ACCEPTANCE, SELF-LOVE, AND RITUAL

It’s no wonder we feel more stress and anxiety during this time of the year...it’s science!

Our cultural demands truly test our ability to be in the flow with Nature at this time of the year. With more dark hours, less daylight hours, our body’s internal clocks want to slow down, sleep more and be more contemplative. Our calendars tell us otherwise with holiday parties, eating, traveling, shopping, eating, and often extra work hours finishing up projects to “wrap up the year” at work. December is the time of Vata, according to therapeutic yoga sister-science of Ayurveda. The qualities and energies of Vata are restless, changing, dry, rough, and moving. Remember, you are one with nature (not separate from it) and so don’t be surprised if your life is mirroring these qualities. If we do not take the time to balance Vata, it can lead to a very strong imbalance in the Winter (weaker immune system, more anxiety and stress, sadness, weight gain, melancholy and depression).

The way we can bring balance to the Vata energies in our life are through daily routines, rituals or Sadhana, which develop the opposite qualities of stillness, flow, moist, smooth and grounding. Daily routines help to focus the body and mind while rituals help us to remember the importance/big picture of life. Rituals can be deeply devotional and spiritual like meditation, japa/mantra repetition, to living a life of a Sannyasa (ascetic). Rituals can also be very simple and deeply healing-the every day things we can do for our body, mind and spirit like yoga asana, watching a sunrise, a heartful prayer of gratitude, cooking or preparing your food with love, or simply smiling for no reason. Swami Satchidananda Saraswati reminds us of the importance of applying our yogi knowledge and awareness to the everyday (perfect for this time of the year),

“. . . I feel we don’t really need scriptures. The entire life is an open book, a scripture. Read it. Learn while digging a pit or chopping some wood or cooking some food. If you can’t learn from your daily activities, how are you going to understand the scriptures?”

December, although a time of deep devotional celebration in many religions, is often filled with much stress and anxiety. Travel, holiday parties, over indulgence in food and beverage can be overly taxing on the body and mind. There’s a lot in our busy, holiday filled lives that we just do not have control over and won’t be able to change (traffic, flight delays, relatives, unexpected news, the list goes on and on). Use your cultivated awareness to recognize these situations before you’re butting-heads with it/them and instead practice Acceptance. When we can fully accept a situation/person for just as it is, including our own Self, we untie the knots of our perception, giving us the ability to be more in the flow, love unconditionally and enjoy the present moment.

While it is easy to focus on all the things you didn’t accomplish, the stressors, challenges and heartaches of 2014, it’s an even more important time to focus on what went well in 2014. Wrap yourself, your family, your friends, your life in a well-deserved hug of acceptance. For most people, 2014 didn’t go as “planned” and that’s what makes life so exciting. If we could predict and plan how each year would turnout, think of how boring life would be. The mantra Om Mani Padme Hum (see below) is a beautiful mantra to repeat at this time of the year to find compassion and acceptance within.

Furthermore, when many people wait for January 1 to declare a renewed sense of Self, resolution or hope, we can encourage our students, each other and our own inner light to be that person NOW. Go deeper in your practice of Sadhana during the time when Nature is asking you and beckoning you to turn inward.

“All sadhanas, all practices, are meant to purify and strengthen the mind that disturbs your being and prevents you from being aware of the Reality that is within you.” –Swami Rama 

Listen. Sit. Contemplate. Approach your holiday festivities with Mindfulness and Acceptance. Give yourself permission to accept yourself as you are in this moment, the people around you in this moment and in that acceptance, ENJOY your holiday season with your community, colleagues, family and friends.

Practices for December:

Daily practice: Practice Self-Love by finding routine and ritual in every day. 5-20 minutes a day is more powerful than one 90 minute session per week.
Asana: Forward folds when you need to reduce stress and anxiety. Twists and heart openers/back extension if you need a pick-me-up.
Meditation: Focusing on the light within the heart that radiates in all directions, illuminating your Truth, your Spirit and Self Love. Visualize a sun radiating from the center of your heart/chest outward in all directions bringing life and balance to every cell of your being.
Pranayama: Nadi Shodhana is a perfect balancing breath for December, balancing both energy and rest.
Bija: Hum (Heart)
Mantra: Om Mani Padme Hum- to develop your sense of compassion and acceptance. Translation: Lotus in the Heart Center Lotus is symbolic and metaphoric for the beauty and enlightenment that arises from swampy waters.

Reading from left to right the syllables are: 

Om (ohm) Ma (mah) Ni (nee) Pad (pahd) Me (may) Hum (hum) 

Note: If you don’t have time to say these 6 syllables, then play it in the background. (Reference)

Prayer:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Written by: J. Haunani Chong Drake, L.Ac., E-RYT
www.HaunaniChong.com