Offering Light and Sharing Wisdom
“Don’t just do something, sit there. ”
Dear Community,
This is the time of year when many of us begin to feel tired. Yes, the shortened amount of sunlight contributes to this biologically, but I also see this as a time for us to slow down psychologically and recognize how much we've done this year. It's a beautiful time of year to reflect on our accomplishments and celebrate another year of life. I know for many this has been a particularly hard time but I hope that you can hold the difficult alongside the joyous, remembering the fullness and gift of life itself.
This year I had the great privilege of studying with some incredible yogis and spiritual teachers in Bali, Indonesia. For at least a decade I've wanted to take a deeper dive into the ancient wisdom of yoga. As with many experiences, you don't really know what you're getting into until you're actually in it, and this proved to be the case for my yoga teacher training. There were so many breathtakingly beautiful moments---daily pre-dawn pranayama and yoga, walking along the rice paddy fields alone in Ubud at dawn, witnessing pro-level surfers in Uluwatu while trying not to get my belongings stolen from the local monkeys, receiving the most enlightening teachings on yogic history and philosophy, dancing with abandon with my community. There were moments of transcendence that my words cannot capture.
I've had a few months now since returning to New York to attempt to process and integrate this experience. Some of the teachings are percolating still while others I'm trying to implement in my life and share with my community. My beloved teacher Manish Pole shared his unique wisdom and experiences while living with his guru in an Indian ashram and while trekking through the Himalayas. One of his most powerful teachings for me was on the chakras, the energy systems that allegedly run through our bodies. I was reminded of American psychologist Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, an idea that has been popularized by the colorful pyramid model. At the base of the pyramid are our basic, biological needs, followed by our primal needs for safety and security, moving up to a sense of belonging, love, and connection in the middle of the pyramid, upward towards self-esteem, confidence, and power. The uppermost part of the pyramid is referred to as self-actualization where we can ultimately discover deeper meaning and our true purpose in life.
There are striking similarities with the chakra system which also details the need for security and safety at the base or root chakra and which depicts the transcendent at the uppermost crown chakra, where we are able to self-actualize and ascend, or return home to, our true nature. What feels more important than ever now are the inter-relational ways we connect with others based on our own level of personal growth, which is often neglected with common chakra teachings. For instance, the root chakra represents our need for security. And if we haven't met our own need for security or didn't get this need met while we were children, then we will likely try to be in relationships with others to have that need for security met. You can see how this could create the perfect ground for deep insecurity in partnerships, not only romantic, but also with platonic friends and even at work.
The sacral chakra represents our need for pleasure. While this could be a life-long need, the concept that I find intriguing is that we will seek only pleasure rather than deep connection or true love from others until we learn how to fulfill this need on our own. Many of us get stuck at this level, seeking fun experiences with friends that lack a certain depth that we often long for.
The solar plexus chakra is linked to our sense of self worth and our source of power. If we are unable to feel this power we might end up in relationships with others where we create power struggles, either trying to take dominion over others or submitting and diminishing our own power or self-worth.
We arrive next at the heart chakra, our center of love, compassion, and connection. Many people believe that they live from this center, but it's important to ask ourselves if every decision we make in life comes from pure love, without conditions. When we are truly living from our heart chakra we are living in love and from love. We spread loving kindness in every connection we have. We radiate compassion for others and act in accordance with this compassion. We are devoted to love and loving everyone, with no exceptions. We don't try to change others for our benefit. We don't engage in power dynamics and we don't live out our fears and insecurities. We just love.
In our next newsletter, I'll pick back up on the upper chakras, which are thought to connect us to our spiritual energy and return us to our true Self and pure consciousness. For now, it might be useful to contemplate how you are living with or without certain primal needs and when you are playing those needs out in relation to others. And, as always, to remember to be self-forgiving and forgiving of others as we will all inevitably get things wrong at times.
You can ask yourself:
Am I able to sense security and safety in this situation?
How have I been following my own needs for pleasure and excitement?
Am I able to feel into my source of power without exerting that force onto another?
Am I willing to love without conditions?
In continued gratitude,
Brynne
