“The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.” ~Kahlil Gibran
Ahhh…back to school. I’ve always loved this time of the year. Picking out interesting pens and pencils, the perfect Trapper Keeper and of course, new “school” shoes! The elementary school buildings all smell like a fresh box of 64 Crayolas while the high school gyms still smell, well, fresh. My life has always been dictated by the academic calendar. Even in my career I live and die by the first and last days of school. But as summer softly winds down, this time of the year also generates a yearning within to pause, dig deep and reflect. My brother said it best in a card he recently sent to me:
“As I rode the Towpath this morning, I was showered in falling leaves that had lost their summer green. It was a true sign that autumn is just days away. I always look forward to these transitional periods as they conjure great memories and create new opportunities…So here is to fall 2008. A time to wind down, draw our attention to inward reflection of ourselves, shed the old leaves we carry and reach an inner sense of calm and quiet…”
This is a wonderful time of the year to study, contemplate and understand the three gunas or qualities of nature in the context of our own lives:
Rajas: passion, dynamic activity, movement outward, external creativity;
Tamas: inertia, heaviness, darkness, obstinacy;
Sattva: balance, lightness, purity, movement toward the inner.
We are all mixes of the three gunas until we reach liberation. Some of us are a little more of one than the other. I tend to be (okay, I am) very rajasic…lots of activity, constantly moving and always questioning, wondering and considering. I am the one in class asking: How? Why? When? Will this be on the test? As you can imagine…seated meditation is extremely challenging for us rajasic types…I much prefer walking meditation.
Therefore, during this seasonal transition, I intend to devote more of my time looking inward…adding a bit more heaviness to life…getting grounded. I invite you to look inward, too and really explore what’s going on in there. Scary…I know!
As we go back to school this month and explore the gunas, we will consider how each rises and falls in our lives and in our asana practice; knowing when we might need more raja or when we need to pull back and let the tamas come forward, moving us toward eventual sattvic balance. Honor the divine teacher and student within you.
Ahhh…back to school. I’ve always loved this time of the year. Picking out interesting pens and pencils, the perfect Trapper Keeper and of course, new “school” shoes! The elementary school buildings all smell like a fresh box of 64 Crayolas while the high school gyms still smell, well, fresh. My life has always been dictated by the academic calendar. Even in my career I live and die by the first and last days of school. But as summer softly winds down, this time of the year also generates a yearning within to pause, dig deep and reflect. My brother said it best in a card he recently sent to me:
“As I rode the Towpath this morning, I was showered in falling leaves that had lost their summer green. It was a true sign that autumn is just days away. I always look forward to these transitional periods as they conjure great memories and create new opportunities…So here is to fall 2008. A time to wind down, draw our attention to inward reflection of ourselves, shed the old leaves we carry and reach an inner sense of calm and quiet…”
This is a wonderful time of the year to study, contemplate and understand the three gunas or qualities of nature in the context of our own lives:
Rajas: passion, dynamic activity, movement outward, external creativity;
Tamas: inertia, heaviness, darkness, obstinacy;
Sattva: balance, lightness, purity, movement toward the inner.
We are all mixes of the three gunas until we reach liberation. Some of us are a little more of one than the other. I tend to be (okay, I am) very rajasic…lots of activity, constantly moving and always questioning, wondering and considering. I am the one in class asking: How? Why? When? Will this be on the test? As you can imagine…seated meditation is extremely challenging for us rajasic types…I much prefer walking meditation.
Therefore, during this seasonal transition, I intend to devote more of my time looking inward…adding a bit more heaviness to life…getting grounded. I invite you to look inward, too and really explore what’s going on in there. Scary…I know!
As we go back to school this month and explore the gunas, we will consider how each rises and falls in our lives and in our asana practice; knowing when we might need more raja or when we need to pull back and let the tamas come forward, moving us toward eventual sattvic balance. Honor the divine teacher and student within you.
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