Breaking out of our Habits

Practicing yoga is a way to break our habit cycles and influence the direction of change in our lives. It's a slow and ongoing process. There is no end to self-development. It's work, step by step. The gift of yoga is that you don't have to jump to the top of the ladder. In fact, you can't; no one can. Just take the first step up. Don't worry about the last step. What is right there in front of you is the next step. So then the next step becomes obvious, achiveable. But if you try to figure out how to get to the top, you may become discouraged and stop trying.

We all reach points, both in yoga practice and in other areas of life where we think, "I give up." We feel it is all too much, we don't have the energy, we are in a rut, we can't move forward. This is a normal experience of being human. What's important is to find ways to move forward anyway, to break out of our rut, to challenge our habits.

Svadhyaya
The word "svadhyaya" comes from two Sanskrit words: sva, meaning "yourself", or "that which you really are", and adhyaya, meaning "to move forward, to go in the direction of, or return to". Svadhyaya means to move in the direction of your true self, to return to who you really are.
Svadhyaya implies knowing who you are in each present moment, and understanding what is best in your relationships with your partner, children, parents, teachers, students, employees, employers, etc. In asana practice, it's being present with the practice. Svadhyaya is being in "right relationship" with whatever is present.

Svadhyaya is also a form of meditation. Some popular forms of meditation practices have emphasized one-pointedness, or attention, which help us cultivate a focused mind; however, that doesn't necessarily help us resolve our behavior or relationship patterns. We need to challenge ourselves to do that. Thinking of our highest ideals for the world and the way creatures in it are treated, we must look honestly at ourselves and our actions to see if they support our ideals. If they do not, we must practice the yoga of right speech and right action to align ourselves. Alignment in speech and action is just as important as physical alignment on the mat. And when we falter, we try to remain compassionate with the self.

Svadhyaya has to do with self reflection and the journey into who we truly are. Ishvara Pranidhana deals with attitudes and it manifests in the way we handle situations. Do we have an attitude of openness & acceptance? Do we have the internal strength and stability to maintain that attitude of openness in our hearts, even in the midst of suffering and change? We see people every day that naturally possess this heart-opening and connecting ability, and because of that, they are able to be there and help others. Suffering does not have to close us off. It can help us open, to heal self and other. We can break out of the habits of suffering and negativity, and learn how to extend accptance and joy to everyone we meet, in any situation.