Being a spiritual seeker
Being a seeker means somewhere along the way, you realized you want to see different & be different. You realize there’s a gap between how you have been in the past and the psychological mystical aliveness you seek.
You want the most cosmic & natural thing – to grow.
You choose practices and teachings that awaken & re-pattern the inner and outer structures of your life, layer by layer.
This process is most challenging (and most rewarding) when we interact with others. Because, anyone can be enlightened when they are alone 😉
You crave so much to connect with others… and yet… for a spiritual seeker, the gathering shines a light on the karmic shadows that come up in our habitual reactions and family “scripts”.
*Clip from a Q&A session inside the Nectar of the Gītā
The Cosmic Do-Over...
When our kids speak too harshly or react in ways that are harmful we say, “would you like to have a do-over?”. Here there is no blame, no shame, no punishment… but an opportunity to get out of a default habit and choose differently, to wisely. Overtime, this creates a new habit, a new pattern. You change your karmic patterning.
Reincarnation is a cosmic karmic do-over from life to life.
But within the life of a spiritual seeker… you re-incarnate day after day and year after year.
You re-incarnate every time you emerge out of your yogic study & practice. You re-incarnate every time you slow down your reaction time and choose your responses lovingly & wisely.
This is not the way of a “normal” person… it is the way of a spiritual seeker.
But nothing gives more challenge to the journey of spiritual growth than being with other people who help you to see the yet-to-release patterns!
"When you get angry at your family member, you should not say, 'you made me angry!' you should say, 'oh my dear, I had some anger in me and you helped me to see it!'” – Dr. Vasānt Lad
The Challenge of this Season
The season of holidays, family gatherings & the end of the calendar year… brings a up feeling frenzied, scattered, overwhelmed and anxious.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the frenetic expenditure of energy through spending, traveling, celebrating and socializing is in conflict with nature’s winter solstice call inward.
The soul wants to go in & be quiet. But society is calling you outward!
For sensitive spiritual seeker, the notion of gathering with friends and family of the past can create an added layer of of trepidation.
The biggest questions I get from students at this time of year goes something like this…
"I'm nervous about being around family who are stuck in old patterns while I am trying desperately to heal and change the patterns"
I remember this feeling. When I was deeply immersed in the first few years of yogic study and practice in my early 20s, I wanted to camp in the backyard rather than sleep in my mother’s home. I felt I needed a protective bubble around myself. And this is common. You do need to protect the vulnerability of your spiritual growth when it is unstable.
This is because, our family “scripts” are very powerful. It is easy to get pulled by our environment and the people around us into old default patterns… especially when you are “in process” with your own transformation. It can feel very delicate.
Ironically, the attachment to your spiritual growth can put you on edge, and make you more distant from others or reactive. You feel the pain of how “unenlightened” other people are and you feel the pain of how “unenlightened” you realize YOU are when you interface with challenging relationships.
But being lovingly with others is one of the greatest gifts of spiritual growth.
Ultimately, do become more sthira – “well established”. When this happens, you discover you are able to move through the world with the gift of kṣānti – forbearance.
Kṣānti is the grace of lovingly allowing yourself and others to be just as you are. It is a divine spaciousness of allowance that helps you to be open, curious & loving in diverse circumstances… never losing yourself in the process.
Landing in yourself and finding the mystical at the center of your own presence, allows you to re-emerge and see the divine in everyone. This allows you to truly “play” with others.
"With your whole being surrender to that divine presence that is the center of your being, and by the grace of that divine presence you experience the ultimate peace, the timeless abode” – Bhagavad Gita, 18.62
Suggestions for this Month
1. Slow down your reaction time with others. Slowing down before speaking or taking any action allows you to choose wisely and respond rather than react.
2. Take a sacred practice time each day to land in yourself & rejuvenate with practices that orient you to the divine within. This can be short but deep and ideally, first thing upon waking or at bedtime – or both. It is a time to remember yourself & remember the divine. This intentional immersive pause will support you in mini-pauses throughout your day.
3. During your this daily sacred time, choose practices that deeply nourish and protect you, taking you to the mystical within, while also continuing the process of gentle karmic re-patterning. I recommend Mantra Sādhana, Yoga Nidrā or Opening Your Spine. These help you to land in the mystical within. In particular, the state of Yoga Nidrā, with your spine as the “bed” of the practice is the realm for working with these imprints.
4. Get good sleep. Better to have good days with loved ones [and yourself] than to stay up and derrange your practice & your mind. Your sleep will replenish & rejuvenate you. The dream realm is also the place of psychological healing every night. And the deep sleep state touches into the realm of the unseeable karmic seeds.
5. Stay warm – especially in the northern hemsiphere – this will protect you from vāta disturbance which will deepen your practice & your relationships. Warming food, warm feet, warm head.
Warmth, sleep, pauses & sādhana are the protective bubble that nourishes & nurtures you, while gently continuing your transformation process. You’ll feel rejuvenated, calm and open as you learn to be yourself without demanding that others be anything other than themselves.
This is the greatest gift for you and for them. I promise.
Love,
Kaya
PS ~ More on Karma & the Cosmic Configurations of this time below
“As the body slows down, the mind slows down. As the body rests, the mind rests.” – Swami Tattvavidananda
Did you know that your spine is the “house” of the seeds of unseeable unconscious karma, called Saṃskāra in sanskrit. And did you know that the true purpose of Yoga Nidrā is to use your spine as the “bed” of the journey that takes you into the realm of the karmic patterns? Through spinal opening and yoga nidrā practice, you are able to resolve the difficult karmic seeds and nourish the blessing seeds. You truly re-emerge able to see the mystical inside & outside more and more with each practice.
The Divine Sleep series is designed just for this season. No matter where you are, or who you’re with you can set aside 15-30 minutes to delve in to practice… connecting to hundreds of other spiritual seekers who share the value for continued sādhana through the holiday season.
Yoga Nidrā and Spinal Release is rejuvenating, replenishing, deep yet gentle… and most important maps and re-patterns your karma. This seris is the perfect upāya [sacred remedy] for this time of year that invites the “cosmic do-over”.
Astrological Arrangements to Support the Cosmic Karmic Do-Over
The end of the year, is a profound pause to reflect on transformation thus far, and prepare for the beautiful growth and expansion yet to come.
But this particular December brings Astrological Arrangements that are truly calling us to review, revisit, release or renovate the past & face the future with inspiration.
This is a portal of doorways, closing and opening.
With multiple very bright & retrograde planets – Jupiter, Mars and Mercury – we can expect some themes of “exaggeration”… there certainly is potential to feel frenetic & frantic… but there is a way to orient to this in ways that are very powerful and productive.
We also have Saturn in its final few weeks in the constellation of karmic healing… making this a beautiful final window to catch this wave into the depths.
And finally, a rare & powerful full moon midmonth is perfect for envisioning your future and putting pen to paper to plan out the steps and strategy.
I’ll be sharing all of the details inside the Nectar of Time this month, along with stories, mantra & teachings to guide you in this very powerful & hopeful month of re-invention, renovation & re-incarnation.
The Longing of the Deep Seeker
A spiritual seeker is a “longing person”… you long for growth, you long for happiness, you long for connection. Yet, sometimes it feels painfully at a distance.
How can everyone else seem so fine with the status quo? Your intense longing is a constant itch… a sacred divine reminder… to stay on your path… to stay close to sangha of other spiritual seekers… you are re-incarnating… you are blessed.
*Clip from a Q&A session inside the Nectar of the Gītā
Deepen your Journey & Transform your Karma with these Programs
December SRY Series: Divine Sleep
Rejuvenate & Repattern the Karmic Depths
Yoga Nidrā and Supreme Release Yoga together map your hidden karmic patterns. The practices will release the unseeable seeds of karma that obstruct you and nourish to the karmic seeds of blessing.
Working with your spine as the bed of rest, healing & awakening, this series is releasing, healing, blissful, accessible and deep. Each week takes you inward inward for blissful re-patterning and opening with guided awareness & SRY Practice.
Yoga Nidrā is perfect for the time of year! Recover from the fullness of the season & rejuvenate for the year to come. This is a great theme for travel or a full house - since you can even practice in bed!
+++ a 20 minute bonus teaching on the differences between two hidden layers of karma - Vāsana & Saṃskāra
December Nectar of Time
Wisdom, Nourishment, Karmic Release & Future Visions!
We begin this month with a Vedic Astrology forecast – oh this month brings such potential blessing for your karma… if you know how to orient.
December also brings the birth of the goddess of food and the birth of the greatest sage of nature’s wisdom. You’ll recieve mantra, stories and deep teachings to honor both of these!
+ A Special Offer
I’m so grateful that I “get to” share this sacred wisdom with you. And this year we decided to do a 20% off SALE for the first time on a few Self-Paced courses. I believe in SLOW SALES… to prevent frantic or urgent buying. Take your time to choose your spiritual pilgrimage.
Sale!
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Understand the intricacy & mystery of destiny, free will, reincarnation and the subconscious. Kaya shares scripture, stories, metaphors & the oral tradition’s teachings of karma that are essential for spiritual seekers. This wisdom is essential to the spiritual path & requisite for yoga, ayurveda, vedic astrology and the study of the Yoga Sūtras and Bhagavad Gītā. On Sale Here
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Learn the true value of sanskrit with stories, scriptural teachings + examples. Then learn how to sound all of the sanskrit sounds + read them when transliterated into roman letters. Finally learn how to pronounce commonly mispronounced Sanskrit words used in yoga & āyurveda. Authentic Sanskrit made accessible. On Sale Here
