Uncovering Happiness: Yoga, Winter, and the Journey Within
12/9/2024
“Happiness is the greatest skill we’ll ever learn.” – Katherine May
As I share a glimpse of what's on my mind and heart today, I invite you to pause. To sense into yourself from the space of the observer within—the witness self that simply watches. Allow a little more space and attention, beginning with your physical body. Adjust and meet yourself in your seat, as you know to do.
Now, perhaps tune into your heartbeat. Place a palm over your heart space. Offer yourself the gift of 10 rounds of breath. Maybe close your eyes. Return to the remembering within you—a touch of stillness.
Reconnect to the yoga of mind, body, and breath. Even if just for a moment, sense inward, embracing all your shades. If your heart could speak right now, what might it say? Perhaps it carries a longing that needs time, or maybe it has nothing to share in this moment. Whatever arises—or doesn’t—is welcome.
When you're ready, return your gaze outward.
For the yoga-curious, this sensing-in comes through the lens of the koshas—our layers of inward experience. If anything arose for you, you might jot it down. If not, that's perfectly okay too.
Last week, I spoke of drawing on this season's gifts: the luminosity of winter, Sagittarius’ purposeful fire, curiosity, expansion, and exploration. Today, let’s go deeper into the inquiry of happiness—what it means to each of us.
Through yoga, we learn that what we uncover isn’t always pleasant. While optimism and adaptability (vata’s upliftment) are powerful, we also cultivate bravery to meet the messy, undesirable, or painful. Yoga’s aim is to liberate the heart, and this often means moving through discomfort to arrive at a greater homecoming within ourselves.
Korean Zen Buddhist Haemin Sunim offers us a gentle reframe:
"What if the path to happiness is not bringing order to the mess of our lives, but instead relaxing amid the mess and rejoicing in its aliveness and beauty?"
And Katherine May reminds us:
"Happiness is the greatest skill we'll ever learn. It is not a part of ourselves that should be hived off into a dark corner—the shameful territory of the willfully naïve. Happiness is our potential. It is the product of a mind that’s allowed to think as it needs to. That has enough of what it requires. That is free of the terrible weight of bullying and humiliation."
These words invite us to consider happiness not as an indulgence or a fleeting state but as a profound potential within us. A mind and body in balance, resourced and free to meet life as it comes, can cultivate this potential.
I’m curious: What does happiness look like for you right now? How do you define or observe it in your life? Are there clear moments of happiness, or is it more elusive? Is it fleeting or infrequent? Can you invite the yama of satya—honesty with yourself—as you explore this?
In yoga therapy, we don’t seek to fix or judge but to get in touch, to see the possibilities. To move through and put wisdom into action (3rd chakra), gently and kindly, as we’re ready. This process can reveal insights about the patterns or adaptations that have helped us navigate our messy, beautiful lives. Some, ready to be seen and shed, others simply to be seen and let be as we uncover our lessons and return to self.
This week, let’s explore what happiness might look like in this season of our lives, knowing it evolves. My offerings will center on liberating the heart:
- Yin stillness practices to cleanse the liver meridians and open the heart.
- Warming flows to support the cold and winds of vata dosha.
- Moments of luminosity and quiet, woven through stillness and movement.
At the end of this week, my college classes pause for a winter break. I'll remain steadfast in my studio and online offerings- see a few highlights below! If yoga therapy is something you or someone you know feels called to explore, please reach out—I offer sliding-scale availability both virtually and online. I'd be so excited to support you or yours as we come into the new year.
Let’s keep clearing the body, mind, and spirit, staying curious and open as we move through winter.
Here with you in practice.
In love & light,
-Maya
In-Studio @ Yoyoyogi
Mon @ 6 PM – Mellow Monday: A 75-min integrated yin practice. here Tues 12/24 @ 5:30pm - Special Xmas Eve Sanctuary: 75 min gentle restore.
Online via Zoom
Tues & Thurs @ 8 AM PST / 11 AM EST – Gentle Morning Yoga: Rise, Move, Pause : 30 min Pay What You Want here - Off 12/17 , 12/31 & 1/2
Yoga Therapy
Complimentary discovery, intake, and 1st session here
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