Letting Go and Surrendering
I started drawing mandalas in school because I couldn’t listen to the teacher without moving my hands or focusing on something else. Anyone who has seen a child with a widget or spinner understands how they might help a kid like me with ADHD focus in class. But soon I found drawing mandalas with my beloved Sharpies resulted in the whole drawing fading in the sun overtime.
First, I was upset by all my work just disappearing in the air, but soon I realized the fun of drawing was why I even started doing it to begin with! Becoming attached to the end result seemed like a moot point so I let it go. Little did I know, I was living out the last and eighth limb of yoga known in Sanskrit as Ishvara pranidhana.
It means surrendering (pranidhana) to a higher source (Ishvara). Ishvara pranidhana is a "big picture" yoga practice because it starts a sacred shift of perspective that helps us to recall, align with, and receive the grace of being alive.
I’ve been focusing a lot on letting go and surrendering this summer.
The idea of surrendering to faith or a higher power to many Western folks nowadays seems strange. But then it seems so obvious during times like a pandemic, or the unknown of this back to school year, where we can let go of controlling our seemingly insurmountable problems. But for Pantajali, the author of yoga philosophy’s the yoga sutras, surrender should be an ongoing, inner practice—not only for emergencies.
For Patanjali, Ishvara pranidhana is a great way to dissolve the endless agitations and changing of the mind, making it a means to reach a desired unified state of yoga (samadhi). Why? Because Ishvara pranidhana shifts our perspective from being obsessed with "I"—with our narrow individual concerns and perspective—that causes so much of the mind's distraction and creates a sense of separation from our true Self.
Yoga Sutra 1.23-1.24 Victory over mind and its modifications can also be gained through complete surrender to God, the inner guide.
Since Ishvara pranidhana focuses not on ego but on the sacred ground of being, it reunites us with our true Self. Like working through the layers of tension in our hips or bodies to rest in the release of Savasana (Corpse Pose), Ishvara pranidhana provides a pathway through the obstacles of our ego toward our divine nature—grace, peace, unconditional love, clarity, and freedom.
Practice cultivating Ishvara pranidhana.
Listen to the inner teacher. In my classes, I encourage listening to the inner teacher as much as possible. By closely listening to this voice within us, we cultivate a relationship with inner guidance in all aspects of our life. When I think of the most important teachers in my life, including my parents, I see that they were not just there or the big things but a thousand little things. They were constantly showing me when I was on target or when I was straying and soon I could sense when my life was either closing or opening. Getting in touch with our inner teacher is similar, by activating our inner sense of direction we can guide and align our thoughts, speech and actions.
Give faith and credit to the simple things. Whether you are a natural bhakti (devotional) yogi or a complete skeptic, when undertaking a simple act like cooking a meal or a challenging task like a difficult conversation, try surrendering to the process and its ebbs and flows by looking at it more closely. For example, when cooking, acknowledge all the trials that a tomato, carrot, lettuce, melon etc. has undertaken to make it onto your plate. So much water, sun and growth.
Set an intention or sankalpa. What is a Sankalpa? It’s a personal vow. It represents a desire that you have within you. Write it down and repeat often.
Make offerings in your physical practice. As you practice asana, start treating challenging poses as small metaphors for life’s difficulties. For example, finding tension as a signal to use your breathing so you can more fully surrender by deepening your breath or enhancing your flexibility you can dissolve a tight inner world and find space.