Detachment

Setting the tone/theme:

The universe conserves the laws of opposites.  Our thoughts, our words our actions all contribute to this change.  Positive attracts positive & negative attracts negative.  The energy that you share with the universe matters.  There is a flux to everything in life, so things are always naturally transitioning between one opposite to the other until that part of us arrives at an equilibrium.  

Tonight’s practice is dedicated to detachment.  Change happens within every moment & that change is not always perceived as good by us.  But, all is perfect in god’s eyes and so we, even with our perceived flaws, are also perfect.  Perfect meaning we are whole, meaning we are part of it, part of the universe and therefore, part of God.  

abhyasa vairagyabhyam tannirodhah / tada drastu svarupe 'vastanam 

“The fluctuations of the mind are restrained through practice and non-attachment... Then the seer abides in his true nature.”

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras: Book 1, Sutra 12 / Book 1, Sutra 3

Chant: 

AUM MANE PADME OM - “Behold to the jewel in the lotus”

Mudra: lotus flower

Pranayama: Connect breath to movement through lotus pranayama

Asana:

5 x Sun A

5 x Sun B with option for crow to headstand, build the Sun B up

1 - low lunge to high lunge, 5 breaths each

2 - Add going back to one-legged forward bend twisting to wide-legged prasaritta

3 - yogis squat to prone frog

4- half pidgeon to runner’s lunge 

5- Hanumanasana to log pile, lotus “pick it up”

Backbends - wheel x5 

Handstands x8

Warm down-plow, shoulder stand, twists

Meditation:

“the true essence of detachment brings us not to the barrenness of the desert   we fear so much, but to the calm undisturbed waters in the deep that neither moans nor retreats from the fast changing currents at the surface.  

Detachment is a steady tree in the middle of a roaring storm, it is an anchor that keeps us safe and secure from the might of the crashing waves.   It guides us as we journey forth to our destinations, like the sun whose brightness never fails to shine upon us wherever we may be. It allows us to weep, yet gives us also the freedom to rejoice, trusting everything will be just fine.

Detachment is after all, not a detachment from the people and things we value the most, but a detachment from our own fears, from the fear of losing the ones we truly love.  

If we can just begin to understand, if we can just believe that God stands with us, that God provides everything we need, that God is not selfish nor covetuous of our desires and happiness, maybe we can trust that our joy will not be taken away from us without a deeper purpose nor will it be taken away from us forever.   If we can just believe that God is everywhere, and that God is in all things, maybe we can be assured that all things we hold dearly lay safely upon His hands.   Maybe we’d be comforted for we know that God is only a prayer a way, and hence, so are all things in whom He dwells.

Detachment therefore is not about being deprived of the good, but of being free from our burdens.  Detachment is not about letting go but of holding on so fervently and confidently, believing that no wind or storm can ever take away that which you have loved.   Detachment is not about our brokenness, but of our wholeness, of being able to protect and keep our joy whatever the external circumstances may be.