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The Work of Byron Katie: Bonding Brahmacharya & Svadhyaya with Satya & Santosha

8/31/2020

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Yama and Niyamas Activism Teagan Patell de Valverde

Yoga & ANti-Racism Series,
Part 4.1 of 8

Now having reconsidered Satya (propagation of comprehensive truth) together with Santosha (multiple truth reconciliation), and reexamined Brahmacharya (active practice and movement toward unity conscious) in the context of Svadhyaya (self-awareness in reflecting on our separateness or duality), it's time to apply embodied practice with these Yamas and Niyamas to solidify our guiding cairn.  

Bonding Brahmacharya & Svadhyaya with Satya & Santosha   Coco Yoga & Wellness
The Work of Byron Katie comes to mind as a champion method to apply these first Yama/Niyama principles, identify and unpack our beliefs, and consider new alternatives.   While several books and online resources are available to investigate The Work in great depth and at great length, the essential practice is quite simple and straightforward, though  it does require a commitment to apply focused process and attention.  While The Work may be applied around myriad subjects and can be an excellent tool in navigating our efforts and investigation into anti-racism, I recommend, as Byron Katie suggests, starting first with a personal situation to experience the potency  of the practice and how our ideas may shift drastically.  
​
Applying Personal Practice as a Foundation for anti-racism
On Byron Katie's website, The Work is outline in four discrete steps: Notice, Write, Question, and Turn it Around. 
​
Notice:  
First we identify a specific situation where we felt angry, hurt, confused, sad, or disappointed with someone.  We take time to meditate on the situation, to sit still and relax, to recall the details of the situation as if we are witnessing it in our mind.  We identify who or what upset us, and notice, name, and feel the emotion that we experienced at the time.  We find the root cause or reason that we were upset.  


Write:
Staying rooted in the memory and feeling of the specific situation, we respond to six prompts to capture our stressful thoughts in short, simple sentences.  
1.  We identify the emotion we feel, with whom, and why.  For example, "I am angry with Paul because he lied to me." 
2.  We identify how we want the person to change and what we want them to do.  For example, "I want Paul to see that he is wrong.   I want him to stop lying to me." 
3.  We write down our advice for the person.  For example, "Paul shouldn't frighten me with his behavior.  He should take a deep breath." 
4.  We write down what we need in order to feel better about the situation.  For example, "I need Paul to stop talking over me.  I need him to listen."  
5.  We list our complaints about the person or the situation.  For example, "Paul is a liar, arrogant, loud, dishonest, and unaware."
6. We write down what it is about the person or situation that we don't ever want to experience again.  For example, "I don't ever want Paul to lie to me again.  I don't ever want to be disrespected again."
As we express our feelings in writing, we should allow ourselves to be as petty, judgemental, or childish as we may feel without censorship; this is our opportunity to discover our true emotions from that moment.  


The Work of Byron Katie Four Questions
Question:
Now, one by one,  we isolate each of our statements in response to the six prompts and take time to meditate on its truth.  For each statement, we repeat the statement we've made, ask four questions, and listen and wait for genuine answers.
1. Is it true?  (yes or no.  If no, skip to question 3)
2. Can we absolutely know that it’s true?  (yes or no)
3. How do we react, what happens, when we believe that thought?
4. Who would we be without that thought?
Whatever answers come are okay; our aim is to get clear about our true beliefs in relation to our emotional reactions.  We may feel that all that we have said is absolutely true, or we may feel that there's space for a different interpretation or further investigation.  It is important to recognize how our beliefs affect our own experience and how our experience might shift if our beliefs were to shift.  

​
​Turn It Around:
Finally, we practice turning around each of our statements to find multiple opposing statements and consider whether they may be as true as or truer than our original thoughts.  A statement often can be turned around to the self, the other, the opposite, and written in contrasting language.  Each statement will be different--some have one or two opposites, some have four or more--don't force any that don't make sense.  Sometimes to find a good turnaround, we can replace the subject with "my thinking."  For example instead of, "My body should be more flexible," we can say, "My thinking should be more flexible."  For turnarounds to the sixth prompt about what we never want to experience again, turnarounds can begin with "I welcome..." or "I look forward to..."

For the above example, "Paul lied to me," we may find the following four turnarounds, "I lied to me.  I lied to Paul.  Paul didn't lie to me.  Paul told me the truth."  As we consider the truth and validity of the opposing statements, we should stretch ourselves to identify any examples or evidence that could support them.  In this example we can explore how the deception was really our own wanting to believe, our own self-deception.  We can explore how clear and honest we were with Paul in the situation.  We can explore Paul's understanding and intentions, and his own truth in his lived experience. 

The Work of Byron Katie binds Satya, Santosha, Svadhyaya, and Brahmacharya as we examine the validity of our beliefs and look for other possibilities (Satya), we exercise mental inversions and create space for opposing viewpoints (Santosha), we recognize the possible differences and disparities between our interpretation of an event and how it may have been experienced by another (Svadhyaya), and we engage with The Work as an active practice in our aim to approach unity consciousness (Brahmacharya.)  While The Work is challenging, this contemplative yoga bears beautiful fruits, and I encourage you to apply the practice once or twice a week, and to notice how your beliefs and experiences transform and evolve.  Start with whatever experience is most prominent in your awareness, whatever has you most upset in this moment, whatever is most energetically charged, as there you will find the most helpful results.  As we continue with the practice and work through different memories and situations,  we may then begin to apply the practice to specific Anti-Racism work, checking in with our beliefs about what we're hearing in the news and how we interpret "the facts" of any given situation.  

Enjoy the practice, and please let me know how it goes.  Namaste ~ Teagan

Yama and Niyamas Activism Teagan Patell de Valverde
Coco Yoga & Wellness
Yoga & Anti-Racism Series
Part 1: How Yoga & Social Justice Intersect: A Contemplative Practice
..... Part 1.1 A Personal Commitment to Social Justice Practice
Part 2: Setting the Stage for Contemplative Practice:  A Personal Reflection
Part 3: Social Justice & The Purpose of Yoga: Invoking Satya & Santosha
Part 4: Karma Yoga & The Paradox of All-One: Invoking Brahmacharya & Svadhyaya
..... Part 4.1 The Work of Byron Katie: Bonding Brahmacharya & Svadhyaya with Satya & Santosha

Part 5: Dharma, Divisiveness & Sustaining Activism: Invoking Aparigraha & Tapas
..... Part 5.1 Bonding Aparigraha & Tapas with Brahmacharya & Svadhyaya

Part 6: Appropriation & Holding Space: Invoking Asteya & Saucha
..... Part 6.1 Integrity Review

Part 7: Surrender to Activism: Invoking Ahimsa & Ishwara Pranidhana
Part 8: The Yamas & Niyamas Activism Model

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Love Everyone & Tell The Truth

7/22/2020

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Neem Karoli Baba by Emily Garces Art
Love Everyone & Tell the Truth Coco Yoga & Wellness
Wisdom from Neem Karoli Baba. ❤️💙 Beautiful Art by Emily Garcés Art
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Let's Allow For OUr Truth to Evolve

7/16/2020

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Let's allow for our truth to evolve.  Coco Yoga & Wellness
“My aim is not to be consistent with my previous statements on a given question, but to be consistent with truth as it may present itself to me at a given moment. The result has been that I have grown from truth to truth.” - Gandi Quote  Coco Yoga & Wllness
Those of you who read early versions of my article on Satya & Santosha may have noticed that my definitions evolved considerably as I continue to develop this Yamas & Niyamas Activism model.  I’m giving myself permission to revise and rework, and pushing myself forward even before things feel ‘perfect’.  This is the practice.  Perfect is an illusion.  There is no final destination; everything is always evolving.  Let’s allow our awareness to expand, and our sense of truth to shift in alignment with our hearts. 💚🌿 Namaste 🙏 Teagan
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Satya Quotes & Questions

7/6/2020

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Honest and complete OPENNESS – that is the first condition of health in all societies. He who does not wish this openness for his fatherland does not want to purify it of its diseases, but only to drive them inwards, to fester. ― Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn Quote

Coco Yoga & Wellness
Who dictates the dominant cultural narrative?

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Which interests and agendas benefit from these narratives?  

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Whose voices have been silenced?

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Which perspectives are discounted or discredited?

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Where am I making false assumptions?

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How can I recognize my own biases?

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The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie.  One word of truth outweighs the world.  ~ A Solzhenitsyn Quote

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Satya: Propagation of Comprehensive Truth

6/30/2020

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Satya: Propagation of Comprehensive Truth - Coco Yoga and Wellness
Silenced Voices of Everyday Sheroes by Samanta Tello
Satya is often translated as non-lying, or truthfulness, with the implication that as long as we are honest and impeccable with our word, we are practicing this virtue.  Satya entails so much more than this limited interpretation.  Satya means non-falsehood, non-distortion, non-ignorance.  We must allow for multiple truths; we cannot ignore or deny the truth of others.  
 
In Sanskrit, Sat indicates the ultimate eternal truth, with the suffix ya indicating doing or accomplishing.  Satya requires active investigation in seeking the whole and complete truth.  We must be willing to question the dominant cultural narrative; we must be willing to hear and digest multiple perspectives and to exercise our own discernment.  We must analyze the validity of our usual information sources and evaluate entrained biases, inaccurate assumptions, 
hidden interests, and covert agendas.  We must identify which voices have been silenced, unduly discredited, or eclipsed.  We must consider alternate views and sort facts from opinion.  We must amplify the voices that long have been oppressed, and bolster the stories of those vulnerable to violence in speaking their truth.  We must encourage courageous free-thought and nourish fresh perspectives; we cannot feed the fear of dissent.  We must piece together a more complete picture.  Satya means to dedicate practice to cultivating our understanding.  Satya means to propagate a more consummate, collaborative, and comprehensive truth.   ​
Satya is often translated as non-lying, or truthfulness, with the implication that as long as we are honest and impeccable with our word, we are practicing this virtue.  Satya entails so much more than this limited interpretation.  Satya means non-falsehood, non-distortion, non-ignorance.  We must allow for multiple truths; we cannot ignore or deny the truth of others.  
  www.cocoyogaandwellness.com
In Sanskrit, Sat indicates the ultimate eternal truth, with the suffix ya indicating doing or accomplishing.  Satya requires active investigation in seeking the whole and complete truth.  We must be willing to question the dominant cultural narrative; we must be willing to hear and digest multiple perspectives and to exercise our own discernment.

www.cocoyogaandwellness.com
 We must analyze the validity of our usual information sources and evaluate entrained biases, inaccurate assumptions, hidden interests, and covert agendas.  We must identify which voices have been silenced, unduly discredited, or eclipsed.  We must consider alternate views and sort facts from opinion.

www.cocoyogaandwellness.com
We must amplify the voices that long have been oppressed, and bolster the stories of those vulnerable to violence in speaking their truth.  We must encourage courageous free-thought and nourish fresh perspectives; we cannot feed the fear of dissent.  We must piece together a more complete picture.

www.cocoyogaandwellness.com
Satya means to dedicate practice to cultivating our understanding.  Satya means to propagate a more consummate, collaborative, and comprehensive truth.   

www.cocoyogaandwellness.com
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Silence & Truth

6/27/2020

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What are my aims?  Am I committed?
"Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly." - Gandhi

Silence and listening are important keys in the work with Satya & Santosha.  So many voices that we’ve too long suppressed and ignored are coming to the forefront of global conversation and upsetting what’s been the dominant/dominating narrative.  There’s a lot we need to hear.  There’s a lot we need to digest.  There’s a lot we need to reframe in our understanding of the truth.  It takes time and dedication in quiet reflection before we can know how to respond thoughtfully and appropriately.   Let's honor this process and allow ourselves the time and space we need, and let's recognize when we are ready to speak out the whole truth and act accordingly.  
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Social Justice & The Purpose of Yoga: Invoking Satya & Santosha

6/25/2020

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Yoga & anti-racism SERIES, PART 3 OF 8

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
Lokah Samastah Sukino Bhavantu

​Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
 

This sanskrit prayer we so often invoke at the end of yoga asana practice speaks to the purpose of yoga.  “May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.”  Here we state our desire for the wellbeing of everyone, and our intention that our own practice contribute to this greater good.  Yoga invites us to walk the path to freedom and happiness, for ourselves and for all--the path to inner peace and peace on earth. 

The Yamas & Niyamas
​

In the Yoga Sutras Patanjali outlines the eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga, beginning with the Yamas and Niyamas, which illuminate yoga’s inherent design.   In Sanskrit Yamas connotes reins, the restraints employed by a charioteer.  The Yamas steer our interactions with others, teaching us how to navigate our interpersonal world with ethical behaviors to respect all others and create harmonious coexistence.  “May all beings everywhere be happy and free...”  Niyamas shares the same root, with the added prefix Ni, in this instance indicating inward or within.  The Niyamas guide our internal practice and right relationship within ourselves.  “...and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.”
​
Yamas & Niyamas Guidepost - Coco Yoga And Wellness
Yamas and Niyamas Activism Teagan Patell de Valverde
 
The Yamas and Niyamas direct and focus our actions to achieve freedom and happiness for all, to reach ultimate union, or enlightenment.  They are often described as guideposts, numbered in order reflecting Pantanjali's elucidation in the Yoga Sutras.  However, we might consider the Yamas and Niyamas more as trail-marking cairns comprised of stacked stones.  We might imagine that the stones have tumbled, and that we may rearrange them more stably in such a way to better illuminate our path and lend to more coherence.  Let's consider a cairn with Satya & Santosha at its base, and place Brahmacharya & Svadhyaya second.  We stack Aparigraha & Tapas third at the midpoint, followed by Asteya & Saucha.  We cap the cairn with Ahimsa & Ishwara Pranidhana at the pinnacle.  Arranged in this way, we're clearly directed toward social activism and anti-racism; it's the only way forward with applied practice. 


Satya

As a white American woman late to the anti-racism discussion, my first step in this journey is to educate myself, to listen to those who live the realities of racist oppression, and to pursue the full truth of our history and current state of affairs.  I invoke the Yama Satya, propagation of comprehensive truth, and the Niyama Santosha, multiple truth reconciliation.   
 
​
Satya: Propagation of Comprehensive Truth
Silenced Voices of Everyday Sheroes by Samanta Tello

Satya is often translated as non-lying, or truthfulness, with the implication that as long as we are honest and impeccable with our word, we are practicing this virtue.  Satya entails so much more than this limited interpretation.  Satya means non-falsehood, non-distortion, non-ignorance.  We must allow for multiple truths; we cannot ignore or deny the truth of others.  
 
In Sanskrit, Sat indicates the ultimate eternal truth, with the suffix ya indicating doing or accomplishing.  Satya requires active investigation in seeking the whole and complete truth.  We must be willing to question the dominant cultural narrative; we must be willing to hear and digest multiple perspectives and to exercise our own discernment.  We must analyze the validity of our usual information sources and evaluate entrained biases, inaccurate assumptions,
hidden interests, and covert agendas.  We must identify which voices have been silenced, unduly discredited, or eclipsed.  We must consider alternate views and sort facts from opinion.  We must amplify the voices that long have been oppressed, and bolster the stories of those vulnerable to violence in speaking their truth.  We must encourage courageous free-thought and nourish fresh perspectives; we cannot feed the fear of dissent.  We must piece together a more complete picture.  Satya means to dedicate practice to cultivating our understanding.  Satya means to propagate a more consummate, collaborative, and comprehensive truth.   


SANTOSHA

Santosha: Complete Acceptance
Picture

​Santosha, derived from Sanskrit Sam, complete, altogether, entire, and Tosha, acceptance, or being comfortable, means to make peace with, or to reconcile multiple truths.  Santosha asks us to develop our capacity to hold comfortably the varied elements that comprise the complete truth, and to accept dichotomous or paradoxical realities.  This is a practice of mental flexibility, that we may stretch ourselves beyond one limited view and exercise ‘both/and’ competency, allowing for seeming opposites both to be simultaneously true.  We must build our faculty for uncertainty and contradiction.

​
Santosha invites us to be present with all that is, to face what we’d rather not see.  We must sift, sort, and structure the multiple aspects of truth to create space in our minds and foster a sense of clarity and ease so that we are not overwhelmed or burdened by the enormity of true reality.  Santosha is often translated as contentment, and this is an important element.  We must not be frustrated or deterred when the multiple components do not readily align or make sense within our active framework.  We must be content to keep with the practice, to build space to accommodate our own blind spots and allow for gaps in our understanding.  Practice with Santosha requires calm receptivity, persistence in reflection, and a willingness to rearrange concepts, rule out false paradigm schemes, imagine ideas inverted, follow corollary patterns, and redefine our sense of truth, reality, and identity.

Practicing Satya & Santosha with Anti-Racism

As I continue with this first step of listening, educating myself, and investigating the full truth of our history and current reality, I’d like to share a few resources that I’m finding helpful as a white American woman new to the anti-racism movement:
  • An easy step to take is to follow Marie Beecham (@MarieBeech) on Facebook or Instagram for clear bite-size information and actionable steps.
  • If you’re ready for more than this, I highly recommend listening to the Hope & Hard Pills podcast and tuning in to Andre Henry’s Facebook videos to expand our perception and hear diverse perspectives.
  • When you’re ready for an extensive overview of how racism has been embedded in the American criminal justice system for the entirety of American history, Michelle Alexander’s New York Times Bestseller The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, 10th Anniversary Edition paints a clear comprehensive picture.

Thank you for engaging with the anti-racism discussion and exploring with me how yoga calls us to activism for social justice. In my next post I continue with this practice and explore Karma Yoga & The Paradox of All-One, invoking the Yama Brahmacharya and the Niyama Svadhyaya.

Namaste ~ Teagan

 This Yoga & Anti-Racism Series streams forth in personal practice in response to Michelle Johnson's call to radicalize yoga to create a just world, as I've detailed in Part 1.  Many words around Satya and Santosha reverberate themes from Sarah Varcas' framework interpreting the astrological signature we are experiencing in these times.  Thank you Michelle Johnson and Sarah Varcas for your guidance and your invitation to come into better alignment. 


Yamas and Niyamas Activism Teagan Patell de Valverde
Picture
Yoga & Anti-Racism Series
Part 1: How Yoga & Social Justice Intersect: A Contemplative Practice
..... Part 1.1 A Personal Commitment to Social Justice Practice
Part 2: Setting the Stage for Contemplative Practice:  A Personal Reflection
Part 3: Social Justice & The Purpose of Yoga: Invoking Satya & Santosha
Part 4: Karma Yoga & The Paradox of All-One: Invoking Brahmacharya & Svadhyaya
..... Part 4.1 The Work of Byron Katie: Bonding Brahmacharya & Svadhyaya with Satya & Santosha

Part 5: Dharma, Divisiveness & Sustaining Activism: Invoking Aparigraha & Tapas
..... Part 5.1 Bonding Aparigraha & Tapas with Brahmacharya & Svadhyaya

Part 6: Appropriation & Holding Space: Invoking Asteya & Saucha
..... Part 6.1 Integrity Review

Part 7: Surrender to Activism: Invoking Ahimsa & Ishwara Pranidhana
Part 8: The Yamas & Niyamas Activism Model
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