June 2025: Keep it Close
YS 2.1 tapaḥ-svādhyāya-īśhvara-praṇidhānāni kriyā-yogaḥ
You must be fueled by a burning desire to continuously study the Self, which is only
available in the present moment, and to devote your self wholly to this effort -
this is the practice of yoga that purifies.
The art of living means we cultivate a simple momentum in our daily lives. A momentum of joy. Yoga reminds us where our greatest treasure is. We can feel abundant all day long when we keep it close.
Fill your day with ideas, stories, people, practices, and media that elevates. This is Syadhyaya - one’s own study of the Self - the actual practice of being a student of joy. We have a portable paradise and we will also have a portable prison. Sometimes we feel like we don’t have a choice which one we’re in. When we keep yoga close, discover that it’s all your choosing. Be a connoisseur of attention. Feed the good wolf. Keep yoga close. There’s never been a better time than now.
Practice these suggestions:
Morning Meditation - Morning is the very best opportunity to set your course. Meditation can and will transform your life - a simple yet, profound truth. Wake up. Pee. Meditate. Sit in a comfortable seated position, be still, listen. Go for 20 minutes, but start with 5 or 10, make your way to 20. Then, throughout your day, at every red light, meditate. Put your phone down, turn off the radio, focus only on the light, breathe, watch it turn green.
Media - Fill your day with the teachings of luminaries. Podcasts, Youtube, etc. You can listen to Ram Dass, Alan Watts, Tara Brach, Eckhart Tolle, Abraham Hicks, Joe Despenza, Pema Chödrön, to name a few. And you will always find what you’re looking for. The immense ocean of visionary work that is at our fingertips is staggering. Drink, my friends.
Books - A physical book is a different experience than a podcast or even reading a book on a screen. The transmission of information integrates more organically into our being. The tactile nature fosters an intimacy with the subject. Reading books of a spiritual nature is a way to claim ownership.
“Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.” - Eleanor Roosevelt.
Uncommon Company - The teachings on gossip and it’s toxic nature are vast across many wisdom traditions. Practice minimizing how much talk is about other people - you and others. Become skillful at changing the subject when it starts to travel to negative town. Hang out with people who love ideas. Befriend those who have qualities that you admire. Stop complaining. Gossip, complaining, blame - when they begin, there is no ending - their hunger is insatiable and they only dim our light.
Enjoy Being In Your Body - Coming to yoga class is your one-stop shop to saturate yourself in the aforementioned. This where you are guided, acknowledged, nourished, encouraged, reminded, and immersed. It is our great privilege at Satsang to create a milieu that stimulates every aspect of your being; a physical, intellectual, emotional, and energetic tuning that gives direct access to bliss. There is no greater contributing factor to joy than feeling good in your body.
In Yoga we dwell,
Jeffrey
June 2025