The Karuna Diaries - Week One

What have I learnt this week? I've learnt that as people, we are resilient and we rise up when faced with challenge and change. Yes it can be scary, and definitely uncertain, but we do rise up.

This week I've temporarily taken my yoga classes online. I've begun online classes for my regular clients and have been blown away by their support. Going online wasn't something I seriously considered until now, but needs must as we find ourselves in these curious times.

The word "yoga' means union - union of mind, body, breath and spirit. But also union with each other, as a community we've built up - some of us over many years. And also union with our wider world, with Mother Nature, with the Universe, with God.

Union of mind, body, breath and spirit
It's through our yoga practice and establishing, maintaining and deepening our regular practice - sadhana - that we find this union within ourselves. Allowing our mind to focus on the flow of our breath; allowing ourself to notice how our muscles feel; allowing ourselves to notice the speed and flow of our thoughts; all these things can bring us calm. This is the practice of pratyahara - bringing our awareness inwards.

Union with each other
When we come together to practice our yoga and meditation in a group, we feed off each others energy. That's satsang - being in the company of true people. So offering online classes, I really didn't know if this would be achievable. How can we really connect on an energetic level if we're not in the same room? But you know what I've learnt? That we absolutely can. We are all in this together. It's our choice to aim for togetherness and unity. And this is vyanu vayu at work - omnipresent energy. Together, our energy is strong, we can support each other, lift each other up and cultivate our collective inner strength.

Union with our wider world
Our beautiful planet earth. Following the initial "is this REALLY happening to us?" phase and the panic buying, we have now been forced to slow down. Many of us to stop. And for our beautiful planet, this can only be a good thing, There's less unnecessary travel, less consumerism, less destruction.
Mother Nature has offered us a massive "RESET" button and we must press this button firmly with both hands and an open heart. We can use this time to reassess how we want to move through the next phase of our lives.

Yes, these times are uncertain for us, and it's unprecedented how many times the word unprecedented has been used in the past unprecedented weeks. BUT, there's hope, there's opportunities to change, and there will always be love.

Value who you are. Value what you have to give to your family, your friends, your community, to society. Value what you have.

I learnt a new word this week - a sanskrit word - "karuna." It means compassion. So as corona tries to spread, let’s choose to spread karuna instead.

​Namaste.