Svadhyaya
Goddess pose (Utkata Konasana)
The Svadhyaya niyama means self-study. For me, it’s analyzing that truly matters to you, what gives you energy and inspirations and what drains you. Which people do you feel easy to be around, and which ones are stress sources? Is feeling anxious in that situation an obstacle to overcome or a clear warning about something harmful? And very important: your true self might probably differ from what others expect.
Some things I’ve learned:
☦ People with sense of entitlement sucks.
☦ Running is meditation. Should be outdoors unless it’s a blizzard, on my own, uninterruptible and with good headphones.
☦ A digital detox of two or three days each year feels great, gives energy, creativity and vitality.
☦ Google Calendar is perfect.
☦ Need a focus boost? Phone in silent and Bach (yes, the classical composer) in headphones gets the job done.
☦ The Facebook app is malware.
☦ When physical meetings isn’t possible, e-mail is superior for most work related communication.
☦ Write journals (note to self: you practice yoga every day since Spring 2017 and you post almost every day to the ’Gram, then writing a few lines of text each day should be a piece of cake).
☦ If I’m thirsty, I’m thirsty. The Goddess gifted us with good warning systems, and I prefer to have mine working.