Friday, June 11, 2010

Mandala Workshop to surrender to the Divine

I’m inspired by the wonderful group of woman who attended the Mandala workshop. There was a lot of excited creativity and connectedness to each other and the divine. Thank you all for the peace, compassion, harmony and joy you brought into this circle!

In Sanskrit surrendering to God or the Divine means Ishvara Pranidhana and it is the last Niyama of the observances of the eight limbs of yoga Patanjali. It brings all the Yamas, the moral disciplines and restrictions and Niyamas together and into the light. To surrender means to love with devotion and to let go of ego driven activities, honoring the divine spirit within.

To truly understand my path of yoga and transformation is to find unity, truth and healing within. I start each day by getting up in gratitude, then reminding myself to practice the Yamas and Niyamas. I aspire to approach myself lovingly, at every moment. I try to accept, take responsibility for my actions, forgive and ask for forgiveness, then continue to serve and manifest. I approach my meditations with great energy, to surrender to the Divine within.

Our work begins by practicing the Yamas on and off the mat. They are broken down into five insightful understandings: Ahimsa - non harming and compassion for all living things, satya – commitment for truthfulness, astaya – non stealing, brahmacharya – moderation and sense control, aparigraha - non possessiveness. The Niyamas are the suggestions of how we treat ourselves and how we approach other people. They are saucha - purity, santosha – contentment, tapas – passion and zeal, svadhyaya – self study and then ishvara pranidhana – surrender and celebration of the spiritual. Bringing awareness to all these devotions, we are able to transform ourselves to positive human beings. We notice the spark and energy flow within and around us to also help other people to achieve a state of being with devotion to God, Buddha, Jesus, the divine spirit or nature itself.

If we practice surrendering to the divine, we will experience a transformation to peace, clarity, truth and true love.
Love Sonja

I feel my oneness with you, Father.

With your grace, o God, I perfect my body and mind,
that in their harmonious instrumentality,
I feel your presence within me. The glory of spirit abides within me.
Dear Lord, your energy charges my body and mind
and your spirit abides within my soul
I feel your glory registering your infinite immortality in my body,
mind and soul.
Paramhansa Yogananda