Connect to the Pure Awareness Within
Yoga is a timeless practice for connecting with your true nature, the pure awareness at the core of your being. The physical postures help release the obstructions to the free flow of intelligence into the body, and also serve to establish the experience of pure consciousness in your physiology. The spiritual effect of yoga asanas is heightened when you do them in conjunction with a meditation practice. You can also expand your consciousness as you practice yoga and throughout the day by doing the following:
- As you move through each pose, focus on the inhalation and exhalation of each breath, cultivating stillness in your body and mind. After performing your postures, sit in silent meditation or shavasana for approximately 20 minutes. Meditation helps you enter the field of pure awareness, where everything is inseparably connected.
- During your postures and each day, practice shifting into a witnessing mode of awareness. Turn your attention to the silent witness within – your soul – and take time to commune with the intelligence in all living things. Listen to the crash of the ocean waves, see the smile of a loved one, or watch a beautiful sunrise. Established in the peace of your inner silence, you will experience joy and reverence for nature and life in all its manifestations.
- Practice non-judgment. At the beginning of the day, tell yourself, “Today I shall judge nothing that occurs.” Throughout the day, remind yourself of this statement whenever you catch yourself judging. Judgment comes from the ego’s need to control and is based on fear. Your true Self, which is your soul or spirit, is completely free of these things because it recognizes that everyone is the same spirit in different disguises.
