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5. The Purpose of Yoga · Lately with Lexi

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  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Through the Veil.
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  SPEAKER_00: You might have read my latest article where I traced yoga's origins,
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  how it's evolved over thousands of years from metaphoric
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  mentions in ancient
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  spiritual hymns to the physical practices that we recognize
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  today if we go to any
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  SPEAKER_00: yoga class.
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  SPEAKER_00: If you missed it, I'll link the article in the show notes below.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that article is really what inspired this week's theme,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is the purpose of yoga,
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  a journey to self-realization where we explore these ancient
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  spiritual texts and
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  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for joining us.
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  The very first mention of yoga appears in the Vedas,
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  which is India's oldest spiritual text.
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  SPEAKER_00: This dates back all the way at 3,500 years ago.
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  SPEAKER_00: And here's what really fascinates me about the Vedas.
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  SPEAKER_00: These teachings were not written down at all.
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  SPEAKER_00: So for thousands of years,
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  these teachings lived only in the voices and hearts of teachers
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  and students and
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  SPEAKER_00: And they were passed down orally through,
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  SPEAKER_00: I guess what you could call this unbroken chain of devotion,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is so beautiful.
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  So no books,
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  no screens,
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  just presence,
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  listening and a lot of repetition.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the word Veda actually translates to knowledge or wisdom and
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  And the seers who essentially composed these hymns understood
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  something essential
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  that I feel like we're just only scratching the surface of and
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  remembering today.
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  SPEAKER_00: They understood that yoga, it's not something that you do.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's actually a state of being that you return back to.
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  It's a way of aligning with the divine order of the universe or
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  God consciousness
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  SPEAKER_00: for another word.
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  SPEAKER_00: You can really replace these words with whatever resonates most with you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Think of the cosmos, the universe, spirit.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I wanted to share a couple hymns from the Veda.
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  So one of my favorite early mentions of yoga came from one of
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  these hymns.
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  SPEAKER_00: And this is a beautiful hymn to the sun god.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it says that by your yoga, you uphold the sky and the earth.
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  SPEAKER_00: You make all creatures strong.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sit with that for a moment.
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  Yoga in this context represents the divine power that holds
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  everything together.
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  SPEAKER_00: So this sort of cosmic intelligence that connects heaven and earth,
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  SPEAKER_00: breath and being,
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  SPEAKER_00: the seen and the unseen,
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  SPEAKER_00: and
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  These ancient seers really understood yoga not just as physical
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  postures that we do
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  SPEAKER_00: on a yoga mat,
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  SPEAKER_00: but also as a principle of harmony,
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  SPEAKER_00: a sacred act of aligning with the rhythm of,
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  SPEAKER_00: honestly,
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  SPEAKER_00: the universe itself.
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  And the early Vedic teachers were describing yoga as this
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  cosmic force over centuries.
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  SPEAKER_00: And these sages realized something.
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  They understood that this cosmic harmony,
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  it's not just something external that we seek,
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  it's
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  SPEAKER_00: It's actually something within.
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  SPEAKER_00: As within, as without.
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  SPEAKER_00: So this God consciousness, it's inside every human heart.
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  SPEAKER_00: This divinity.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it's waiting to be discovered.
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  SPEAKER_00: Some people call it the God spark.
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  And this realization sparked,
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  no pun intended,
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  a complete transformation in spiritual practice.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that's when the Upanishads really emerged.
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  SPEAKER_00: So the word literally means to sit close to.
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  SPEAKER_00: So you can think about the Upanishads as a way to sit near the teacher,
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  SPEAKER_00: the saints,
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  SPEAKER_00: the wise ones.
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  And this is an opportunity to listen and to receive these
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  hidden truths and these
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  SPEAKER_00: deeper wisdoms.
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  SPEAKER_00: So sometimes they're called the Vedanta, meaning the end of the Vedas.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it's not like a physical ending.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's more metaphorical.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's more of a fulfillment, this turning inward.
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  So the Upanishads contain really the earliest systemic
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  teachings of what we now
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  SPEAKER_00: recognize as our yoga practice.
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  SPEAKER_00: So think,
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  SPEAKER_00: you know,
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  SPEAKER_00: breath control,
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  which comes from our bandhas when we're holding and we're
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  squeezing different locks
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  SPEAKER_00: in the body.
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  SPEAKER_00: our meditation practice, any withdrawal of the senses.
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  SPEAKER_00: And in these texts,
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  yoga becomes clearly defined as a spiritual discipline for
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  realizing the self or
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  SPEAKER_00: Atman and merging with the absolute Brahman.
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  SPEAKER_00: So the self and the absolute.
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  SPEAKER_00: So this is what I mean by recognizing our own inner divinity and
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  SPEAKER_00: We're fully human and fully divine.
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  SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
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  SPEAKER_00: Yoga is an opportunity to really explore that much deeper.
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  SPEAKER_00: So the Upanishads contained this early teaching.
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  And one verse in the Upanishads I want to share starts to talk
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  a little bit deeper
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  SPEAKER_00: about yoga and the more physical practice of it.
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  SPEAKER_00: So it says that when the five senses are stilled, the mind is at rest.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the intellect wavers not.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is called the highest state.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yoga.
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  SPEAKER_00: Very simple, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Does not mention doing a handstand.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not at all.
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  So these verses describe what I believe to be ultimately the
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  essence of a yoga practice.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sitting in stillness, controlling the breath,
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  SPEAKER_00: turning our awareness inward to start to realize this eternal self,
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  SPEAKER_00: realizing our own divinity that resides within.
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  So in essence,
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  yoga is a quest for unity between our humanity and also our
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  divinity.
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  SPEAKER_00: So when we experience this union,
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  a Sanskrit word that we use here really encompasses this unity
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  within our humanness
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  SPEAKER_00: and our divinity,
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  SPEAKER_00: we enter a deep meditative consciousness,
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  SPEAKER_00: this state known as samadhi.
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  SPEAKER_00: So samadhi is this state of pure presence and bliss and
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  SPEAKER_00: If you've ever been in a yoga class and you're in Shavasana at the end,
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  which Shavasana is very important because it's an opportunity
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  to experience samadhi
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  SPEAKER_00: and to get a glimpse of the state of being.
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  SPEAKER_00: And really all of the physical poses that we practice,
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  SPEAKER_00: it's gearing us up for this opportunity to move into a deeper meditative
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  SPEAKER_00: consciousness,
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  SPEAKER_00: that state of mind,
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  SPEAKER_00: that state of being.
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  SPEAKER_00: And here's what's important to understand about samadhi.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not something that you achieve or you reach like a mountaintop.
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  You don't get an award if you are totally blissed out at the
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  end of a yoga class
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  SPEAKER_00: and you lose time and space and you're just one with God.
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  SPEAKER_00: You don't get a medal, unfortunately.
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  SPEAKER_00: But what this is, is it's a remembrance and
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  SPEAKER_00: And it's a coming home.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's a coming back to ourselves and the truth of who we really are.
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  And it's something we want to come back to time and time again
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  so that we start to
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  SPEAKER_00: live our lives and operate from that state of being.
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  So this is a moment when the illusion of separation dissolves
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  and we can shed our
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  SPEAKER_00: identities and we can really see one another as each other.
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  SPEAKER_00: So it's so beautiful.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's so poetic.
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  And it's a way that we can recognize ourselves as part of the
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  same consciousness
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  SPEAKER_00: that's holding the entire universe.
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  SPEAKER_00: Right?
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  SPEAKER_00: And once you've like had a glimpse of this,
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  SPEAKER_00: even briefly,
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  SPEAKER_00: like you will want to spend the rest of your life in that state,
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  SPEAKER_00: in that frequency.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when we can operate our lives in our relationships,
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  SPEAKER_00: in our work,
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  SPEAKER_00: in our vocations from that intention of God consciousness,
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  SPEAKER_00: unity,
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  SPEAKER_00: total open heart,
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  SPEAKER_00: peace of mind,
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  SPEAKER_00: just moving from so much love to
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  we can further release the things that separate us from one
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  another and from that
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  SPEAKER_00: all-knowing divinity and love.
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  SPEAKER_00: And to me, this is why we practice yoga, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: This union with our innate divinity, that's what it's all about.
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  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not about doing a headstand, although we love those.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not about doing the splits or a crazy arm balance.
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  SPEAKER_00: Those things are nice.
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  SPEAKER_00: They can feel really good sometimes,
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  SPEAKER_00: but there's this deeper aspect to the purpose behind yoga,
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  SPEAKER_00: right?
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  SPEAKER_00: And so you might be thinking,
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  SPEAKER_00: okay,
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  SPEAKER_00: this is beautiful,
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  SPEAKER_00: but how do I actually put this deeper spiritual philosophy into practice?
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  Especially when so many yoga classes today are solely focused
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  on the physical,
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  SPEAKER_00: which isn't bad or wrong.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's just something to kind of observe.
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  SPEAKER_00: So it's like, how can we maybe practice our yoga physically?
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  SPEAKER_00: off the mat,
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  but then also on the mat a little bit differently and to
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  integrate these teachings
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  SPEAKER_00: so that we can really hold this intention of union and samadhi,
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  this deeper meditative consciousness so that we can experience
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  this pure presence
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  SPEAKER_00: and bliss and unity with God.
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  SPEAKER_00: So in the article that I wrote,
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  I trace how yoga has evolved from metaphor in the Vedas to
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  philosophy and the
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  SPEAKER_00: Upanishads to the physical practices that we know today.
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  SPEAKER_00: But this is really important.
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  So these practices,
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  they're not like steps that we climb in order like a ladder.
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  SPEAKER_00: They're like different branches of the same tree.
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  SPEAKER_00: So you can practice them all at once in any order.
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  SPEAKER_00: So whatever way that you intuitively feel called to,
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  SPEAKER_00: if you read that article,
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  there may be a few things that stand out to you that are new
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  that you're learning
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  SPEAKER_00: about yoga.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I encourage you to check out that article,
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  SPEAKER_00: see what stands out,
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  SPEAKER_00: and maybe you decide to go a little bit deeper there.
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  SPEAKER_00: So the outer practices of the physical postures,
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  SPEAKER_00: the inner practices of meditation,
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  SPEAKER_00: pranayama,
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  SPEAKER_00: breath work,
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  SPEAKER_00: they all support one another and cultivating this union.
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  So I wanted to share three ways that you can bring this
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  intention of samadhi into
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  SPEAKER_00: your daily life this week.
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  SPEAKER_00: So these are three different practices of yoga that,
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  SPEAKER_00: you know,
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  are a little different than just the physical side of yoga that
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  we know and love so
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  SPEAKER_00: much today.
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  SPEAKER_00: So the first practice is just chanting OM, A-U-M.
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  SPEAKER_00: So humming or chanting.
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  really is it's one of my favorite things to do first of all
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  hello activating your
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  throat chakra learning to speak up building your confidence in
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  your voice but it
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  also gently regulates our nervous system chanting om in
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  particular too it's really
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  calming really soothing for our vagus nerve and it slows down
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  our brain waves and
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  it connects us to this vibration of the cosmos or that god
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  consciousness that we've
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  SPEAKER_00: been talking about and
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  SPEAKER_00: And in the Vedas, Aum is called the primordial sound.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is the vibration from which all creation emerged.
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  SPEAKER_00: So when you chant it,
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  SPEAKER_00: you're not just making a sound,
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  SPEAKER_00: you're aligning with the creative force of the universe itself.
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  So chanting Aum is a visceral reminder that you are a part of
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  that same sound that
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  SPEAKER_00: created everything.
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  SPEAKER_00: So beautiful.
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  SPEAKER_00: The second practice to explore this week is dhyana or meditation simply.
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  So there's so many different like forms and styles of
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  meditation and the one I'm
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  going to offer you today and this week is very simple and
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  simply just finding
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  SPEAKER_00: stillness.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when you close the eyes and you focus your gaze and
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  SPEAKER_00: Two options I'll share.
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  SPEAKER_00: One,
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  you can gently roll the gaze up and just draw your awareness to
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  the point between
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  SPEAKER_00: the brows.
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  That's one beautiful drishti point where you can keep your
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  focus in your eye gaze.
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  The second one would just be bringing it downward as if you're
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  looking into your heart.
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  But regardless of where your eye gaze goes,
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  place your awareness at your heart.
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  SPEAKER_00: You know, even three minutes of this is really powerful.
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  SPEAKER_00: And in your meditation, follow each inhale and exhale with presence.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's all.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's all you have to do here.
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  SPEAKER_00: You're just witnessing.
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  SPEAKER_00: You're not changing your breath.
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  SPEAKER_00: You're not doing anything.
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  SPEAKER_00: You're focusing your awareness at your heart.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you notice the rise and fall as the chest expands and contracts.
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  SPEAKER_00: But just notice your heart.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that's it.
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  SPEAKER_00: A couple minutes.
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  SPEAKER_00: You're not trying to achieve anything.
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  SPEAKER_00: You can't mess this up.
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  SPEAKER_00: You can't meditate wrong.
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  SPEAKER_00: Like you're not bad at meditating.
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  SPEAKER_00: If your mind wanders, it's all good.
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  SPEAKER_00: What we're doing is we're just practicing developing greater presence.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it's something that takes time.
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  SPEAKER_00: And we get better at it the more we do it.
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  SPEAKER_00: Just like jump roping.
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  SPEAKER_00: Like I don't know about you.
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  If it has been a while since you have jump roped and you go to
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  do it randomly one day,
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  like
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  SPEAKER_00: You're probably going to be out of breath in a minute.
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  SPEAKER_00: I know that's how I feel.
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  SPEAKER_00: I used to do private boxing lessons every day.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh God, every day, every week, once a week when I lived in Nashville.
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  SPEAKER_00: And if I missed,
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  SPEAKER_00: if I was out of town or anything and I wasn't doing my jump roping,
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  SPEAKER_00: oh my gosh,
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  SPEAKER_00: it was so hard when I would get back to it.
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  SPEAKER_00: So think about that with meditation, okay?
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  SPEAKER_00: It's all right if you feel like you're bad at it.
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  SPEAKER_00: You're really not.
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  This is just a way that we practice developing this presence
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  and stilling the mind.
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  And when we do that,
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  it creates space for that experience of samadhi,
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  that union.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then the third practice to explore is svadhana.
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  SPEAKER_00: And this is self-study.
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  SPEAKER_00: So choose a single line from either the Upanishads or the Bhagavad Gita.
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  SPEAKER_00: Read it slowly and carry it through your day.
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  SPEAKER_00: And if there's another,
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  SPEAKER_00: you know,
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  SPEAKER_00: spiritual text that you're drawn to or that you're curious about,
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  SPEAKER_00: like,
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  SPEAKER_00: go for it.
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  SPEAKER_00: If you want other recommendations from me,
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  SPEAKER_00: please,
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  SPEAKER_00: I will gladly,
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  SPEAKER_00: you know,
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  SPEAKER_00: share some of my favorite spiritual texts and books from all different,
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  SPEAKER_00: like,
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  spiritual lineages and backgrounds and I love this practice
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  because it's something
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  you can kind of anchor as this beautiful ritual at the
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  beginning of your day and
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  come back to throughout the day and contemplate so you can ask
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  yourself you know
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  how does this teaching the text that you're reading how can you
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  apply it in your
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  SPEAKER_00: life what is it um
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  asking of you and that is a really beautiful way to connect you
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  to you know
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  thousand year old wisdom so it's not necessarily about learning
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  something new
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  SPEAKER_00: But it's about remembering something ancient.
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  SPEAKER_00: And isn't that so true?
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  Like if you read,
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  gosh,
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  like any self-help book,
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  it's like,
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  huh,
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  I've read this before.
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  SPEAKER_00: I know all of this.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you do.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because it's just innately who we are.
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  So in wrapping up here,
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  as you're moving through the week,
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  I just want to invite you to notice.
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  SPEAKER_00: Notice the moments where can you soften.
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  SPEAKER_00: Where can you soften from doing into being?
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  Where can you soften from maybe surface level conversations and
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  enter more depth
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  SPEAKER_00: with people,
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  SPEAKER_00: even strangers?
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  SPEAKER_00: Just notice where a gentle inner union can start to emerge and
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe in a breath,
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  SPEAKER_00: a pause,
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  SPEAKER_00: a heartbeat,
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  SPEAKER_00: a moment of connection with a loved one,
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  any time in your day where you can just set an intention for
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  greater presence.
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  SPEAKER_00: And this state of open,
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  SPEAKER_00: loving awareness,
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  SPEAKER_00: it creates space to experience this union with our own divinity.
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  SPEAKER_00: And each of these moments is yoga,
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  whether you're reading ancient texts or practicing meditation
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  or chanting.
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  SPEAKER_00: These are all forms of yoga.
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  SPEAKER_00: Having a conversation with a loved one.
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  SPEAKER_00: eye gazing, following your breath, practicing presence.
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  These are all ways that we practice yoga because yoga is the
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  state of being.
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  The purpose of yoga is really this journey of self-realization
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  that doesn't end.
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  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't end when we step off the yoga mat.
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  It's an opportunity to carry that greater presence throughout
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  our entire day.
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  And so when we remember that,
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  we begin to live our practice,
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  not just perform it on our mat.
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  SPEAKER_00: We become the very thing we're practicing toward.
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  SPEAKER_00: We start to experience greater peace, inspiration, abundance, and love.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that's the real invitation of our yoga practice.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what the Vedas and the Upanishads are calling us back to.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: They're calling us back to the remembrance that we are already whole,
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: we're already divine,
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: and we're already home.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: And it's time to remember that.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I just want to thank you for tuning in to Through the Veil.
• 19:02
  Make sure you subscribe on Substack to go deeper and be the
• 19:06
  first to know about my
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: next workshop or retreat.
• 19:10
  You can message me directly on Substack with questions or reach
• 19:14
  out to book a class
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: or a private session.
• 19:17
  I'll put some links in the show notes down below and how you
• 19:20
  can work with me.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm here to support you on your journey.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Have a beautiful week.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Om Shanti.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: Namaste.