In this writing I will expand a bit more on Adikara from a previous post. Adikara is a Sanskirt word and in the world of Anusara Yoga it is translated to mean “Studentship”. To break this down further ‘Adi’ means “with respect to” and ‘kara’ means ” to do” or “Karma”.  So, Adikara means “with respect to doing”.

We all have gifts. We all have something unique and special to offer the world in this lifetime. No one is excluded from this. We have been gifted with embodiment. Our work is to discover and receive our unique gifts and bring our efforts, our studentship to them.

Ask yourself:

What is your heart’s desire?

What is your aspiration? What do you aspire to?

These questions bring us in connection with our inherent greatness. We manifest our greatness to the degree that we chose to. We manifest a graceful navigation through challenging yoga poses and challenging parts of life to the degree that it carries meaning for us. Therefore Adikara becomes Aspiration plus Commitment.

What you aspire to in your personal yoga practice and in your practice of life, is going to take commitment, is going to take effort, is going to take studentship. We were born with everything we need for our own fulfillment. How important this is to you, will ultimately influence your level of commitment.

Why do you practice? What does it mean for you?
What are you willing to do to achieve your aspirations?

You have to become, fully embody that greatness that you already are inside.

Instead of becoming a victim to your life, your circumstances, you let every experience in life empower you to be more of who you truly are. Allow each challenge to inspire you to embody more of your greatness. Then everyone wins because the people around you get to benefit from receiving your gifts and your offering and you get to be more of you.

Notice what role you possess with your family, your friends, your co-workers. Not the ones you’ve been given title to, but the ones that naturally occur. What gift do you possess that you can give? And give it more freely, more fully and more bravely.

It’s not about doing what you can’t realistically do…in a yoga pose or in life. It’s about aspiring to the greatest possibility of what you CAN do.

Namaste~
Daniella Cotreau

The arrival of Fall brings so much to our lives that sometimes in the busy-ness of life we can easily overlook. I keep hearing from so many people that this time of year is their favorite: with the milder and perfect temperatures, the softer rays of Sun and the beginning of the turning of the leaves. This time of year is also one of the most noticable transitions as we quickly change from hot indian summer days to cooler days and nights. We change from being very outward in our expression, energy and creativity to starting the process of slowing down and turning into the cave of the heart as winter’s hibernation time is just on our heels. We must remember that we are a part of nature and the changes that come with it. We are not separate from these seasonal changes. The more we either resist or deny this fact the more difficult this transition can be and as a result feel more irritability, less patience, ungroundedness and a lowered immune system. To best support ourselves during this seasonal change is to simpy honor the change. Give your body more rest when it wants it. Start eating more warm cooked foods and herbal teas and less raw food and cold drinks. Start building your immune system for winter to avoid colds and flu. Vit C, Wellness Formula and Astragalas root tincture are some of my favorite immune tonics to avoid becoming sick during winter. You can find them at your local Whole Foods Market.
I love this time of year as it is a time of self-nurturing and contemplation. I truly value the times of year when we can slow down and take care of your body, heart and soul. It is a wonderful time to study, read and journal. To attend to the things at home you did not have a chance to from the active outward summer days. It is the perfect time to decide what seeds you wish to plant for yourself, in your life, that will be percolating over the winter months and ready to birth into being come spring again.
Your yoga practice should also reflect these changes. Maintaing regularity is a given and even the intensity can remain the same and yet allowing the intensity to take a different form.
In other words, instead of going for the full-powered sweaty workout, let the intensity shift to what you are focused on while in each and every pose. Send your attention into deeper refinement of a pose and take a pose you already know to the next level. As a result, a new opening will occur in your body.
Try practicing in this way over the next few months, focusing the intensity of the practice to finding a softer, more spacious, more open self. And when the fiery months of summer come back around again, you will find that getting into those more challenging poses is with greater enjoyment and ease because of the inner work you did over the months of turning inside.
And if we can do it on the mat, we can do it in Life. When we traverse a challenging pose with more grace, we can traverse a more challenging situation with that same grace as well.
Anusara Yoga is about aligning with Nature. When we are in alignment with the natural cycles of life, what is natural to being human, we are happy and free. And when we are not, there is suffering.
We can learn so much from nature.
Just like the trees so effortlessly let go of all their leaves, they remind us to let go of our attachments…the things that we are so hard pressed to get, have or experience…and relax more into simply Being.

May our hearts continue to blossom in this time of self-reflection and slowing down.

Blessings of Autumn to you…
Daniella Cotreau~

ANUGRAHA: non-grasping ADIKARA: Studentship

Most of us have heard of the Hindu Deity called Ganesh. He is the round bellied elephant headed boy who rides atop a mouse and is often referred to as the “remover of obstacles.” He is often placed at the entry way to any home, temple, or space in which we want to keep safe from harm. This hindu deity, like all the hindu deities, is a powerful symbol in our personal human evolution and spiritual growth. Hindu deities are also reflections of aspects of ourselves or the Universe. Ganesh has 4 hands/arms and in each he is holding something symbolic.

There are many moments in our lives where we find ourselves attached to having a particular outcome of a situation or our life looking a certain way. It is in these moments where we have the opportunity to practice anugraha. Anugraha in Sanskrit means non-grasping. It is when we grasp onto our desires, when we attach to having something happen or look the way we want is when we find the most suffering.

We often get bound by our own desires without them being heightened by a higher light, a higher intent.
In other words, an intent that serves more than just ourselves.

A great question to ask yourself when in any situation or moment of decision making or discernment is:

“Is it life enhancing?”

Sometimes our desires can be ones that are not life enhancing and rather ones that bind us.
They create stuck-ness in our selves and in our lives.

In Ganesh’s right upper hand is an Ax. This ax symbolizes the Power of discernment or discrimination. The power or capability to discern or discriminate whether something or someone is actually life-enhancing or not.

This quality is a powerful quality to cultivate in ourselves as it can guide us along the path that serves us best as we journey through life.

On the other hand, when we open to Grace more consistently in our lives, we can find ourselves being held and supported by the Universe. In essence, the Universe will hold you, “grasp” you, until you have an opening.

So continue to do your practices, even when your mind tells you that you have regressed. Your diligence and commitment will be held by something greater and will continue to hold you until you have the opening you need to move to the next level.

Ganesh is not only the remover of obstacles, but he is also the creator. Sometimes obstacles will be put on your path in order for you to have the awakening you need to move forward. Ganesh won’t let you go to the next level unless you have strong Adikara. Adikara is Sanskrit for Studentship. You will be tested. “Are you in the flow?” And if you are not, an obstacle may appear as an opportunity to propel you forward, remembering grace, remembering to let go, to practice anugraha.

Remember, it is always for the highest.

“Close your eyes and you’ll see clearly
Cease to listen and you’ll hear truth
Empty out and you’ll be free.”

Be like the Sky ~ Humble and open
and the Earth ~ Committed with Conviction

“Embody every pose you practice on your mat with humility and openness, commitment and conviction and you will start to see the changes in how you engage your life. Your life will start to reflect back to you the change you have made within.”

Daniella Cotreau~

There has been a lot of talk of life becoming more and more challenging and even talk of being tested by the Universe. Everyone is also talking much about the need to let go. That this is their year in 2010 where “letting go” and “trusting more” is their Theme. Well, they are right. Astrologers and Yogins alike know this to be True. The Universe is asking us to release our grip on the reigns a bit more and resist a lot less. The Universe is asking us to Trust more than ever before. That it is not just dwindled down to the small Self to get the job done. That, in fact, there is something greater that moves through you, that holds you, that supports you..but only if you let it.

And for us to really get this, to really embody this, we are tested. Yes, it is fairly easy to intellectually accept this theme for the year. But then to apply it to your life, to live it,  is a whole other story. So the Universe playfully pulls the rug out from underneath us. And we have our opportunity to really practice the art of surrender and complete trust in the Greater Universe.

That everything will go most likely…not as planned…and you have the opportunity to learn how to flow, how to go with the flow, how to flow with the changes. How to be Anusara.

So today is dedicated to the 1st prinicple of Anusara yoga. It is first because we cannot have an awakening without it.

It is Open to Grace.

It means to soften, to be sensitive, to breathe knowing that something greater than yourself breathes you, to allow your heart to melt…to open yourself to the guidance of something greater…

When you are connected to your heart, you invite Grace into your Life.

Saprema,

Daniella Cotreau~