I love the idea of August as this sweet, easy time, but the truth is that for me it never has been. Even as a child (who loved school!) I would start worrying about September as soon as August came around.

Some of it was excitement, some of it was worry and fear—would I be able to open my locker, would my friends still like me?

I’ve never been able to shake that engrained anxiety. But with yoga in my life I am able to give myself a break from it. I am able to let August yawn and linger and be light in my palms.

This month at Shine we will actively practice Emptying Out Before We Begin. The idea behind this concept is an old one in yoga philosophy. There is a true and central part of us that never changes, called Purusha and then there is everything else, Prakrati. The really useful part of this concept for us is that Prakrati is all matter. It’s trees and sidewalks and pizza, but it is also our thoughts and our roles in life. It is everything that is not our pure being.

One school of yoga, most clearly defined by the key text, The Yoga Sutras according to Patanjali, set out to give people the means of separating their true selves from all the Prakrati. Some of the ways to separate the two include Asana ( the physical postures in yoga), the Yamas and Niyamas (moral behavior), and Meditation.

Why is this helpful for modern life? Well when Sunday or August, or anxiety creeps in, begin to separate the worries from your true self. Peel them off one by one. Empty out so your true self can be the light in your palms—giving to the world and drawing back into yourself.

With love,

Sara