Sacred Listening

Where there is true listening, the light of wisdom shines.

A recap & preparation for this 3rd part of this series…

Part 1 ~ Overwhelm & Indecision: We’re in the last couple weeks of a time of both a gathering of multiple planets together & two eclipses in which our minds can feel distracted, overwhelmed, full of shape-shifting thoughts and ideas. This is a time to just acknowledge and accept this and to wait before making any big decisions until about mid June as this pattern dissipates.

Part 2 ~ Practical Magic & Refining the Past: Saturn is in a position and orientation which will call on us to revisit the past {or the past will revisit us} and in which we must take time to refine and polish the structures and systems and essential tasks of our lives to create space for our bigger future ambitions or dreams.

Now, Part 3 ~ Sacred Listening: From a deeper viewpoint of Saturn’s location in the lunar constellation known as Śravana, we are being called toward sacred listening in its various formed. This is a very profound and lucky opportunity for those who heed the call! More on this below.

*Vedic Astrology, or Jyotisha, is considered the “eye of the vedas” it has been used by yogic people, families and people in positions of leadership for thousands of years to guide everything from life decisions to spiritual practices. It is a powerful way to attune to cosmic order and cultivate more peace, clarity and right action at the right time. Jyotish can be used to map individual or global karma. As we have reverence for the sky patterns we increase our reverence for everything.

At this time we have a cosmic invitation toward spiritual growth through sacred listening. Releasing past limits and refining & simplifying the structures of your present life will create space for this listening process. The is invitation is strong right now. Do not waste it!

The planet Saturn, in the vedic viewpoint is associated with seriousness, responsibility and karma. Saturn has a special link to ancestral work, transformational work, the path of yoga & to Indian traditions overall.

Saturn can call us to the past in the form of the sacred practices & scriptures of this tradition are a true deep dive into the timeless past… and can improve our future if we use it’s power to bring more illuminative practices & teachings into our lives.

Saturn finds itself currently in a special lunar constellation called, śravana, which means 'to listen' and is symbolized by a sacred ear.

Sacred listening is not about controlling your life or over-analyzing. It is about being in harmony with the world, with nature, with your purpose and with supreme teachings about the nature of existence.

Forms of Listening

The stories of the Śravana Constellation are all about oral teachings, the vedic tradition, old wise souls. This is a very good time for the following:

~ Listening to good advice

~ Listening to or practicing sacred mantra

~ Taking time in nature or meditation for inner listening

~ Listening to the world for omens & signs

~ Listening to your body through slow and inward oriented yogic practice

~ Listening to scriptural teachings through a lineage-based teacher-student structure

Śravana refers to the kind of listening that truly transforms us through gifting us deeper insight & illumination. It is the kind of listening that we do when we openly receive messages from nature, from our own hearts and from the depth of meaning inside a sacred text. It is the kind of listening we do when we tend to what the body is truly trying to tell us.

This is truly a powerful time to listen. Spend time listening to nature, dive back into your studies of yogic texts, double-down on teacher or advisory relationships that are nurturing and meaningful. Don't override your intuition. This is the gift of this time that can propel you into the gifts that are to come.

Many of the practices of listening, are done best in a seated position if possible. Most people don’t know how to sit! If your spine is TIGHTENING while you sit you are actually blocking your ability to listen. A seated position, if comfortable for you, is ideal for the process of listening, because it provides a balance of alertness & receptivity. Receptivity to teachings, to nature’s signs and to the callings of your own heart require that your body is both alert & at ease.

Sitting to Listen & Learn

Whether you’re sitting for meditation, a class or studies, or mantra recitation, it’s so incredibly helpful to sit in such a way that your spine is aligned but RELAXED and comfortable.

So here are two options – Sukhāsana & Svastikāsana in a clip from a seated practice inside the SRY Studio. Of course, sitting on a chair or upright on a couch is also a marvelous option!

A Contemplation on Listening, From Kaya

Be a discerning but open listener. And be healed, transformed, and illuminated by what the world is waiting to whisper in your ear.

Kaya

“A yoga life is an awareful life” my teacher said.

What is awareness to me?

It is deep listening, which requires receptivity to and reverence for that which can be heard.

The systems that I use in my life & teaching – yoga, āyurveda, jyotisha, mantra, vāstu, vedānta and tantra – these are not bundles of techniques or principles to be re-packaged for transaction. They are not tools for your toolkit. They are not sets of rules to impose.

These are systems of deep listening, of receptivity and of reverence for all of nature and for all beings.With inner listening on board you abide in the divine seat of receptivity and you dance freely to the music the world is singing.

Listening is NOT analyzing and reacting, it IS patiently waiting and aptly responding.

The whole world emanates with cosmic order. Living your life attuned to this sacred order you discover that you are part of it.

In your own way, with your own purpose, you can be a listener, a generous contributor and a reverent recipient of the love pulsing in everything.

This fact is why I do what I do, as a mother, a wife, a teacher, a counselor and a friend. This truth is what I hear when I listen to nature in the form of the birds and deer, and when I listen to YOU and your pain, your fear and your deepest desires.

Let us be listeners together!

As we enter five months of the ancient karmic planet Saturn in the constellation of “the ear” {śravana} we are called to listen.

Listen to

~ Nature

~ Your body

~ Your intuition & dreams

~ Wise counsel

~ Sacred Scripture

~ Sacred Sound, Mantra

~ Your Ancestors

Love, Kaya

I truly hope this series has been helpful helpful. Feel free to reach out & let me know if it is! And feel free to share this with the people you love. I really do plan my life & my teaching in accord with the cosmic timing of vedic astrology. Below are a few ways to practice the art of “listening” together in the months to come. All of my offerings are an ode to sacred listening.

In particular I would love you to join me for the Nectar of the Gitā {or choose to just start with Part 1, a la carte}. One of the meanings of the word “Shravana” is actually “listening to sacred scriptural teachings”. So what a perfect time it is to get the most from this program with me!

Illumination: Listening to Scripture

Nectar of The Gita

Begins July 2020
Join from Anywhere, Live or by Recordings!

Gain meaningful transformation through the illuminative teachings for yogis living in the world with real responsibilities and pressures. This is Kaya’s most comprehensive philosophy program for yoga students & teachers.

Through stories, metaphor, classical teaching methodology and modern examples, Kaya delivers the most supreme teachings in ways that are meaningful and truly transformational.

Healing: Listening to your Sacred Spine

Supreme Release Yoga

Weekly Live classES Plus a 50+ On Demand Practices

Experience the yoga you’ve been looking for – unlike anything you have experienced. SRY is gentle but deep, advanced but accessible, soft but transformative.

Supreme Release Yoga {SRY} offers a healing release of spinal tension, nurturance of your whole body as a field of awakening. Kaya skillfully threads accessible therapeutic practice with yogic teachings from the oral tradition and ancient texts. This is a mature practice for dedicated yogis and teachers who are ready to go beyond “shape making” and the binary of stretch-strengthen. It is truly an opportunity to go within.

Transformation: Listening to Wise Counsel

Vedic Astrology

Insight & Strategy

Vedic Astrology maps your karma & points your free will in such a way that allows you swim with the current – choosing the right thing at the right time. Kaya’s husband Michael is an expert Jyotishi {Vedic Astrologer} whose skill, warmth, humor, depth and practical but spiritually rooted approach is a balm to clients internationally.

If you’re at a juncture point, need to make a decision, or want overall insight and support, Jyotish is an incredible tool. Michael’s clientele includes entrepreneurs and farmers, yoga teachers and acupuncturists, midwives and chefs, actors and visual artists, parents and their kids, other astrologers & coaches and counselors of all backgrounds.

Sacred Listening

Where there is true listening, the light of wisdom shines.

At this time we have a cosmic invitation toward spiritual growth through sacred listening. Releasing past limits and refining & simplifying the structures of your present life will create space for this listening process. The is invitation is strong right now. Do not waste it!