I have become enamored recently with a book titled “I Am That”, a collection of talks with the twentieth century sage Sri Nisargadatta Maharaja. His awakening or enlightenment came after three years of meditating and contemplating “I am” or “Aham” in Sanskrit. Here is a beautiful passage from the book about working skillfully with with pleasure and pain on the yogic path. It is not pleasure and pain that cause suffering, but our attachment and aversion to them respectively. This passage elucidates that insight perfectly.

“What is wrong with seeking the pleasant and shirking the unpleasant? Between the banks of pleasure and pain, the river of life flows. It is only when the mind refuses to flow with life, and gets stuck at the banks, that it becomes a problem. By flowing with life I mean acceptance– letting come what comes, and go what goes.”

To view the full chapter from which this is excerpted, click on this link,  I Am That, and scroll down to “The Living Present”.

-Ben Vincent, One Yoga Instructor

Spring is upon us…at least theoretically. While it certainly has not sprung, all of the harbingers are here: patches of green grass, crocuses, tulips and daffodils piercing the surface of the soil, buds on the branches, and the perennial robin. Spring marks the death of winter, revealing what was not tended to before the snow fell, and what we used to make it through the dark and cold. There is something about the rebirth of spring that awakens within us a deep need to clean. It feels atavistic. We clean our homes. We clean our gardens and yards. We cut our hair. We clean and tune-up our bicycles and cars.

Yet how many of us actually clean our inner world of body, mind and heart? Why not take stock of all we have accumulated internally and non-materially, so that we can care for that which serves our well being, and let go of what does not? It is out of this very need to cleanse that Yoga evolved.

Cleansing practices were almost ubiquitous in pre-modern cultures and spiritual traditions, including Greece, Egypt, Native Americans (North, Central and South), and the modern day lands of China and India. Across cultures and lands, these cleansing techniques included some combination of:

• dietary restriction and/or fasting
• ritual offerings
• solitude for prayer, meditation and contemplation.

So it should come as no surprise that cleansing has always been a part of the yogic tradition. Two of the niyamas (fundamental self-observances) of yoga are Sauca (cleanliness, clarity) and Tapas (self-discipline, purifying heat).

The absence of cleansing, ritual, spirituality and solitude in our modern lives, has contributed largely to the popularity of yoga. The Hatha Yoga tradition, so well known for its asanas (postures), is intended to be a system of purification as preparation for deeper meditation. The Yogic way of living – a healthy diet, nourishing relationships, Asanas for bodily health, Pranayama (breathwork) to balance the nervous system, and meditation to clarify the mind – goes a long way toward maintaining optimal well-being. Even with a regular yoga practice, the ritual of cleansing and taking retreat is extremely important.

Simply by virtue of the world we live in, we are constantly “taking in”. We intake food and beverage. We intake environmental toxins. We intake information and nearly constant sensory stimuli. We intake thoughts, emotions and energy from those around us. All of these leave deep impressions on us. It is no wonder that when we sit to “meditate”, we often find the mind replaying past experiences, or needing to purge itself of over stimulation. With that same meditative awareness, we see that what we eat and drink for physical sustenance is often based in habitual coping patterns for unmet needs and desires, rather than a skillful approach to in-taking nourishment.

It is very difficult to see your own shadow. Particularly when those shadows manifest themselves as deeply engrained mental, emotional and behavioral patterns. Like a traveler who learns about their homeland while being away, cleansing and retreat are an opportunity to gain insight into ourselves, outside of the pressures of daily life. Likewise, by giving something up -even temporarily- we often see how and why we are attached to it. On all whole foods cleanse, it may become clear how we use caffeine, alcohol or processed foods to regulate our moods, and avoid actually feeling our deeper need for rest or release. By taking a break from multi-media, we can see how we often use the internet, movies & TV, and phones to pass idle time, or as a means of distraction or escape.

Here are a few ideas for cleansing & retreat:

1) Whole Foods Cleanse: For a minimum of one week, remove all caffeine, alcohol, dairy and processed foods from you diet. See how you feel, what crave and when. This will take planning and preparation and is best done under the supervision of a health professional with cleansing experience.

2) Multimedia Retreat: For a minimum of one week, remove all non-essential use of computers, TV’s, phones, music, magazines, newspapers and books. Explore which of these actually bring true pleasure, and which are simply used to pass the time.

3) Intentional Solitude or Silence: This can be done for as little as a day, but will have a deeper effect if given more time. Quietness and time alone, particularly in nature, is a wonderful means to reflect on our relationships and our life- and what we want to invest ourselves in.

There is nothing inherently wrong with all of the things we intake. The goal of cleansing is not necessarily to rid our lives of them. It is to see clearly how they affect us and why we choose them, so we can make choices that feed our aliveness. If a cleanse is done skillfully, it will almost certainly leave you feeling more alive and empowered. The practice of being without, is a powerful means to cultivate sauca (clarity) and tapas (willpower). With clarity, willpower and little bit of grace, there is not much standing between us and the life we really want.

Be Well,
Ben

You can email Ben at bvrocksteady@gmail.com with questions or comments.