I had a light bulb moment sometime between this Yama and last weeks’ Yama, which is that the Yamas can be though of as defining our “Interconnectedness,” whereas the Niyamas relate to our “Inner Connectedness”.
This has been a helpful tether to keep pulling me back into considering Satya this week. Satya is the only Yama that is regularly defined by what you should do rather than what you shouldn’t. So already, we’re starting on a good foot.
The word Satya means to be truthful, honest – or even unchangeable and constant. Which are fairly accurate when it comes to universal truths. These are the ones which are unassailable and always true (until they aren’t, but that’s a whole other blog…). This is generally what we mean when we think of Satya as being more interconnected – can we align with the greater truths so that we discover unity in aligning together.
Then we have what I like to think of as “present truths.” These are things that are true for us right now, in this moment. Or what we are willing to believe right now. These truths have a bit more spanda to them, meaning they have a greater pulsation in relationship to what you happen to know up to that point in time. Sometimes these truths happen to line up easily with the greater, universal truths, but sometimes they don’t.
In Elizabethan times, women thought drinking puppy pee would improve their skin. True story.
Thankfully that particular belief didn’t stick around for too long…
Truth, in any given moment, has a lot to do with what we are willing to believe. So our present truths can change depending on our capacity to learn, discover more and what we can prove to ourselves. In order to reveal a deeper truth, we can’t stay on the surface. We literally have to dig in, get a little messy and do the work.
This makes me realize more and more that Satya truly lives in the midline—our personal center, as well as the collective center. One of my favorite definitions of Satya is “to get closer”, which calls to my Anusara mind, muscle energy.
Muscle energy, contrary to some belief, is not rigid, nor is it permanent. You can try, but you will not be able to sustain a firm engagement of muscle to bone for an entire 90-minute class. Go ahead and try. Let me know how it works out for you.
What muscle energy does do is it taps into the resource of our own power, which is constantly ebbing and flowing. Muscle energy simply brings you closer to your source. Satya.
Think of it this way. When we get closer to our own authentic self, we have a greater ability to align with nature and ultimately, line up more skillfully, sweetly and effectively with one another. Lining up with our authentic self, even if we know that self will shift and change, gives us the capacity to shift and change smoothly with the world around us, rather than fight it. Plus, getting closer to what is true within our own hearts honors the highest within ourselves, which gives us a greater capacity to offer that same proof, simply by living our lives in a more sattvicly aligned way.
And we can do this without bludgeoning people into agony with our beliefs, which distances most people from one another because they don’t always agree.
Instead we connect and inspire by becoming living proof.
Satya~in a nutshell.
So how do we become living proof of the truths we align to for the greater harmony of our interwoven hearts?
5 Easy Steps:
- Get educated. Read more of everything. Newspapers, books, blogs, comic strips — the more you know, the greater your database for understanding which increases your truth in any given moment. Even TV can help. Seriously.
- Discuss with friends. And really listen. Don’t just wait to interject what YOU believe.
- Be trustworthy. If you say you’re going to do something, don’t be the “friend” who drops the ball. Allow your actions to speak volumes.
- Do something that unnerves you or freaks you out. Do his regularly. There’s nothing like discomfort to bring you closer to yourself
- Do some digging and come up with some of your deepest secrets– those truths that tend to stay hidden. And bring them to the light. These don’t have to be dark, scary secrets (although those can be revelatory and helpful, too), these can be secrets about some awesome talent you never bring out to play. Maybe you’re a closeted tap dancer and haven’t tapped for years since that fiasco of a recital in the 7th grade. Find a tap class. Lace up your taps. Get to tapping. Revealing that truth will be radically empowering and wildly inspiring.
Any other suggestions? The floor is yours — how to you align to the highest in yourself by living that proof?
See you next week for Asteya
