Dear friends💜
In preparation for Passover, the holiday that represents freedom. A journey from bondage to liberation I was thinking what freedom really is.
Does freedom mean we get to do whatever we wish, whenever we wish?
Is freedom the ultimate goal or just a means to find happiness?
In my understanding freedom correlates with discipline.
Only when we have structure in our lives can we experience freedom which then leads to lasting happiness.
Discipline in our yoga practice is Tapas, the third Niyama. The Niyamas are the second limb of the “Eight Limbs of Yoga” from the ancient Indian sage Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. The Niyamas refer to duties directed towards ourselves – inner observances.
In Sutra 2.43 Patanjali writes: “Kaya indriya siddhih asuddhiksayat tapasah” – Self discipline (tapas) burns away impurities and kindles the sparks of divinity.
Tapas means the continuity of the practice, igniting inner fire in order to keep going, to stay on our spiritual path…Then freedom can be experienced. A state of mind that is free from compulsions, from addictions, from harmful activities and unwholesome thoughts.
On Friday night I hosted friends for the Shabbat dinner. One friend has been sober for 17 years and said that structure and maintenance are an ongoing work.
One lady at the Senior living housing came to my yoga session declaring that she already stretched and exercised. Saying that she has to and every day…otherwise she gets stiff.
And so freedom is a movement from constriction to expansion. In our bodies, in our minds, in our lives, so we can actually move from bondage to liberation.