Yoga Wise: 365 Days of Yoga-Inspired Teachings to Transform Your Life by Molly Chanson

Author:Molly Chanson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: CVR08022022, yoga, yoga wise, yoga book, yoga books, yoga through the year, daily yoga, daily yoga teachings, daily yoga practice, daily yoga practices, molly chanson, molly hanson
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
Published: 2023-03-15T16:45:30+00:00

[contents]

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39. Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, 1.

40. Tolle, A New Earth, 183.

41. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, 47.

42. Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart, 11.

Practice 7

Ungrasping (Aparigraha)

Sanskrit words have multiple meanings, and sometimes, the meaning cannot even be sufficiently translated into an English word. Aparigraha, for example, translates to “nonattachment,” “nonpossessiveness,” and my favorite—“ungrasping.” We really don’t have common words in English that mean the same as aparigraha because our culture does not practice the concept. Our cultural norm is to amass great wealth, status, and possessions in order to feel fulfilled. The closest we have to an English translation of aparigraha, which encompasses all its meanings, is “to let go.” To practice aparigraha does not mean we stop having expectations, goals, dreams, or desires. It means we learn how to detach from a particular image or outcome in order to experience fully what is and to welcome in boundless possibility.

Day 184

What does it mean to ungrasp? To loosen our grip, to stop hanging on so tightly? I picture the ropes course I did in high school where I teetered on a single rope strung high between two trees. There were ropes of different lengths hanging above me to help me get across. But in order to reach the next rope, to progress along the tightrope and make it to the other side, I had to briefly let go of the rope behind me. There was simply too much distance for my arms to grab both ropes at the same time. As much as I tried, I could not get to the next rope on the line without first letting go of the one behind me.

For a moment, I was suspended. For a moment, I had no rope to hold on to for balance. For a moment, I had to trust. This is the practice of aparigraha. It is to feel fulfilled and trusting—even when we have nothing solid to attach to. Most of our grasping comes from a desire for permanence. We feel something uplifting, like new love or swelling pride from an accomplishment, and we want the feeling to last forever. So, we cling to the fear that we will lose the feeling, and we try to manufacture it over and over again. We refuse to let go or loosen our grip, even when letting go of the past is what we need to progress forward.

Day 185

I have always wanted a map to fall into my lap and tell me what to do, especially when I am in turmoil. The Eight Limbs of Yoga actually offer a pretty detailed design for living a complete and fulfilled life. Each limb is a guide and a practice on the road to enlightenment. The first limb contains the five yamas, yoga’s five moral restraints that shift our thoughts. Aparigraha is one of the five yamas, an ethical practice that helps us experience more joy and less turmoil. The five yamas are nonviolence, truth, nonstealing, nonexcess, and nonattachment (aparigraha).

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