Yoga Insight for a Peaceful Mind
How to maintain a peaceful mind in a less than peaceful world?
Practical advice from the Yoga Sage Patanjali, sutra 1:33
How to maintain a peaceful mind in a less than peaceful world?
Do these four things:
- Be happy for those who are happy
- Have compassion for those who are struggling
- Delight in the virtuous
- And have equanimity for the wicked
That last one is the hardest!- think about it. Equanimity for the wicked?! That means not talking about others as “those people”. That means not getting stuck in the bad habit of delighting in how awful people you don’t agree with are. That means no piling on! Enough.
Coolheadedness, that's what equanimity means. Composure. Calmness. Presence of mind. Serenity. Yes, this is what we need more of now.
There comes a time in your life when you realize you want to be master of your mind, not a slave to it.
Yoga is a practice to train your mind to be present each moment. To use the above four keys to unlock from struggles and suffering. Can you acknowledge you don’t agree without getting emotionally charged and insulting the other side? Can you keep your mind peaceful and tranquil in the face of adversity? This is true freedom. To be at peace, regardless of your circumstances. This is what an aspiring yoga student seeks.
Contentment means wherever I am is wherever I am meant to be, whatever I am doing is whatever I am meant to be doing and whatever everyone else is doing is exactly what they are meant to be doing.
When you practice contentment, when you understand everything is unfolding according to plan, you free yourself from this particular type of human suffering, and you can take solace in knowing everything will work out as it should.
Practicing contentment is part of the second limb of yoga - BEFORE the postures (which are the 3rd of 8 steps!), therefore it is fundamental to your yoga practice. We are here to learn. Change is constant. Worrying and fretting do not help. Complaining and piling on do not help.
Coolheadedness. Composure. Calmness. Presence of mind. Serenity. Yes, this is what we need. Radical moderation.
Practice
We practice yoga to steady ourselves again. We go inside and listen. Not to the chatter of the mind, although that may be all we hear at first.
Take 5 slow breaths, inhales and exhales of equal length. Easy breaths. Everything is as it should be. Beyond the chatter is the voice of your true nature. You are not the story.
Move your body and release tension everyday. When you keep practicing yoga, you start to crave it. You don't need a whole class- just a few poses to steady your mind. Go for a walk outside.
Understand that your true nature is changeless & virtuous. Aaaahhh, and so is theirs. Those people, the others that we don't agree with. We are all one.
Be the change you wish to see. Be kind. Be a yogi, flexible and strong in mind and body, able to handle life’s “lifeiness” with grace. This is my wish for you, and for all of us. That our practice is a steadfast effort to still the fluctuations in our consciousness and move towards silencing it, to obtain and maintain a tranquil state of mind. This is true freedom.
The last two months of the year are upon us. The busy season! Major holidays, big feelings.… key for us is to deepen our relationship to our own axis of love, which is central to everything! It's affirming to remember that when we come into right balance with ourselves, with our SOUL and with our primal relationship with the Universe, we open to what is possible for us. I wish you PEACE.
love,
Di
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~ Upcoming Events ~
The Move Festival ~ Save the date 1/11/2026
Rhythm Foundation presents Yoga & Music at the Miami Beach Bandshell
