Guest Post by Brenda McMahon
We have reached the final tenant of the Yogic principles, the Yama’s & Niyamas. These life guidelines help keep us on track for how we treat others & ourselves – ‘off the mat’ so to speak. The 5th Niyama, Isvara pranidhana means, “Living with awareness of the Divine” or as others interpret it “to lay all your actions at the feet of God.” Either way, Isvara panidhana is an act of surrendering all attachment to the outcome of our actions and trusting that a higher power is guiding us.
The concept of surrender at first may seem meek & passive but it is in fact, a rigorous & challenging practice that is quite difficult. In this final Niyama we become acutely attuned to how we consciously & unconsciously hold on in a desperate attempt to control the outcome of our decisions, attachments, in effect, our lives.
To surrender to the awareness of the Divine or to lay your actions at the feet of God is to have faith that there is a guiding force that knows what is best for you in the long run. But that is only half the task. Along with faith, we are required to have the action to move forward and accept, even embrace, that which is brought to our doorstep. It is both a trust that your greatest good is being attended to and a commitment to walk into the unknown.
Isvara pranidhana is the ultimate relinquishing of the egoist attachment to the belief that you know what is best and to the acceptance that the way life unfolds may be part of a pattern too complex to understand. This is almost never easy, but when you find yourself there and you let go, the gifts are enormous.
How you get there, is through opening yourself to a daily contemplation in silence where you begin to receive that which is. In the silence, take notice of what you are feeling and ask to be guided. Be quiet, listen and soon you will hear or feel or know the answer. This does not happen quickly and, like anything, requires quiet meditation. It could be 5 to 15 minutes in the morning or 10 minutes two times a day. We could listen to chants that align us or sit in prayer.
We have moments to commit to this practice of surrender while we’re sitting in rush hour traffic, waiting in line at the grocery store or while walking our dog through the neighborhood. As with all of yoga, it is a practice that gets stronger with some regular routine and will slowly show up to shine a light of awareness on you in unsuspecting moments.
As with all of the Yamas & Niyamas, the Asana & breath work of yoga, I encourage you to be kind to yourself at each turn. Withhold judgment and honor each small step, no matter how unsteady it may feel. To surrender and let yourself be supported by the Divine is akin to relaxing in an ocean and letting the buoyancy of water support you. It is part practice and all trust.
Please join me for one more week where I will offer guidance and more on both Off the Mat and On the Mat Yoga.
The light in me bows to the light in you.
Namaste.
To access the entire 12 Part Yoga Series, click here.
Brenda McMahon is a full-time Ceramic Artist traveling nationally & internationally showing her artwork and teaching clay workshops. She creates meditative porcelain vessels and Yoga Oms in her private studio. Brenda is a passionate student of metaphysics and has been a Yogi for 10 years.
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