Nidra sessions with Leeann that has become a great complementary practice to our regular yoga classes. It was yoga without the body, presenting the bigger picture beyond our physical existence opening with the unfolding mind. These sessions also had the theme of letting go and getting ready for the new year. Participants were encouraged to think about using Sankalpa (resolve) to help transform their lives physically, mentally and spiritually.
Effort and release, striving and letting go were another feature of the retreat highlighting the importance of aligning with the rhythm of life’s dualities such as day and night, activity and rest, weekdays and weekends etc. It helps seeing that everything in life comes from balanced interaction of opposite and competing forces that never cancel but ever complement each other.
Thinking of the meaning of yoga as “union”, most of us associated it with an extraordinary ability to unify body, mind and spirit. Working on it we started with decreasing the divisive notions among them by understanding their strengths, weaknesses, ambitions and needs. We saw that yoga asanas in general allow our body and mind to let go of the demands of the day. Inversions lightened up old patterns of behaviour and being. Hip opening poses invited our responsible adult mindset to surrender and rekindle our free-spirited child-like energy lying dormant and almost completely forgotten in each of us. It was noticeable especially in the outdoor classes how most of the restlessness and agitation got alleviated from the body and mind just by practising in nature, on the lawn under the canape of trees. It may quite possibly have also suggested the idea of an illnesses free life for some. The meditation practise also made us aware of another type of letting go, the release of one’s own inner chatter, the grip of the conscious mind with its compulsion of being in constant control.
Slow exhalation combined with the effect of gravitation in forward bends gently moved us deeper into the physical pose and mental poise. It is known that breathing into and surrendering into the physical resistance can trigger a shift in attitude sublimating the underlying emotional conflict from the psyche. Moreover, according to the yogis, this could also lead to the reckoning as well as to the awakening desire of submitting oneself to the supreme intelligence governing this vast Universe. It may simply be just a watchful attention to our words, actions and thoughts. Paying attention to the spirit in which we perform asanas or conduct our lives in the world rather than focusing on the results to be gained could mean taping into that fundamental intelligence. This idea of correcting our motives, letting go of the results and remaining open to what happens next, for a few of us, clearly resonated with the teachings of Bhagavad Gita on Life's astonishing ways to dish out the most appropriate result for each of us. It is said that the art of appropriate striving and letting go in circumstances aligns us with the flow of life replacing fear and anxiety with faith in the higher power nurturing and guiding us from within. This surrendering is not to be mistaken with weakness and giving-in, but it is rather a conscious and intentional release from where we can make necessary adjustments spontaneously along the way. It is like being led by direct mystical intuition other than will power, effort and control into the blooming magic of the vast cosmic order. Processing and releasing the past is unburdening and lightening the mind to be able to receive the future with clarity and optimism. Whatever lies ahead of us we were led to that, prepared and ready to make the most of it. It is true that no one has ever seen the future and therefore we all face it with some understandable uncertainty. However, that should not become a turn off, rather it should kindle a sense of adventurous curiosity in us. Daily reflections have the power to make the mind see uncertainty as a permanent fixture of life and, in fact, to see that we are never truly certain of anything ahead of us. Therefore, the wise plan incomplete leaving an opportunity for God to surprise them.
Cooking was surely something that has put our budding sense of surrender to a test. We all paired up in support to make a lunch or a dinner for everyone else. Since no one had ever cooked for 20 before, the letting go of the fear of not being able to successfully adopt a recipe for 4 was something we all had to conquer. Making meals turned out to be a wonderful and liberating experience for all of us. Seeing slightly nervous responsibilities smoothly melting into the enjoyment of delicious meals shared with all was certainly one of the highlights for me.
We have also practised few cleansing rituals for the New Year such as
· Sun-salutations with asana, breath and mantra focus in classes to invoke our “inner Sun” corresponding to our spiritual heart, the seat of consciousness, higher wisdom in the domain of the embodied self (jivatman).
· Water cleansing by dipping into the refreshing sea utilising its mineral rich healing qualities and symbolically washing away the past.
· Coastal walk to reconnect with the elements and the beauty of the rugged Victorian coastline, re-centring our worlds along the winding path amongst un-spoilt beaches, forests and the ocean. For me it was something truly amazing. The constant connection with Earth beneath my feet, having the Wind (Air) in my face, the vision of the vast open Sky (Space) above my head and the sight and sound of the breaking waves (Water) reminded me of the 5 Great Elements with the Fire element in me as consciousness itself, the spark of life. It made me think how thought by thought, action by action (Karma) in the world during our lifespan we give the blueprint to God ordering the script of our destiny. According to the specifications given, this human body and mind is built from the 5 Great Elements and handed over to each one of us by the Divine Creator for our next embodiment. It is therefore up to us to make or mar our progress - to get a better life with plenty of opportunities in which we can slowly and steadily go forward and ultimately realise the Supreme Truth or get a wicked one in which we can dive ourselves into a greater gloom.
· Sunset meditations sitting in the sand at a remote beach location silently saying goodbyes to the vanishing Sun on its way to a rendezvous beyond its beloved horizon leaving our sky burnished with breathtaking shades of purple and pink. The colour purple represents wealth, wisdom, dignity, grandeur, devotion, peace, mystery, independence and magic. Purple helps align oneself with the whole of the universe.
· Burning ritual around the fireplace at New Year’s Eve. We wrote our negative experiences, qualities, thoughts, complexes and feelings that inhibited, obstructed or hurt us on a piece of paper during the last day of the year and threw into the fire at night while we chanted the Mahamrityunjaya mantra from the Rig Veda numerous times. Believed to be the most powerful Shiva mantra that bestows longevity, wards off calamities and prevents untimely death, it heals one and the world. To complete the mantra, we uttered the word “swaha” after each recitation so, that the divinity to whom the offerings were made through the yagna (fire ceremony / sacrifice) would accept.
These rituals were meant to remove uncleanliness prior to a particularly important moment in life because if mental and emotional concerns can manifest into our physical world then why couldn’t symbolic practice help healing us emotionally?
While watching the last sunset of the year (31 December 2019) a few of us decided to witness the first sunrise of the new decade too (1 January 2020). It was a chilly 8 degree morning at 5.30 am as we drove to a nearby East facing beach to see the first rays of the rising Sun. I took my yoga mat and rolled it out on the sandy shore and started with some Sun salutations to warm my body up and then as the Sun has shown up on the horizon I moved into a 3 min headstand. Though traces of darkness still lingered along with clouds around, I sat for a short 15 min meditation watching the Sun rose higher and higher dispelling the last of the night of the previous year, with all the promises of a new day, new year & new decade. Then I chanted the Peace mantra of the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad requesting assistance in transcendence.
asato ma sadgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrtyorma amrtam gamaya
om shanti shanti shanti.
Lead me from unreality to reality.
Lead me from darkness to light.
Lead me from death to immortality.
Om Peace Peace Peace.
In essence: “O, Guru, help me free myself from my sundry misunderstandings regarding myself, life, spiritual practice and God and bless me with true knowledge.”
May you also be healed and make the most of 2020.
by Swami Gopal Puri
