One of the gems of the teachings of yoga is that with practice, you can learn to discriminate between those things that serve your Higher Self and ultimately move you towards the state of yoga (union), from what does not honor your well-being, and moves you out of alignment, ultimately keeping you from achieving the state of yoga. This ability to discern between what serves you and what doesn’t comes more quickly when you make time to go to the quiet place within. You can access this place with more ease when you are able to slow down, get quiet, and listen to your inner knowing. While yoga provides the space to do just that, I’ve also found that this transitional period moving from quarantine back into “normal” life is an auspicious time to go within and reflect on what has been beneficial and will continue to serve. While doing so, you can also acknowledge what can be released because it is no longer in service to the Higher Self. The world may be opening up and getting back to the normal pace of life, but I’m taking the slower pace of the last several months with me because I’ve found it to be deeply nourishing, calming and in service to greater balance (i.e. yoga).
This sense of being calm and nourished leads us to the Sanskrit word for the month of July, “langhana”. Langhana brings a feeling of quiet and calm. It means “to reduce”. Reduce what exactly? A langhana practice reduces excess energy in the body. When you feel frenetic, jittery, or overstimulated, decreasing that energy is just the thing to do to bring you back into a grounded space and ease any mental restlessness. The energetic effect is calming, cooling, and relaxing to the nervous system. This deliberate action of reducing excess is one of those things that serves my well-being. For many of us yogis, the last several months have produced a langhana effect for our mind and body. How did that slowing down serve you? Were you able to turn down the noise of life and find a calming effect from the reduced activity? As we move out into the world again and try to get back to some semblance of “normal”, perhaps you too may want to take your time and make sure that your coming and going are balanced with a little time cultivating langhana on your mat.
With Love,
Mercedes