Do you even know?
OFF THE MAT
Weekly Thought Offering:
The Seer is nothing but the sheer power of seeing — pure consciousness. Although it is pure and unchanging, it appears to have the qualities and contents of the mind.
The seen is worthwhile, beautiful, and pleasing since it has meaning — but its nature and essence is truly for the purpose of experience and liberation
Yoga Sutra 2:20-21 (Rev. Jaganath translation).
Weekly Journal Prompt:
What am I really doing and why?
(If I ask myself the real reason that I _______ when things get ___________ the answer would be_____________...
I learned that behavior from______________...
It has served me as a behavior up until now because___________....
This behavior is/is not still serving me because_________....
Weekly Mantra:
I know that old, negative patterns no longer limit me. I let them go with ease.
-Louise Hay
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 looking at the spine in eagle pose. Often in this pose people are so consumed by trying to figure out what their arms and legs are doing (and trying not to fall over) so that the spine can be left as an after thought (as is often the case with our sweet spines). This week we ask our Selves- what is my spine doing- and do I like that- aka is it bringing me closer to or further away from JOY. Taken one step further there are a couple of variations of Eagle pose- one is upright attempting to keep the spine aligned and allowing all hinge to come from the hip, another asked the spine to flex forward allowing the elbow to hook over the knees and yet another reaches the entwined arms up toward the spine asking for the lumbar spine to extend. All of which have different prescriptive benefits and all of which can be less beneficial and even harmful if used for the wrong body in the wrong way. So, not only awakening to what you are doing but then making it purposeful rooted in what you want!
This my friends is some ON and OFF THE MAT magic!! Many, many, many of us live our whole lives under the misguided belief that we are our thoughts, we are our feelings. We are at their every whim and destined to be taken down by them at any given moment and often with very little warning. Like children never parented and left to run totally wild and untamed, our minds run the show and we are left in its wake, always hostage. But here is the life altering rub- you are NOT your thoughts, you are NOT your feelings. You are the Seer- NOT the seen. Want to test out the theory? Can you watch yourself have a feeling or a thought? Can you observe your current state of being? Of course you can! So there must be something behind all of the stuff of thinking and feeling. In yoga we call it the Seer.
If you are like so, so, so, so many people over the last 5000 years (about how long yoga has been around) and are feeling very ready not to be constantly on the roller coaster of the senses, then it's time to begin the practice of awakening to what you are really doing and why. You can discipline the senses and begin the process of knowing and living in the peaceful space of your Higher Self, also known (in the practice) as the Seer and in our lineage as the Inner Teacher. Before we can change anything we have to know what in the heck we are really truly doing. We have to be willing to hold space for what we observe and know that we might not like what we find but hold in love the fact that we cannot change what we don't know and continue on from that space of love in the pursuit of the JOY that is our birth right and the true nature of The Seer.
And so this week (and basically daily forever ;)) we learn how to observe what is so in order to realign with what is real and make conscious choices. Choices that move us forward and closer to ourSelves and our birthright of peaceful joy. Always, not just for the fleeting moments the mind allows us.
With great respect and love,
Nicole
