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Yoga
October 2009 
"Only What is Freely Given"
Sanieh
One of the first yoga books I ever purchased was called "The Spirit Of Yoga". I was living in Hilo, Hawaii at the time where I first came to know and love this sacred practice that would later become a way of living. I remember the day and the selection my very first teacher, Cori, read to us and after class I made a mental note of the book and later found it on amazon.
To this day, I think about Cori and what she taught me in the year or so that I was given to be under her yogic guidance. In a way, I saw so much of myself in her. Really, what I was seeing was more of what I knew I could become- a fuller potential of sorts. We did look a lot alike but it was something deeper that intrigued me by this sweet soul. She was an honest expression of what it meant to live yoga...to be in her presence was to be a better individual for it.
When looking back, I've been quite blessed in that I've worked extensively and have studied under the guidance of true honest to goodness "householder" yogis and yoginis. Cori was the first. After Cori, when I attended my very first teacher training, I was able to be mentored by another well balanced yogi named Charles, and of course now Shiva, the optima of "living yoga". They are all different of course and there have been a few in between those mentioned here as well... some who are internationally known and others who should be.
Where was I? Oh yes, the book. So in seeking new inspiration for my practice, my own personal contemplation and of course my classes, I pulled out this book again to see what might jump out at me. There are some books I keep (the others I recycle passing on to student and teacher friends or trade etc...)- this for many reason and one of them is that I believe as we grown our filter is often changed out and what we receive, or are able to receive, is greater as well.
While flipping through pages, I came to the section in the Yamas ("Moral Principals" or "Ethical foundation for living one's life") as noted in Pantanjali's Eight fold path. I was reading and highlighting and making notes when I ended up on the page of Asteya or non- stealing. A few pieces in morsel form are found on this page from Rumi to Lao-Tzu yet what has really stuck were the words found in between the two...
"More than non-stealing,
Only taking what is freely given.
Only taking what we need.
Living Simply."
Only taking what is freely given. ONLY taking what is FREELY given. Initially I was thinking about the physical form that is asana and finding the Sukha, or ease in settling in the space with what is freely given and offered in our bodies on the given day. Without force. Without grasping or clinging to what we wish the body would do; only that which is given freely. Then this idea had me searching deeper in the grand scheme of yoga- the yoga off the mat. "Only taking what is freely given" I repeat to myself. FREELY Given. I remember the words Shiva once shared with me that the true test of yoga and where we are is to ask ourselves what our relationships are like... with children, friends, parents, partners, the planet, etc... I found myself thinking about personal relations, relationships across the board- how we sometimes "pull" for what isn't there. Sometimes we pulled or attach ourselves to what has yet to be offered or given freely; be it a stronger connection, trust, love, or companionship itself.
I was once involved with a man who had everything set up in his life, he had a plan. He was self-made and successful at that, seemingly happy loving life and loving LIVING it, had a handful of long-time friends who he adored and who adored him, thirst and hunger for what he wanted 10 years from now...you name it. His "thing" however, was relationships. In his own words "want vs. able" are two different thing." That was about his own experiences growing up and blockages, yet somehow and at some point, we must own those experiences for what they were- we all have them in some way, some have a list while others might have a grain... in some area of our lives if not in many! My purpose for sharing is this: one thing that I felt he knew in his bones that was a little more "advanced" when it came to rest of his perhaps "unadvanced" nature when it came to relationships was that he taught me no matter what we say or do, it should come from the space of wanting to say or do it as the GIVER- not to get something in return- I would not add, not to take what isn't freely given.
His examples later made me realize where I had taken a detour from genuine communication myself and later enabled me to reflect in my own experiences. How about this: How many times have you ever told someone, or been told "I love you(?)" ? You know, the way its said as though it's more of a question than a statement? Or when you (or someone else) said it- it was said pending a response? There are a few different things making the same thread here for me- what I learned and have carried and NOTED in relationships SINCE and the words of Asteya, non-stealing- taking only what is freely given.
It's all one in the same. These lessons and teachings are so valuable in the art of the body yet so extrodinary when taken into other areas. In teaching I was sharing some of this with the hopes that softening would take place in the bodies of those whchoose to shared Sadhana under my guidance. Over time, in some of their faces, (and perhaps in their intentions) made a noticeable shift while others were seemingly searching for the means to let go of the struggle. That's yoga. It doesn't happen over night- it happens only when we are ready to receive but when we do- the fruits are many.
"The Secret Waits For Eyes Unclouded By Longing."
LAO -TZO
Tao-Te-Ching
Love, Light, and Liberation,
Sanieh
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