From source to sea….
How do we tune in to our true nature?
The true source of a river is rain…
Just as a river starts with little droplets of rain, when we begin to practice yoga, these are the first little droplets of rain that begin our flow from source or seed to sea…
The more rain falls, those droplets start to form a gentle river flow, just as the more we come to our yoga practice, those droplets start to form a gentle flow, forming a watery path ..
the gentle river flow becomes stronger and encounters many different terrains as it carves its path through mountains and valleys, similarly, your practice may wane, you will experience frustrations, limitations, but something keeps bringing you back to the mat, is it just for the physical body and the strength your practice brings you, or is it more than that, is it just the sense of relaxation, or is it more than that?
The Tattiriya Upanishad, an ancient Tantric yoga text describes the five koshas, this vedic philosophy explains the koshas as the layers of self, the sheaths that surround your true nature.
When we are born into this world, we are pure love, a little spark of pure divinity but as we go through life we are naturally conditioned by both nature and nurture and whilst our true nature remains within us, it can become hidden beneath veils of conditioning.
The five koshas or layers are described as Annamaya – the physical body, our yoga practice usually begins with this, then we harness the power of pranamaya – the life force sheath, integrating the physical practice with the breath, we may then realise or have moments or realization of the manomaya – the mental sheath, awareness of our minds, our emotions, our inner world, and then perhaps the vijnanomaya – the wisdom sheath, the ‘mind beyond the mind’, where you recognize your intuition and become detached from your ego to encounter clarity from within. And finally, the anandamaya kosha, the bliss body, the deepest and most subtle layer, uniting individual consciousness with universal consciousness. We may not experience this, or we may experience moments of bliss and these moments bring joy and awareness of what is and they too, keep us coming back to our practice.
The watery path from source to sea is littered with obstacles but as the river widens, narrows or even changes course, our practice adapts and evolves, just as the river encounters rocks and rapids, we experience frustration and limitations but we keep coming back to the mat, where we reach a point of integration and expansion, the delta, the estuary…
Where the river approaches the sea, it spreads out, delta is a triangle in the Greek alphabet, symbolising integration of the layers of self and here you may witness an expansion of consciousness…. where we are able to tune in to the essence of true nature
The arrival at the sea, at the ocean, represents a merging with the larger whole, the interconnectedness of all things…and perhaps a glimpse, maybe more, of your true nature….
This exploration of your true nature is a continuous, dynamic journey, much like this metaphor of a river's flow from its source to the sea. Our yoga practice is not just a physical practice or a relaxation practice, but offers opportunities for growth, understanding, and transformation, if we tune in enough to witness it…
Perhaps we keep coming back to the mat for all five koshas as we explore the journey, enliven our source energy and live in alignment with our true nature.
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