Towards Real Freedom!

On August 8th at 2.45 am our teacher, Sri TKV Desikachar breathed his last. The person who taught so many of us  – one on one – to breathe, to use our breath not only as a calming, healing tool but as the ultimate spiritual process.

He has found his freedom from the body and mind that had been wasting away. But letting go of somebody like him from our life is so painful. The last few days I have been con

sciously trying to breathe more deeply but there is so much heaviness in the heart, a sense of emptiness that the loss has left. This must be true for many of us who have had the good fortune of studying with this great master. He was, for many of us, a parent figure, a loving and caring father who saw to it that he got the best out of us, in all circumstances.  

Our teacher was not out in the world, in the face of people proclaiming great knowledge or demonstrating extraordinary powers. What was most endearing about him was his quiet, unassuming nature, who was just there, available for all of us anytime we sought his help. He taught us by evoking the true powers of yoga, igniting them in our heart by building genuine relationships, by offering what is most appropriate in the most palatable manner! I remember days when I have felt so depressed and miserable and gone to him. He never asked why, he never counseled. All he did was, with great compassion and attention, chant for me, sometime for 20 minutes or even 40 minutes, till I settled down and began to breathe in a relaxed manner. He would sometimes make me a hot drink from the kitchen and see me off with a smile and I was also smiling! How this man could offer this kind of attention and loving care to all his students, has remained a mystery!

All that he taught, he said was what he learnt from his father, he would quote his “Appa” often. But we know that the very precise method of course planning in asana, or building ratios in pranayama or creating highly specific meditative practices for each individual that were creative and quite unconventional, were perhaps his own innovations. He taught us to keep this creative spark alive in us so that we can develop the most appropriate practice for a student, almost like performing an intricate surgery, like creating a piece of art!  He brought in absolute precision with a rare kind of beauty and freshness in all the practices he offered that made our practice deeper and consistent; that helped students heal miraculously.

Our teacher could hold so many of us together, inspire us to continue to study, practice and offer only the best of our self to our students. Even when he was ailing and lost to the world, he was, and continues to be very much alive in our work each day. When I receive a student into my class each day, I remember how he would greet and make somebody meeting him for the first time feel so much at ease. When he walked with them to the gate after the session and said goodbye, he left people feeling they have already overcome most of the hurdles – he helped them to experience and calm, joyful and optimistic frame of mind that is  the first  step to healing. It is hard to live up to a teacher of that caliber and compassion.  But we will try to, making a fresh start each day, with each conscious breath!

A Tribute:

How do we do this? How do we keep alive the spirit of this great teacher in each one of us, in our intentions, thoughts, words and actions? How can we work towards realizing what he started off, as a silent movement? To help people heal through the true experience of yoga – a quiet mind?

What I learnt from my own experience was this: you cannot practice /teach somebody yoga when the mind is agitated. He would say, it is like “yuddha kale shastraabhyaasam”: practising weaponry at the time of war. Instead, he used to offer interesting, unconventional practices that always worked for that individual!

If you are willing to experiment with me, join hands. Let this be a silent, secret revolution in our hearts.  

Are you ready?

If you have people in your life that you would like to support healing, help them calm their mind, start doing something constructive and wholesome towards their own health and healing, try this practice for yourself holding them in your heart. By doing this practice, we can divert the energy we wastefully invest in worrying about them into something constructive, towards real freedom!

You can start with a short prayer to reinforce the intention for the practice.

30-40 breaths of pranayama (any technique of your choice) each in-breath drawing from your very Source – visualizing the breath coming from deep inside your heart – holding briefly (3-4 seconds or longer if possible) with the bhavana of strength and clarity and exhaling slowly and deeply, visualizing them releasing all the pain, clearing all the blocks from body and mind. Suspend your breath a while longer with the complete attitude of surrendering this breath for the health and wellbeing of this person.

After the initial heaviness and pain in the beginning – depending on our emotional investment in that person - you will begin to sense the ease of flow – may take even a few days, so persist!

When you feel ready, drop the regulation and continue to hold the visualization with your natural flow of breath, taking your awareness deeper into the heart space feeling its expansion and relaxation with each breath. Each time pause a while longer after each exhalation with the bhavana of dissolving the self into the stillness.

As you progress with the practice, embrace all living beings on this planet, the very earth we are seated on, as your partner in practice… It will sound a bit haughty to say, “I am clearing away the pain of the whole world” – therefore let that thought also dissolve in the pure awareness of your heart…

Stay there in stillness …

Then inhale drawing all your strength from within to offer this world.

Let it create a new pathway for the mind and prana, towards real freedom!

​This will be a fitting tribute to all our great masters who have lived and taught what is most important and left their breath here for us to draw from…

Let all living beings be peaceful!

love,

Saras

Śraddhā: The Secret Ingredient - Part 1

[From a talk Saraswathi Vasudevan gave at Hyderabad. Part 1 of 3. Thanks to Suchitra Shenoy for transcribing it thoroughly.]

What fuels people? There is a secret ingredient; what is it?

What takes us deeper and deeper? Takes us forward? The secret ingredient [that does so], is really important for me as a yoga teacher and researcher. It is like a thread that can be held on to.

I’m reminded of someone who was, for me, the epitome of this secret ingredient. I call her a close friend because she is very close to my heart, though we only met three or four times.

The first time we met, she came for therapy. She couldn’t use her arm, she had lost all strength, all musculature. It was an autoimmune condition that created immense pain. She had a morphine pump to control the pain. That’s how she came to yoga.

In spite of this she was cheerful. And she started practicing yoga. Six months later she shook hands with me; with the same arm that she couldn’t lift earlier. And she said, “You know what? I can now do downward dog and upward dog… All because of yoga.” “I will get there,” she said, talking about what else she had to do. “I will get there.”

A year later she had cancer and it was quite bad. I was in Australia and we met in a park. She was wheeled in with an oxygen cylinder by her husband. We had a good time. We ate, laughed, talked and meditated together. I asked her what keeps her going. She said, “The cancer has spread everywhere. It is in my liver, my spleen, my spine. It is all over me. But you know what, Saras? My brain and my heart are intact.” And she laughed.

What makes you persevere I asked her? “I don’t give up. As long as I live I want to be happy, and I continue,” she said. All of us were moved to tears by her passion for life, the celebration of life. So for me, the secret ingredient that she carried was her love for life; she infused in everyone around her.

The secret ingredient is called shraddha in Sanskrit, the desire or inner conviction. There can be no yoga without shraddha.

*
The problem is when we take something out of context, like asanas, and focus on it. Asanasis a good beginning. But yoga is an umbrella under which only a small part is asanas. We know the body is impermanent (it will age, get disease, perish), so can we go beyond that? Can we connect with something deeper than the body? Yoga is the quiet mind that helps discriminate between the right path and the distracting path.

And shraddha therefore, is the deep inner conviction to follow my yoga. It is the internal energy or strength. It is not about external success. Can I develop a qualitative shift of mind? Can I move away from frustration and confusion towards clarity and reflection?

(to be continued..)

Yoga in Crisis Management

“I managed to practice today... I was able to do some breathing, simple movements and some chanting as well”, she said.

I listened in awe, deeply moved by what she was saying. You might be wondering why? She had just lost her husband 2 days ago just days before his 40th birthday! And she was able to do her yoga practice? Of course with some help and encouragement from her friends who rallied around.

It is not going to be so easy, we know, but I am confident that she has the strength and resilience to handle everything, now that she has really discovered the strength of her personal practice.

So what are the reasons for dropping our daily yoga practice? We can give so many… and we always find some excuse or the other. But can we start finding excuses to practice every day? Even if we are travelling, even if the house is full of guests, even if we have gone to bed late the previous night, list all the usual excuses…

This is what I have started doing lately. With so much work to do and at any given moment something to be done urgently, it won't work without giving myself a valid excuse to do my practice. It is about creating an inner space that

is free from the daily clutter of work and responsibilities, where I can breathe deeply, stretch slowly and freely, smile within and enjoy every moment of being with myself… or my Self?

Can we start looking forward to our daily practice – whatever it maybe, 30 min or 1 hour, can we find some excuse to get into that space? When practice becomes strong, we can recruit our breath, we can use our inner resources to cope with whatever life throws upon us.

Another friend who lost her 23 year old son sometime ago was narrating to me what had happened on the 10th day after the fatal incident: “It was as if I was slipping down a deep abyss, it was such a powerful current of pain sucking me down into darkness… and something inside of me said “breathe, breathe” I started breathing, held on to it… Just my breath, breathing in and out, only my breath… all that I could do was that and that was the only thing that has really helped me all these months to deal with the intensity of the pain.”

How simple yet powerful, but this is impossible in a crisis situation if our practice is not regular and strong. We cannot use the tools that we have not practised using before. In Sanskrit they say,“Yuddha Kale Shastra Abhyasam” - Practising weapons at the time of war - does not help!

A crisis can be anything. Sometimes we are surprised how the smallest of happenings disturb and destabilize the mind. We hate to admit it, but we easily point the finger out and externalize the cause. Then we begin to search for solutions outside. When we are able to take responsibility for ourself and are able to do something NOW, not yesterday, not tomorrow, and able to do it consistently, then we will know that our practice is reasonably stable.

Be excited about your practice. Create a special space at home, clean and uncluttered. Begin to look forward to the time of practice, enjoy every moment of being with yourself, with whatever the focus of your practice – be it the body, breath or any object of inquiry.

Let every breath remind us of the Permanent and the impermanent that nothing except the breath can touch…

“Where is conflict when the Truth is known
Where is disease when the mind is clear
Where is death when the breath is controlled?
Therefore Surrender to Yoga”
- from Yoganjali Saram,
a composition by Sri T Krishnamacharya

The burning issue

How do I manage my anger? A question many have asked. Anger is a very basic and primal human emotion. When not expressed, managed properly, it can have a devastating impact on ourselves as well as others. Anger is not always a negative emotion, there are powerful positive outcomes when we express our anger appropriately - in a way that supports dharma.

While it is important not to control or repress anger, it is equally important to ensure that we take complete responsibility for our actions coming through anger. Whatever be the expression - slamming doors, withdrawing into silence, shouting at the top of our voice, speaking hurtfully... they are all acts of violence. Let us learn to take responsibility for it and not blame the other ("you made me angry") for our actions.

Heyam: What do I want to avoid?

This is the first step inyoga: the recognition that I am the source of the problem and therefore only I can do something about it. Identifying what is that I want to get rid of? In this case, my expression of anger that hurts me and others and leaves behind many negative repercussions.

There are many strategies for immediate and temporary pacification - drink water, take I 0 take deep breaths, count to ten. go for a walk etc. But it is important to understand the roots of anger so that we can have better control over it and give the emotion its rightful place in our daily life.

What triggers my anger?

The second step is to investigate the trigger points. Be conscious of what makes us angry. Make a note of situations in the recent past that made you feel angry.

It is easier to start with this as we are tuned to external triggers and feel very comfortable blaming outside factors.

What are my thoughts, words and action in this reactive state?

Something like: I feel like punching you hard, I want to say something really nasty to make you hug. I hit my head against the wall... How intense is it - on a scale of Ito 10?

What is happening to my body, my breath?

This is not something we are aware of most of the time because we are quite disconnected from the body. But the breath and the body provide powerful insight into the intensity of the emotion. Observing your breath and body sensations is a good way to create some space before we get into the super-conditioned reactive mode.

It has helped me to just observe what is happening within me, in terms of sensations - tightness in jaws, burning sensation in my throat or abdomen, buzzing in the forehead, tears in my eyes... just observe for a few minutes before you say or do anything.

Breath observation helps to anchor yourself to the body sensations and stay with it, opening out possibilities for moving out of our conditioned pathways.

Hetu: where is this anger coming from?

Your mind will go back conveniently to the external trigger, naturally. Drop it. Come back into yourself and ask yourself again, what makes me feel this anger?

Wait in silence, breathe and observe sensations, wait patiently till the answer comes. You might have to ask several times... You will sometimes be surprised how far back in life this question takes you.

At some point, we might reach the seed of fear. Ask: what is my fear? Because most often anger arises from a strong sense of fear, insecurity. You will get in touch with that.

Once we have understood that the source is from within and has little to do with the current situation/person, there is more clarity.

Hanam: Where do I want to get to?

Recognise the impact of the anger (especially if it is a chronic issue) on your body and breath. Even if you are able to break the habitual reactive tendencies once, you will see that it leaves you with clarity and better control, you realise you are able to deal with this emotion intelligently. You are able to see the emotion and its experience from a space of strength and clarity.

Upayam: What are my tools?

Patanjali offers very many tools through the Yoga Sutra to tide over emotional upheavals that can temporarily cloud the mind. I have personally found breathing with focus on exhalation very effective. Once the mind is calm, it is capable of reflective actions, moving away from the reactive mode.

You may choose to release the thoughts through your everyday asana and pranayama practice. Simple, long deep exhalation can help release and minimise the intensity of the sensations in the body. Now the emotion is really flowing and clearing. Check the intensity after a few minutes of conscious breathing.

I have found that regular practice of asana and pranayama helps reduce reactivity, your threshold goes up! Sometimes you may still have to express anger in a powerful manner - but within you can be very calm, check your pulse rate.

Until you have really understood your anger, taken responsibility for it and done some level of clearing and reached a calmer state of mind, DO NOT ACT. A few minutes of delayed reaction will actually help the earth become a better place to live in!

And, again, from Thich Nhat Hanh:

Just by breathing deeply on your anger, you will calm it. You are being mindful of your anger, not suppressing it... touching it with the energy of mindfulness. You are not denying it at all. When I speak about this to psychotherapists, I have some difficulty. When I say that anger makes us suffer, they take it to mean that anger is something negative to be removed But I always say that anger is an organic thing like love. Anger can become love. Our compost can become a rose. If we know how to take care of our compost... Anger is the same. It can be negative when we do not know how to handle it, but ifwe know how to handle our anger, it can be very positive. We do not need to throw anything away."

Love, Saras

Stillness of the Sky

This happened a few months ago...

“Do you know? Today is the 'International Look at the Sky Day'!” We were in a beautiful park, having had our lunch together and just relaxing after days and days of intense study and activity. How wonderful that we can actually now look at the vast, blue, empty sky and what a gift, there were no clouds, just the bright blue expanse and the glorious sun!

So we lay down in a circle and looked up at the sky...

First of all, it was not easy to just watch the empty sky. We wanted movement, activity. We looked for birds, maybe

an aeroplane will come by? We drew respite from the branches of the tree that provided us shade and some activity to be engaged in...

And can you imagine how many things got projected on to this screen? Thoughts, images, ideas, past memories of similar experience and of course, from time to time, a glimpse of the background - the vast empty sky.

How long we lay there? Sleepy after a good lunch and reluctantly breaking out of the reverie, we sat up to share our experience.

As much as we are caught up with the problems of the ever changing reality of our life and seeking desperately to be free of this constant chaos, just being with stillness seems to be such a big challenge - as experienced by this short “watching the sky” practice. The mind was looking for something to get occupied with or was drifting off into sleep. But just to be awake and alert and simply observe and not “do” anything with this mind seems to be such a big challenge!

Why are we so uncomfortable with stillness?

Why do we take refuge in “doing” something with this mind all the time until it is exhausted and ready to give up everything and shut down? Or most often operate from a semi-awake-sleep mode on an auto-pilot driven by its conditioning?

Sankhya and Yoga explain this as the action of the Gunas: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. When Sattva dominates, the mind is capable of stillness and clarity, Rajas is responsible for all movement and change, Tamas clouds the mind, makes it more and more indulgent and puts it to sleep. And because the Gunas are constantly alternating, there is very little scope for sustaining Sattva for too long. But there is hope because the mind can be trained to nurture the quality of Sattva.

It will require

1. Reducing the quality of Tamas in the wakeful state by appropriate food and life style habits.
2. Controlling the Rajas by disciplined activity and focused engagement.
3. Enhance Sattva by practices that will strengthen the stillness and clarity of mind.

Through asana, pranayama and pratyahara, with the help of the Yama-Niyama, we primarily try to control Rajas and reduce Tamas. This followed by deeper meditative practices that allow Sattva to surface and establish itself.

Why stillness? What is the purpose of moving beyond the chaotic, conditioned mind?

Like a clear sheet of water or mirror, this stillness reflects the reality of the moment to us without any distortions. We see and understand everything better, we are able to engage in deeper inquiry without getting caught up with the stories of the mind. We are capable of better actions and being the best person we can be.

So, instead of trying to control the mind, judging it, blaming and getting more and more frustrated with its behaviour, can we choose to step beyond all this chaos into the space of silent watching?  

Spending a few minutes everyday in this space of stillness so that we can connect with that unchanging aspect of our self is a very important practice for the mind to be engaged with. It nourishes the mind that is usually fed by it conditioned attachment to rapidly changing realities of life. Perhaps when the mind is nurtured with sensitivity, like the way we take care of our physical body with food, clothing and other material comforts, it has the potential to behave differently.  

The mind draws its nourishment and strength from this experience of stillness and begins to offer us a glimpse of what its true potentials are... capable of reflecting realities with less distortion, offering choices that did not exist for us before, observing a situation or person with less judgement, abiding in peace and joy.

This is what we are capable of, every human being. The potential remains hidden, waiting to be explored...

By the way, the “International Look at the Sky Day” was April 12, and we don't have to wait for another 10 months to do it again! Now is good time. If you don't have access to the sky outside, what about the one within?

Have an expansive, joyful month ahead...

Saras

Tired of tiredness ?

“Tiredness is for the mind, not the body”, a colleague once told me when we were discussing about the issue of low energy and exhaustion that most people complained about. It made so much sense! Have you noticed, even if the exhaustion is from physical exertion, do we always feel rejuvenated after a period of physical rest (unless it is a good deep sleep)? Not if the mind is working overtime! In the guise of “resting” have you noticed the mind has been busy as ever, trying to rationalize why rest is necessary whilst feeling miserable about not “doing” anything, worrying about work pending, feeling guilty about being “unproductive”, comparing with others and how much they are able to accomplish... at the same time feeling sorry for oneself! The so called “rest” actually leads to more exhaustion.

If we look at the nature of the most exhausting thought patterns, they are mostly about two opposing streams of thought fighting with each other. Conflict is the staple food for the ego. The more we judge ourself or others' behaviour, struggle with choices in life, get caught up with what is “right” and “wrong”, what I/they “should be” or “should not be” doing, the less energy we have. Mind has become a battle field and our vital faculties are like wounded soldiers: weak memory, poor attention and decision-making skills, lack of energy and enthusiasm... Like a leaky pot, we continue to lose vital energy (prana). Prana also gets trapped in our conflicting belief and emotional patterns and the more the Prana gets stuck, the less we have at our disposal. We get caught in a vicious cycle recreating more traps for the Prana, all through life!

How can yoga help resolve these conflicts and release the stuck energy for our daily activities? How can we overcome this kind of exhaustion that is not necessarily coming from any organic cause? Let us not rule out the possibility of such chronic thought/emotional patterns  actually precipitating illnesses in due course, if not dealt with appropriately...

Try this next time you are feeling really tired (in lying or seated position, to start with):   

1. Recognize the familiar thought and its manifestation:

When the mind begins to chant, “I am so... tired/exhausted/burnt out etc.,” whatever way your mind labels that feeling, simply take notice.

Listen to the thought without judging or resisting it. Just listen, with care.

Listening is also about observing what symptoms in the body reflect this thought. “What is happening in my body right now?” Without trying to verbalize the sensations, can you simply observe what is happening in the body? Spend just a couple of minutes on this.

Scan through the whole body to identify those parts that are feeling dense, painful, heavy or irritable. Also those parts where you feel no specific sensation.

On a subjective scale of 0-10, make a note of how tired you are feeling.

Observe your breath: the quality of your breath reflects the actual quality of prana at your disposal. Is the inhalation short? How deep is the exhalation? Are you holding the breath a lot? Where are you feeling the breath in the body?   

2. Allow and surrender:

Allow this tiredness to take over completely. Surrender to it. Mentally tell yourself, “it is OK to feel this tiredness” “I fully allow myself to feel this exhaustion”. Soak yourself into it, feel the heaviness in your body, deep inside your bones.

Let the body become really heavy with this feeling. If you are sitting, place your palms and feet down so that you can completely ground yourself and transfer this heaviness to the earth. If you are lying down, of course surrender your weight to the earth completely, letting go, dropping down...

The mind might still be busy doing its work. With each thought that arises, see it like a wave in the ocean of the body and allow that wave to sink into and merge with the bottom of the ocean. Exhale deeply and completely, allowing all thoughts, sensations to sink into the bottom of this ocean.

Hold your breath a few seconds after the exhalation. Observe the stillness - feel the complete, total surrender to the moment.

By now, you would observe your inhalation has become deeper and longer, moving into the abdomen, indicating that some of the stuck, stale energy has been released, creating more space.   

3. Open and invite fresh energy:

Now focus on the inhalation, breathing into the abdomen (allowing the upper abdomen to expand) and continue to exhale slowly and completely. With each inhalation, you are inviting fresh prana to enter and fill the body. You may also hold your breath for a few seconds after inhalation that helps to build up and consolidate your energy resource.   

4. Move if you like:

Simple opening arm movements, followed by seated or lying twist and a gentle forward bend with deep slow inhalation and exhalation will make a tremendous difference. Let it be intuitive, as you continue to listen to what the body wants.

Go back to your subjective scale and check the level of tiredness now. Has it shifted, even by a few points?

This practice will help us get in touch with some of our deep rooted thought and belief patterns that preoccupy the mind so often. Once we recognise the resistance, we can repeat the same process and release the stuck energy.

So, the next time your mind comes up with the familiar line, simply listen, smile and invite this sensation, surrender to it, let it seep through you, release and let go. Having cleared the clutter, now invite and enjoy the fresh, nascent prana... with each breath...

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”

- The Buddha

Best wishes,

Saras

Transitional Wisdom

Have you ever encountered that moment when an attachment begins to transform into aversion? And do you know potentially, this could be a moment of awakening? Before you slip into another illusion?

It is not uncommon for us to experience the feeling of hurt, let down by the very people on whom we had pinned high hopes, we had so much trust and were emotionally invested in.

When did the transition happen?

That moment, when was it? When did you recognize the nature of the relationship change? From attachment (Raga) to aversion (Dvesa)? The boundaries are quite blurred of course, desire and hate can co-exist, but only one comes up in a given moment, if you noticed carefully.

The symptoms

First, it was the pain, the attachment, expectations and of course, irrational assumptions. When the reality shows something different, the dis-illusionment came - as a sharp gnawing pain deep inside the heart, coursing into the upper chest and throat, tightening and restricting the breath..  Negative thoughts, judgments, anxiety, hopelessness, despair and anger, a whole range of emotions - the face of Dvesa - the division and the opposition, me against the other.

The compulsive desire to run away, withdrawing into a dark hole, the numbness and sometimes sudden spurts of seething anger. What we held so close to the heart was no more important, it has even become toxic!  

What can we do now?

It takes patience and courage to investigate and understand and may take time and diligent practice. We need to ask ourselves if we are willing to enter this process of transformation.

The breath is stuck, somewhere between the chest and throat, as if held down by a huge boulder pressing through the rib cage.

Look carefully, listen, as if waiting for the last breath of a dying person...

Staring into the face of rejection, dark and frowning...

Now the heat is turned on and burning through the throat and skin, wanting to turn and run away

Streams of angry thoughts, of retaliation, the “I don't deserve this” stories...

No wait, listen...

Why drop one burden to pick up a bigger one?

In this very moment, there is scope for transformation, for freedom from the very thing we have been holding on to for so long...

Not just what we are attached or (now) averse to...

But that part of our identity that is being knocked around

that perception of people that was comfortable for us to hold on to

that pain of feeling let down

that need to belong and feel important

that belief that these people will always be there for us

that fear of being left alone...

of losing faith...

And who will we be without all this?

A little part of us - that was attached, fed by 1bpleasure - is dead but before we replace it with the opposite feeling of aversion, let us pause...   

Can we be free from this?

Is it possible for the mind to experience the freedom of choice, not to create another pattern?

Can we simply observe the game the ego indulges in, again and again? Transmuting from Raga to Dvesa, constantly motivated by the need for self-preservation?

Can we look deeply and understand the wisdom beneath this eternal drama?

It might seem impossible in the beginning to stay with the pain, the primary feeling of hurt. It is important to honour it

by observing it, withdraw the mind from its compulsive and convoluted thinking processes.

Again and again and again, breath by breath, drop all judgements, all arguments, all accusations, ALL thoughts.

When the mind clears a bit, we could perhaps look at both these faces more clearly

When we learn to embrace both aspects of our being, the loving and the wrathful faces, perhaps something can shift...

Perhaps we can transcend this cycle...

Just by stepping back and observing, only THAT.

Upeksa... equanimity. The strength of Upeksa can break down the shackles of illusion and free the mind to explore deeper territories of hidden treasures.

Explore for yourself!

Equanimity just looks on and observes, while calmly settled in composed neutrality. It is manifested as the quieting of both resentment and approval.

- Gautama Buddha

Best wishes,
Saras