"I have to" vs "I get to"
OFF THE MAT
Weekly Thought Offering:
Shifting out of “I have to” and into “I get to” takes a burden off of your shoulders and puts a peaceful joy into your heart.
Weekly Journal Prompt:
I feel very ...
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Weekly Mantra:
I am of service..
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Hello Sadhakas!
Happy Sunday and welcome to another Sadhaka Sunday email. As a reminder for those of you who are new to THE MAT with Nicole Katz, a Sadhaka is a person with a plan on a path towards a spiritual goal. And if you are here reading this, then you my friend, are a Sadhaka!
This week ON THE MAT we are in our final week of Eagle pose. This is a week for reflection, for putting it all together, for revisiting the pieces that are the most important for you and perhaps the most elusive- to explore the energy of the pose. Each of the yogasanas (poses) have specific prescriptive benefits. They create a current of energy with the body that can increase or decrease certain aspects of energy to create a desired effect. It's one of the most amazing things about yoga and likely why it has lasted so long!
Eagle pose is grounding, it balances overheated or underheated-ness and is invigorating. As discussed all the way back in week one it challenges our ability to be all wound up in knots and yet also stay laser focused and balanced- like an Eagle in flight.
OFF THE MAT I ask you to take it one step deeper. I found myself going back to the Bhagavad Gita this week. The Gita is a profoundly pertinent text for us right now (maybe always) because it speaks to the spiritual practice as part of a real life, one full of really hard choices and battles. In particular in the beginning Arjuna (one of the main characters and a great warrior) is speaking to Krishna (his charioteer and greatest teacher) and he is sharing how distraught he is and how much he just wants to give up, quit and do nothing.
Krishna's response to him- ACT you must ACT! You must do your dharma. And he spends a good deal of time describing right action and dharma (one's life purpose). But he says something specifically about action that I want us to try to channel this week ON and OFF THE MAT. He says:
Giving up attachment, perform actions as a matter of duty, for by working without being attached to the fruits, one attains the Supreme.
BG 3:19
Basically, he says acting in service, without attachment to the outcome (will I get what I want out of this) is the key to sustained joy. In our real lives what does this mean? It means the more we focus on what we have to do, the more stressful we will feel about all we have to do. If we can shift into the perspective of love and of service for those in our homes, lives communities and beyond then we reap the benefit of a true spiritual path and of joy that is lasting.
I don't know about you but I have a LOT of things to do right now. The new normal is ripe with extra work and extra stress for many, many, many of us. A way out from under that weight is through service to others and the perspective of
giving and doing with humility and love.
Even eagle pose- all wrapped up and bound up- still there is a choice to lift up to the heavens or bend in service. That is BIG. May we all find that shift, that courage and that flight this week!
With great respect and love,
Nicole
