� e Monthly Aspectarian

the feeling that brings you back to your
next class looking for more!
The physical practice may be
superseding the purpose of yoga, which
is to quiet your mind and connect with
your Self. It is as if you are seeking the
most precious gem in the world, which
is buried just beneath the earth and you
continue to only look within the grass.
If you knew that this priceless gem was
just inches below you, would you dig
and fi nd it?
The initial contact with
Consciousness is available to you in
every pause in your life and your spine
is the conduit of Consciousness. It’s
just like turning on a lamp; the energy
begins to fl ow from the base into the
light bulb to illuminate the room. When
you connect to Consciousness, you
awaken the energy from the base of the
spine and the energy rises to illuminate
the higher sense of your true form, your
Svarupe.
If you do a more subtle practice
such as Svaroopa ® yoga, fully supported
poses are aligned for spinal release
and awareness is cultivated. A basic
tenet of Svaroopa ® is “Support equals
Release.” You support yourself with soft
blankets and simple blocks. In this safe,
supported space, you allow the release
of bodily tension surrounding the spine.
In this practice, more time is taken in
each pose, which then allows for more
pauses. Awareness is cultivated in every
pose to experience the change and
transformation. The opportunity to drop
into Consciousness is there in every
pose.
In Patanjali’s yoga sutras, mostly
a book about working with the mind,
physical postures are referred to only a
few times as they are not as important
as quieting the mind. In one sutra, it
states, “Asana or poses are to be steady
and comfortable.” (Sutra 2.46) Asana
here refers to a seated posture. The
physical poses of yoga are to prepare
your body for a steady seated posture
with an upright spine in preparation
for meditation. Meditation techniques
are used to quiet the mind. When you
quiet your mind you abide in the bliss
of your own true form, also known as
Consciousness.
In Svaroopa ® yoga, the spine and
body are well supported to enable
a steady and comfortable posture
for meditation. You can try this for
yourself.
Sit in the middle of a stack of
blankets, high enough to make your
thighs level with each other and parallel
to the fl oor. Your legs are crossed at the
shins.
Place a “wedge” of another blanket
tucked under the fl eshy part of your
buttocks to assist your spine to stay in
an upright position.
Use rolled blankets under your
knees to stabilize your whole body.
Then sit in the steady quiet, notice
the pause, become aware of your
breath and notice the pauses between
the inhale and the exhale. If your mind
becomes active, gently bring it back to
the pauses of the breath.
In this solidly supported pose, your
sit bones at the base of your pelvis are
the prongs of the lamp plug. Seated
fi rmly on your sit bones, the energy
begins to move from the tailbone at
the base of your spine up through the
crown of your head. You may feel a
sense of heaviness as you drop into
your inner Self and then an immediate
lightness as this contraction of
Consciousness becoming you expands
out into the Universal Consciousness.
There is a constant play of energy that
you become aware of and you begin to
Svaroopa ® yoga a radically new approach to yoga!
Healthy Body, Peaceful Mind
April 22nd-­‐23rd Weekend Yoga Workshop
**Coming to the Chicago area**
Vidyadevi Stillman
the world’s top Svaroopa ® yoga trainer
Pain Clinic, Workshops & more
April 25th-­‐28thin Lisle, Antioch & DeKalb
Foundations of Svaroopa ® yoga
Teacher Training In Antioch, IL June 21st – 25 th
* Monthly Sound Healing Sessions * ½ day Workshops
* Ayurveda Courses *Meditation Courses
*Privates & more
recognize that you are so much more
than the person whom you identify with
in this lifetime. This balances all of the
chakras or energy centers in the spine
and connects you to Consciousness,
the knowledge of your true form, your
Divine essence, Shiva, God, Infi nite
Being.
Yoga, done with awareness to
cultivate Consciousness, can dissolve
the veil of forgetfulness to illuminate
your Self. Every time you go to
your yoga mat, have the intention of
exploring the pauses. notice where they
are and search into them to fi nd the
priceless gem that is waiting for you to
recognize. The fi rst step to living your
life from Consciousness is to become
aware of your true form, your inner
light or divine energy and recognize
it in the quiet moments of your yoga
practice.
Yoga Rhythms Studio
6450 College Road
Lisle 60532
www.Yoga-­‐Rhythms.com
630-­‐778-­‐5991
What people are saying
about Svaroopa ® Yoga
Relaxing, centering,
Amazing, peaceful, open
from the inside out!
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