SVADHYAY

SVADHYAYA स्वाध्याय
“Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

Focus of the Week @ ATHAYOGA Zurich

The term Svadhyaya literally means ‘one’s own reading’ or ‘self-study’.
The more we realise what we are not, the closer we come to realising who or what we truly are. By studying ‘the self’ and recognizing our habits and thought processes, we realise how much of what we do and think is far from who we really know we are.

In relationship with the niyamas, svadhyaya means to understand life through continuous effort, through self-study, to understand one’s purpose in life.
Imagine a gift wrapped many times and you unwrap box after box until you find a jewel in the innermost. This jewel is the true self and contains the divine spark; individual and universal awareness.

To unpack the boxes we need to recognise how our values were formed and why and how strongly we hold on to them. Through self-study, through self-knowledge, we unpack the power of beliefs box by box. We learn to understand why we feel disharmony when we need to justify our thinking or feeling and trace the disharmony back to ourselves. We get to the bottom of our reality models and what determines happiness or disappointment.

We learn the truth about the boxes we have packed ourselves into and become free to emerge into our true being. Releasing the boxes can be painful, but it is the only way to stop holding back our own growth.

When we are not afraid of the spectrum of emotions within us and look at ourselves fearlessly, when we face our true being, we will have the courage to go through life and meet others in a kind, non-judgmental and compassionate way.

When we begin to identify with the divine within us, we can carry thoughts, beliefs and whole stories, knowing we are not them.

In yoga, this inner divine self is called Atman, whose nature is pure bliss. „The Atman, the sun of Knowledge that rises in the sky of the heart, destroys the darkness of ignorance, pervades and sustains all and shines and make everything to shine“- Adi Shankara

The practice of svadhyaya requires satya (honesty) in order to view ourselves from an honest standpoint, tapas (discipline) – because taking an honest look at ourselves isn’t always something we like doing…And ahimsa (non violence) which reminds us to look upon ourselves without judgement or criticism.