Saucha – Purity and Cleanliness – I hear it tossed around as simple as that and I, myself have, and still do from time to time, like to keep things more simple. But, the translation of Saucha which is the first Niyama, Niyama is the second limb in the 8 limbs of yoga and how we caretake ourselves is this, “By purifications arise disgust for one’s own body”. Not sexy, like I present on Instagram. I don’t see many folks presenting these things, only the things that are of ease and comfort.
This has been speaking to me a lot lately and I’ve been finding myself, on and off the mat, in some uncomfortable places that I have not been for a while but the clarity around this niyama is becoming a gift of abundance and actually, a necessity for daily practices to cleanse and purify.
First, I want to share with you the uncomfortableness. Without sugar coating it, I’m not, like many others, happy with what’s happening in the world right now and the more that occurs, the less I've known which direction to turn to help others. I've found myself paralyzed. It’s not just political. It’s all the antics of mother nature and her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Hurricane and Flood, Tornado, Cyclones, Fires and warning, the Tsunamis might come for a visit tonight and don’t forget the Earthquakes and Tremors, over 800 tremors a day for the last 10+ days in Bali. What did mama nature eat. What can we do? What did I do and what am I doing?
Well, I had to get really honest. I’m angry. Once I recognized that, I saw that my practices had drifted a little and I saw the connection of by practicing and not practicing, purification, disgust for my own body arose. It has to come out somewhere and we have yoga. So here I am, practicing yoga on the mat and watching the rough waves crashing on a rocky shore. I’m meditating and sometimes I have less than loving thoughts for others. I’m back to neti pot and I have a new copper tongue scraper (thank you Bess Prescott at Creature Yoga, Byron Bay).