Deliberately Choosing A New Experience Through Sadhana
If I may, I’d like to say something bold: if you don’t have a spiritual path and/or are not consistently doing your practices, you’re likely operating from an egoic default mode in life. In Buddhism, the root of all suffering is egocentricity.
Your daily practice (Sadhana) is where you check-in with your body and psyche. It is where you go to find your Self. It is where you undress yourself from the masks you wear. It is the place where you grow capacity in your nervous system. It is the newly tilled, fertile ground from which consciousness expands. It is the place where you practice living.
As I moved through Asana, pranayama and meditation today, what was enunciated was how strong my resistance was. How much my mind wanted to distract. It wanted to get away from the tightness in my hips, the virus moving through me, the ache of grief pounding in my heart. I didn’t like how I felt. The discomfort showed in my body, mind, heart and soul. But I waited, watched and resisted: the myriad ways in which we can be distracted in our society is absurd.
I stay with my practice because I know when I do, I reach a point where my thinking mind (ego) begins to release its grip and my breath becomes my primary vehicle. This is where pranic energy takes over. It is a tremendous gift of nectar from the subtle body, but one that is hard-won for it requires that I have a relationship with my resistance. And, your resistance IS your ego. It unconsciously creates a story of protection to save you from the so-called threat. But, this protection also prevents you from growing. It keeps you stuck in repeating - sometimes maddening - patterns.
Most of us are operating on autopilot. In neuroscience, this is called The Default Mode Network (DMN). When we disrupt our DMN, we are in the process of creating a new neuropathway. We must disrupt the default mode to potentiate change (neuroplasticity). Just by virtue of committing and sticking to a daily practice you are disrupting the default mode network.
If you have found yourself in a back and forth struggle in life with: relationships, weight, food, substance, jobs, finding purpose, etc., you’re likely going to the same well via the unconscious threads of a well-worn neuropathway.
The ego calls us to utilize external sources to move through life’s vicissitudes. This is the cheap route and it only creates more suffering.
The soul beckons us to utilize our bodies, our inner pharmacy, to move gracefully and sustainably through life. This is the conscious route and it only creates more expansion.
Our AoH membership forum is in the works and on the way soon! There, we will have many practices and tools to add to your Sadhana. Stay tuned!