Svadhyaya

Sorry for the lack of postings. Been deep in Svadhyaya this week…

From Yoga Journal:

In a way, the fourth niyama could be considered a hologram, a microcosm containing the whole of yoga. One day this winter in a beginner class a first-time student asked, “By the way, what is yoga?” A thousand thoughts flooded my mind; how could I answer truthfully and succinctly? Fortunately, an answer came spontaneously from my heart: “Yoga is the study of the Self.”

This is the literal translation of “svadhyaya,” whose meaning is derived from “sva,” or Self (soul, atman, or higher self); “dhy,” related to the word “dhyana” which means meditation; and “ya,” a suffix that invokes an active quality. Taken as a whole, svadhyaya means “actively meditating on or studying the nature of the Self.”

I like to think of this niyama as “remembering to be aware of the true nature of the Self.” Svadhyaya is a deep acknowledgment of the oneness of the Self with all that is. When we practice svadhyaya, we begin to dissolve the illusory separation we often feel from our deeper self, from those around us, and from our world. — Judith Lasater