Cultivate stillness in your body and mind.
Between poses and between movements, bring your
attention to the quiet stillness within you. After per-
forming your set of yoga postures, sit alone in silent
meditation for approximately twenty minutes. By
quieting the mind in meditation, you will learn to
directly experience the field of pure awareness, where
everything is inseparably connected with everything
else.
During your postures and during each day, practice
shifting into a witnessing mode of awareness.
Observe from the inner stillness of your soul the
dynamic activity of the world. Take time each day to
commune with nature and silently witness the intelli-
gence within every living thing. Watch a sunset, listen
to the sound of the ocean or a stream, or simply smell
the scent of a flower. From the peace of your inner
silence and through your communion with nature,
you will experience joy and reverence for the eternal
movement of life in all its manifestations.
Practice nonjudgment. While performing your
yoga postures, relinquish the need to judge your abil-
ity. Begin each session with the statement, “Today, I
shall judge nothing that occurs,” and remind yourself
that self-acceptance is the source and goal of yoga.
When you are constantly making judgments, includ-
ing of yourself, as things being right or wrong, good or
bad, you create turbulence in your internal dialogue,
which constricts the flow of energy between you and
the field of pure potentiality. Nonjudgment cultivates
silence in the mind, which gives you direct access to
the field of pure potentiality.