Śrāddha | a deep well of supportive energy
śhrādda: confidence, devotion and reverence/feelings of reverence directed towards the divine | Roots - shrat: truth, dha: to direct one’s mind toward
I’ve pondered over this concept for years, I can look back at my notebooks and see my evolving understanding and the depth of the words found in texts, across many philosophies that have evolved from sanskrit.
Like watching my capacity to understand these deep and profound words from an ancient language, my relationship to yoga has also had to evolve and change with it. Strangely, (as in, completely unlike me to think too far into the future) right from the beginning I knew this relationship I was entering into was for the long haul. I knew that as a little 23 year old, life experiences would inform my higher knowledge and as long as I stayed close to this infinite well of positive energy that this practice was allowing me to access, then there was no rush to get it all at once.
Bhagavad Gita 17:3
सत्त्वानुरूपा सर्वस्य श्रद्धा भवति भारत |
श्रद्धामयोऽयं पुरुषो यो यच्छ्रद्ध: स एव स: || 3||sattvānurūpā sarvasya śhraddhā bhavati bhārata
śhraddhā-mayo ‘yaṁ puruṣho yo yach-chhraddhaḥ sa eva saḥThe faith of all humans conforms to the nature of their mind. All people possess faith, and whatever the nature of their faith, that is verily what they are.
When bringing this idea into the yoga studio and into the practice, it seems most people find immediate resonance when ‘faith’ is explored beyond the quick association with dogmatic religious conviction and brought more close to a practice of the heart.
A deep faith in the unknown.
The positive energy to slowly keep moving forward and showing up when everything else feels unclear and uncertain.
The bridge between the gap of our intention/wish/desire and when it actually eventuates.
Amongst all the distractions, disturbances, influences and fluctuations of the mind, what thread of truth keeps you on a certain path?
This is one more piece of advice I have for you: don’t get impatient. Even if things are so tangled up you can’t do anything, don’t get desperate or blow a fuse and start yanking on one particular thread before it’s ready to come undone. You have to realise its going to be a long slow process and that you’ll work on things slowly. One at a time.
~ Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood
A Practice - Vajra Pradana Mudra
Mudra practice is working on a very subtle level with our energy circuits, and can be an intentional bridge into meditation, a way to really harness and understand your own energy, and of course can assist in strengthening particular aspects of our energetic body.
Vajra Pradana (unshakeable faith) mudra is a weapon against self doubt. Working this mudra builds strength physically around the chest and shoulders, creates heat to dissolve tension around the heart space and activates our ability to communicate with this core of ourselves. Practice this mudra to build courage and confidence to stand firmly on your own path, to create a conversation with your heart space and to find that thread to hold onto until its ready to come undone.
Sit comfortably and interlace your fingers, holding them infront of your chest,thumbs pointing up to the sky
lift your elbows so they are level with your wrists
drop your shoulders and then add a little tension, as if the fingers were trying to pull apart
settle into a rhythmic and comfortable breath and allow the heat to build slightly.
Sit with this for several minutes, steady breath, shoulders relaxed.
Release and observe
