Yoga
October 2008 
Renunciation
Posted on Feb 15th, 2007
by 
Sanieh
Sanieh
I had an amazing moment of a micro awakening the other night...
I got it in my head that I would get rid of the contents of my living space, to sort of free the space in my mind if you will. On some level, there's always been something in the bones to want to "let go"... every so often, I go into my belongings and like to get rid of/pass on clothes, books, "stuff". This experience was deeper, more profound however...
I had listed pretty much everything in my living room to sell and within a few days, someone inquired about my sofa. In the end, he bought my entire living room himself (made things easy on my part!) When I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING! He even wanted my alter! Well, the table that held the contents of the alter that is. I knew I was going to let that go too at some point (sidebar note: a box of any kind covered with lovely material with alter items on top serves the same exact purpose and looks the same!) I just didn't know it was going to be on this night! So now, all that remains is the lamp and the alter items...OKAY and the stuff that is on the floor that was in the table drawers, on the soft etc... but that's beside the point of the story!
The amazing jewel that has come from this is that immediately following the removal of the TV and all that goes with it, the furniture...just having the empty space, I immediately was drawn inward; more so than I have ever felt being in my living space. I've just felt different inside and even getting up to meditate has become more natural. The empty space where I live has created some emptiness in my mind-space.There have been deeper levels of appreciation and benefits to renouncing these items and it's made me feel lighter inside as a result.
The practice of renunciation can start with smaller things though. We can go through the closet and really ask ourselves what we should keep and what we should clean out. It's easy to toss what we know we don't WANT, but from what do we label our identity? It's certainly not the TV or what we wear just as it's not my identity in having an empty living room. That's just what I've chosen.
When I was a teenager and always grounded to the confines of my room ;) my mother use to tell me to "Clean your room. It's like cleaning out your soul." Back then I thought she was nuts! What I have found for myself to be true now is that at the very least, going through the closet alone has such potential to clean the clutter of the mind. Again, this is just in my experience.
So as we approach SPRING and the Vernal Equinox, we approach the time to consider cleaning. Cleaning our living space, cleaning up what we put into our bodies, cleaning up and releasing negative residue from the past year... all of it. In my research to find out all that I can about this transition in season, finding/creating the best spring cleanse and detox for myself, in my body and life experience I feel that we owe it to ourselves to consider how we will shed our winter coat come spring.
~What am I grateful for?
~What do I want to bring into my life experience?
~What do I want to let go of?
May the brightest light shine on...
Sanieh
www.saniehyoga.com
"In every seed is the promise of thousands of forest. But the seed must not be hoarded; it must give it's intelligence to the fertile ground." Deepack chopra
I got it in my head that I would get rid of the contents of my living space, to sort of free the space in my mind if you will. On some level, there's always been something in the bones to want to "let go"... every so often, I go into my belongings and like to get rid of/pass on clothes, books, "stuff". This experience was deeper, more profound however...
I had listed pretty much everything in my living room to sell and within a few days, someone inquired about my sofa. In the end, he bought my entire living room himself (made things easy on my part!) When I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING! He even wanted my alter! Well, the table that held the contents of the alter that is. I knew I was going to let that go too at some point (sidebar note: a box of any kind covered with lovely material with alter items on top serves the same exact purpose and looks the same!) I just didn't know it was going to be on this night! So now, all that remains is the lamp and the alter items...OKAY and the stuff that is on the floor that was in the table drawers, on the soft etc... but that's beside the point of the story!
The amazing jewel that has come from this is that immediately following the removal of the TV and all that goes with it, the furniture...just having the empty space, I immediately was drawn inward; more so than I have ever felt being in my living space. I've just felt different inside and even getting up to meditate has become more natural. The empty space where I live has created some emptiness in my mind-space.There have been deeper levels of appreciation and benefits to renouncing these items and it's made me feel lighter inside as a result.
The practice of renunciation can start with smaller things though. We can go through the closet and really ask ourselves what we should keep and what we should clean out. It's easy to toss what we know we don't WANT, but from what do we label our identity? It's certainly not the TV or what we wear just as it's not my identity in having an empty living room. That's just what I've chosen.
When I was a teenager and always grounded to the confines of my room ;) my mother use to tell me to "Clean your room. It's like cleaning out your soul." Back then I thought she was nuts! What I have found for myself to be true now is that at the very least, going through the closet alone has such potential to clean the clutter of the mind. Again, this is just in my experience.
So as we approach SPRING and the Vernal Equinox, we approach the time to consider cleaning. Cleaning our living space, cleaning up what we put into our bodies, cleaning up and releasing negative residue from the past year... all of it. In my research to find out all that I can about this transition in season, finding/creating the best spring cleanse and detox for myself, in my body and life experience I feel that we owe it to ourselves to consider how we will shed our winter coat come spring.
~What am I grateful for?
~What do I want to bring into my life experience?
~What do I want to let go of?
May the brightest light shine on...
Sanieh
www.saniehyoga.com
"In every seed is the promise of thousands of forest. But the seed must not be hoarded; it must give it's intelligence to the fertile ground." Deepack chopra
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