Saucha: Purity is peace.

We live in a time where cleaning means killing: killing germs, ethnic cleansing, and banishing negativity. To be clean, pure or safe seems to mean living in a pristine environment that doesn’t include perturbing things. It is thought that the perturbing things must be eradicated or removed to be in peace. I will be suggesting a different approach to this concept.

When I fly I feel a blissful sense of removal from earthly concerns. I am in the air, far above the troubles that the earth represents. I move through a magical space, free to peruse the mental landscapes that have now lost their substance, like holograms that communicate, without beating me up. It feels clean, up high in the air. I can’t be touched up there.

It’s hard to be touched, changed by life events. Emotionally, we tend to cling to comfortable moments that exist mentally, but aren’t in the tangible world. This resistance to new experience acts like a thick wall that insulates the fearful self from change. The concept of cleanliness can similarly help us hide from life by preserving a certain amount of space as “clean,” that is surrounded by everything fearful.

But there is another way to look at the idea of cleanliness and purity. Rather than the absence of impurity, which implies that we are somehow “dirty” and must be “cleansed”, let’s consider cleanliness as space. And there is usually more space than there are objects in any given living space. The space that the air occupies is larger than the room that the objects take up. Objects tend to overwhelm attention. They seem important. Let me suggest that the space around objects is also important.

We could look at operations of mind similarly. The stories, objects and concepts of memory take up less room than the infinite space of consciousness and creativity. So this space is there around positive and negative thoughts. And there is enough room for everything in experience. With this model of processing experience there is no need to exterminate certain thoughts, because there is enough room for everything. Just because we have a negative experience, it doesn’t mean that it will crowd out positive ones. The fact is that we have positive, negative and neutral experiences, and there is room for all of them, and more.

It is in the spirit of this concept of mental space that allows all life experiences, that I’d like to look at the first precept of Niyama: Saucha. Saucha means cleanliness or purity, and for the mental aspect: space. This can become a powerful tool, because when we invite discomfort into this pure and endless mental space the discomfort looses it’s power to control behavior. Just like the fire in the fireplace warms a room, but doesn’t take it over through incineration, feelings can exist in a similar way—the feeling is present, yet not running the show. It is just warming the mental space, bringing flavor to a particular moment. But, if we enter into the discomfort, allowing it to overwhelm our faculties, then we are at the mercy of our own feelings. And our ability to choose is incinerated. So to me, the mental aspect of purity is about the ability to maintain perspective, rather than being overwhelmed by any singular event.

There is also a physical aspect of Saucha that has to do with personal hygiene. Keep the body clean, inside and out. Eating fresh fruits and vegetables can help with health and vitality. The natural fibers help clean the system internally, and fresh raw foods can help the body cleanse itself of toxins. Eat a fresh raw salad every day.

Saucha can also help with living spaces. Too much accumulated clutter gets in the way of pleasant living, and can keep us stuck in the past as we are surrounded by all of those old things. Remove things that no longer serve the space.

Clear the mind by releasing the grip of outdated concepts and by actively seeing the space that is the potential for change. Clear the body with exercise and cleansing foods. Clear living spaces by removing clutter. Saucha.


Saucha Snack:

Winter Solstice

Ingredients:
Lacinto Kale Leaf with stem removed
Slice of Avocado
A halved Date with pit taken out


Directions:
Place the Avocado and halved Date across the Kale leaf. Roll it up. Eat!


Adapted recipe from The Sunfood Diet Success System, by David Wolfe

Niyama for Revolutionary Road

Niyama offers tenets that can help harmonize our inner lives. Some might wonder why we should focus on our inner worlds. Doesn’t the outer one provide enough challenge? It may. But consider the situation in the movie Revolutionary Road. The challenges of the characters are similar to challenges that most people face. And even though I didn’t especially enjoy this movie, it does do a great job of illustrating the concept of emptiness and hopelessness of giving up dreams to live life in the suburbs. The main characters find themselves giving up their uniqueness to adhere to conventional behavior. But it doesn’t work out very well for the characters in the movie, and the only person who can speak freely is someone who has a day pass from the insane asylum. Pretty sad. I found myself feeling a little crazy just watching this film.

But I think that if Kate Winslet’s character could have just explored herself a little more she might have been able to find balance. She was concerned with creating space for her cutie-pie hubby, Leonardo DiCaprio, to discover himself. But her character’s personality seemed so strong. If she could have just taken a class or something (so she would have been growing something inside herself along with children) I think she might have fared better. But the movie starts out by showing her personal dream failing, and sets us up for her feelings of hollowness and hopelessness that the mentally ill guy helps us to understand. This family’s downfall is that they couldn’t accept themselves, and found themselves faking it and lying to get through the hours.

What does this have to do with yoga?

It has everything to do with yoga, because what yoga presents is the possibility for inner transformation. And the character’s downfall is a failure of their inner worlds. It’s pretty common that the first set of life plans don’t work out exactly as planned. So this movie presents a pretty dismal version of this. The characters give up. Life is too much for them. Desperate and ghastly measures are taken. But in lives that are living (as opposed to screen characters) there are opportunities for renewal. We can dream new dreams—even in the suburbs.

Niyama is the second of the eight limbs of yoga. It offers a strategy for attuning oneself toward positive change, and discovering oneself. It has five aspects that are concerned with the personal life of a yogi:

1. Saucha – purity
2. Santosa – contentment
3. Tapas – discipline
4. Svadhyaya – self-study
5. Isvara-pranidhana – surrender

These five principles set the stage for positive personal growth. Niyama guides us to relate with ourselves consciously. In the world it’s easy to forget about oneself in striving to fit in. There is so much going on and so much distraction. That’s why the first limb, Yama, brings attention to behaviors that are harmful, to take away that draw on our valuable resources. And so we have some energy to devote to ourselves.

The principles of Niyama outline a plan for taking care of oneself. Saucha has to do with inner and outer cleanliness. Santosa calls for the cultivation of contentment. Tapas is the discipline to stay with it. With Svadhyaya, or self-study we can observe the effects of practice and study. And Isvara-pranidhana is surrendering to the truth, or to a greater sense of reality. It takes into account that the world is bigger than oneself. Things happen that are out of our control.

Niyama outlines a compassionate approach for making changes. I have heard people say that they are stuck, even trapped in their lives. It’s usually best to start with something simple, and to follow through with it. Recently, I made a positive change. I always do some yoga practice (even if it’s only thirty minutes) before the first private session or group class I teach. What was previously holding me back was that I regularly teach 7am classes and my travel time is almost an hour. So I have early mornings, and was sometimes just showing up to teach as if that was enough. But I have found that the extra time for practice before teaching is essential. Practice later in the day is good but it doesn’t sharpen my senses for teaching the way early practice does. This change requires discipline (Tapas) to ensure that I persist with it. The practice clears my mind (Saucha) so I can be more accurate in my teaching. I watch the effects of this practice (Svadhyaya). And I feel good about my work (Santosa). And above all, I surrender to the truth of the moment (Isvara-pranidhana).