The 4 Elements of an Alchemical Practice and Life

Beloved Yogis,

Teaching at Mission Street Yoga, Pasadena, 2009

Do you ever get on your mat with the desire to have a grounding and blissful experience, but instead end up being held hostage by a restless mind that just wont let you be?

I recently read that the majority of our thoughts are simply recycled from a limited repertoire that we return to again and again. Research shows that most of the time we are simply thinking the exact same thoughts we’ve had for the majority of our lives, over-and-over-and-over-again.

How can we lean into our yoga practice as a vehicle for real transformation?

These are the 4 core elements I’ve found to be the alchemical special sauce of yoga practice:

1) Concentration / Breath Awareness and Pranayama:
While on your mat, for the entirety of your yoga practice, keep your mind focused on breath awareness and patiently concentrate on the depth and duration of each breath. In general, longer exhales lead to deeper inhales, which is a useful thing to know.

2) Stay close to the inner longing for (or feeling of) devotion and love.
Feel your longing to return to the inner abode of the Self. Connect to Source within you and stay close. Let source flow through your body and allow yourself to be with Source, for the duration of your practice.

3) Persevere.
Keep at it, keep returning to your mat, to your breath, to your longing/aspiration, and to class.

4) Surrender.
Understand that satisfying the whims of your ego and small/temporary self will not bring you lasting happiness, peace, or reconciliation with your karmic debt and liberatory possibility.

In love and perseverance right there with you,
In the frustrations of bondage
and the bliss of practice,

Natasha.