One of the lessons learned by Axis YTT students is that people find Yoga through a variety of paths. This student found Yoga through meditation. And when experimenting with the niyama, atmanivedana (or Ishvarapranidhana) the existence of both positive and negative aspects of any chosen path were evident in the experiment.
My first experiment is focused on Atmanivedana. Atmanivedana is the concept of offering one’s life to god. I decided on this concept because I feel this is the reason why I began yoga and all of my life’s choices and crazy turns have led me to realize that this is the path for me. I […]
I have had an off and on mediation practice for many years now. When I begin meditating I dive fully into it and try to meld it into every aspect of my everyday life, or fully surrender to god. When I am off, I am completely off with little attention paid to this crucial aspect […]
I did not expect a big change from the few weeks of this experiment but I was wrong. There were lots of positives and lots of negatives that came from adding a daily asana practice at this time in my life. Some of the obvious positive benefits that came from this are the physical. I […]
I guess you cannot have the good without the bad, however. I feel it important to point out some of these details because I have noticed it multiple times over the past ten years anytime I get very serious about my practice and a shift is occurring in my life. There is almost a force […]
I do believe there is much more going on here and this is not a direct result of the experiment and would never want to discourage people from beginning this path based on these results. These three weeks have almost allowed me to create some space between me and these issues and see that it […]
This Axis YTT student gives an insightful interpretation of the yama satya (truthfulness) during the yama/niyama experiment. Students apply a chosen yama (restraint) or niyama (observance) to their lives to better understand their role in Yoga.
When the time came to choose a yama or niyama, I decided I would allow my choice to choose me. I ended up in the satya or truthfulness group. Initially, I thought this experiment would give me the opportunity to give my supervisor a piece of my mind. However, the more I studied, the more […]
Observation I feel irritated and frustrated at work and desire to feel more at ease during the workday. Hypothesis If I memorize the Gayatri Mantra and chant it for 15 minutes at the beginning of my day and at the end of my work day, then I will feel more at ease and less frustrated […]
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012 I feel like I have to lie to myself to keep from speaking my feelings. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2012 If the Supreme Self who holds the Supreme Truth and resides in me has already mastered satya, why is it so difficult for me? WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012 I avoided discussions that […]