The final niyama, Īśvara-pranidhāna, can be understood as devotion to God, connection to the unknown, connection to the Universe, etc. This practice is of the utmost importance for aspirants along the path of yoga.
It’s extremely important to note that Īśvara is a completely neutral Sanskrit word for God. Patañjali is not asking yogis to follow his God, or any specific religion. In fact, Patañjali is guiding the aspirant to connect to something of their own choosing, which is greater than themselves.
Īśvara-pranidhāna is the practice of complete surrender of oneself to a higher power. Surrender in thought, action and deed without expectations of personal benefit or reward. Devotion and surrender to God leads to a more open heart chakra and allows Prāṇa to flow freely and unrestricted along the central channel of the body.
As an ongoing exercise, continue to journal and meditate on what devotion to God means to you. And, when is it necessary to practice Īśvara-pranidhāna? Can your posture practice be a tool to connect to and understand God?
We have been exploring each of the Yamas (mahāvrata) as well as the Niyamas and trying to understand how we can start to integrate the lessons of these guidelines in our posture practice and our daily lives. Share how you’re experiencing and practicing truthfulness today and everyday with our Ashtanga community and read what others are learning by following #yogafoundationschallenge on IG.
Through the lens of our practice, we can start to view our patterns and reactions as a means to known them and adapt/change them as needed. I encourage you to practice with extra care over the next few weeks and journal about your experience on and off the mat. This will give you an additional tool to process the ideas and concepts we’ll explore throughout the challenge.
Tag @bellapranayoga in each entry along with #yogafoundationschallenge and #bellapranaashtanga to be entered in a drawing to win:
- Mysore Practice Rug
- Yogi Assignment by Kino MacGregor
- 4 oz bottle of Mahanarayan Oil
- PLUS 10% off workshops with Ajay Tokas in July 2020
See the remaining schedule below and follow the tag #yogafoundationschallenge on Instagram to hear experiences from our community as well as share your own. Now, you take practice 🙂
