Svadhyaya is practiced as a self-reflection process, where one silently meditates, in Asana, on one’s own behaviors, motivations and plans. Svadhyaya is, in a sense, for one’s spirit and mind a process equivalent to watching one’s body in a non-distorting mirror. This self-study, in Yoga, is not merely contemplation of one’s own motives and behaviors, but also of one’s circumstances and the environment one is in, assessing where one is in one’s life, what is one’s life direction, if and how desirable changes may lead to a more fulfilling Self.
Above from Wikipedia.
Since beginning my journey in YTTC, I have been in a constant state of Svadhyaya. From being conscious of my alignment and how I am not being able to achieve certain postures because my hips are tight (need to work on that), or my arm strength is not there yet (working on it), to daily life and my relationships with others; how I treat people, how I react to what others say.
I was lying on my room floor after class one day, tired from the day’s activities and thinking about having to work later at night. Then my mum came into my room talking excitedly about something. I was focusing so much on feeling tired that I did not process whatever my mum said. After a while, I realized my mum was still talking to me and felt guilty for not listening! It has happened countless times before without me realizing because I wasn’t practicing Svadhyaya (sorry mum). I snapped back to the present and tried to salvage what I could gather from her words and give a reply, thinking how bad that I wasn’t paying attention to her for so long and not even realizing this.
I would like to think that it was through focusing on asanas that I was training the mind to be present.
More reasons to love yoga.
With love,
Afiza (YTTC OCT 2015)
