KatieIf you’ve been around here for a while, I’m hoping you have started to pick up that yoga is so much more than the physical postures. Sure, I talk about and share yoga practices for stress relief and energy, but we also talk about meditation and journaling (a terrific way to practice Svadhyaya or self-discovery). But today, in honor of this Meditation to Trust the Universe, I want to talk about another practice in yoga called aparigraha, which often translates to non-attachment, non-grasping, non-clinging, and non-possessiveness.
Monthly intention: Ease
Today’s meditation: Meditation for Surrendering / Meditation to Trust the Universe
Your journal prompt for today is: Where are you holding tightly or clinging? How can you practice non-attachment?
In one of my favorite yoga books, The Yamas and NiYamas by Deborah Adele, the author writes:
A bird cannot hold its perch and fly. Neither can we grasp anything and be free.
This quote has always resonated with me especially when I think about goals that I’m working toward or how I pictured my life to be at certain points in time. I’m sure you’ve had those moments as well, they never quite look the way you thought they would.
When I take that thought and I think about the suffering in my life (big and small), it’s because I’m clinging to those ideas and for life to transform in the way I expected.
- Like when I thought I’d find the person to spend the rest of my life with in college, but when that relationship ended, I was heartbroken. Same with a relationship a decade after that.
- Or when I thought I’d spend my life working in the music industry but HEY, after the great debacle, I couldn’t find my place in this life in the city – HO.
But I look back now and can find the gratitude and freedom that came from life playing out differently:
- I’ve had years of adventures and time to truly get to know myself and my worth because I didn’t have a partner.
- The stress of the music industry brought me to yoga and helped me so much that I now get to help teach and bring these practices to others.
There are many more stories and examples I could provide but I’m sure you get the gist. You’ve had some too, no doubt.
Getting to all of these places has required surrendering so I could finally release the grip of things working out only ONE way; It required trusting that the Universe (or whatever your belief) has a greater plan that you can’t quite see yet.
So after I put out a request line on Instagram for upcoming yoga classes and podcast episodes and a meditation for surrendering and trusting the universe was made, aparigraha came to mind.
This is the newest meditation available on The Soul Connection Podcast. I hope wherever life is giving you an opportunity to surrender, you can find the trust to release your grip. There’s freedom on the other side.
