Diving In: The Education of Self-Reflection

“Death is known only through dying and truth is known only through diving deep within oneself.”

― Maitreya Rudrabhayananda

It is always at the end of a teacher training or an intense stretch of teaching without a break that I feel the most craving for simply being a student, to explore the education of myself and my Self, and refill my pranic stores. As teachers we expend tremendous amounts of time and energy not only planning our classes, but exploring ourselves in order to have something to offer.

We work to shake off the perceived stagnation and lack of growth when we can't step on the mat as often as we'd like. We work to embrace the feeling that what we have to offer is enough, good enough, worthy of being offered. We work on ourselves, our education — through our 8-limbed yoga practice and our teaching practice — so that we can guide students through the murky waters of self-understanding and self-reflection.

Murky waters, indeed.

The term self-reflection is thrown around quite a bit in yoga and meditation circles. The imagery most often associated with self-reflection is looking into a mirror, or gazing into a reflecting pool. And while this may serve the mental imagery, what gets lost is the action. We're not actually sitting in front of, and gazing into, a mirror or body of water when we’re taking practice or sitting in meditation.

Unless, of course, you actually are in front of a mirror, but that’s a tangent I’ll digress from at the moment.

The mirror is our practice, our body of water is our mind, our gazing is inward. We must do the work in order to polish the mirror and still the waters so that we can actually see something, anything — pleasant or unpleasant. Sometimes what no longer serves us is pleasant and difficult to release, and what still serves us is unpleasant and difficult to keep.

Our practice helps us to release (polish away) what no longer serves us, but we have to dive in. A toe in the water only cleanses the toe. Fully immerse in the journey to the center of your Self and observe wherever that takes you, without judgement or fear. Allow the waters of clarity, tranquility, and awareness to wash over you as you submerge into the oceanic depths.

I invite you this summer to enjoy a bit of summer education in the school of Self. An opportunity to submerge, an invitation to dive in. 

— Sara