meditation – Sarasvati Sally Dawson

Mar, 2023

We run to far away temples and walk up mountains to search for what we have lost inside ourselves

Going to places for the sake of it will not help you find ‘yourself’.

Travel, even a yoga retreat, will not necessarily help you find yourself. Yes you will experience new places, different cultures and maybe get new perspectives. It can be eye-opening and perhaps make you further appreciate the life you have.

But it seems that we have lost something.

What you have lost just might be found when you give yourself an opportunity to be still and quiet. It can be found when you give yourself the opportunity to meditate and contemplate the sense of who you are and how your mind creates a sense of ‘me’ and ‘other’.

Maybe you do have to get away for that.

It is not the getting away that is important, it is the opportunity to be quiet.

Maybe you will find yourself sitting in a temple. For example the Nityananda temple in Ganeshpuri is a place of chanting and devotion, and being away from your usual routines might allow you to be open enough to experience the Shakti, the spiritual energy, that is available to us all. Maybe you get a glimpse of perspective of the familiar old mind habits.

Sitting in a cave in a mountain might also allow you to be still and quiet and open to the energy of transformation, the energy that becomes apparent when we become really still and drop back from the busy mind.

Tenzin Palmo sat in a tiny cave on a mountain for many years. In the end one of her statements was …

‘The idea that there’s somewhere we have got to get to, and something we have to attain, is our basic delusion.’

Maybe taking yourself away from your usual routines and responsibilities really does help.

But it is not the travel and it is not necessarily the place that will help you find what you have lost.

What many of us have lost is the sense of inner connection.

The sense that we are really not separate, that we really are all manifestations of one big consciousness and are in this together.

There is no ‘me’ and ‘other’. That is the mind’s creation. (I know, that’s a bit of a mind bender!)

Yes there is a separate body, with a mind, that manifests for a brief period and then fades away again. Maybe as individuals we make a small difference in the world doing work we are called to do, serving in the way that feels authentic. Sitting in stillness helps us to see what that work might be, and helps us to see how we skew our view of reality by believing the mind. We believe the mind that creates ‘me’ and ‘other’, rather than accepting that it is a sort of virtual reality on our mental screen.

Being still will give you perspective on Self and reality.

It will help you see that it is not ‘me’ that has to experience the world, judge the world, manipulate the world to suit the individual. It will help you to feel the sense of one-ness and connection. That is the work of Yoga.

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo also said:

‘When we are angry, when we are excited, when we are depressed, when we are elated, we are completely submerged in and identified with those thoughts and feelings. This is why we suffer. We suffer because we are completely identified with our thoughts and feelings and we think this is me. This is who I am.

Being still will give you perspective on Self and reality. It will help you see that it is not ‘me’ that has to experience the world, judge the world, manipulate the world to suit the individual. It will help you to feel the sense of one-ness and connection.

That is the work of Yoga.

Then… with a feeling of inner freedom, life might unfold in a way that feels easy and purposeful.

You can’t run away from yourself.

Maybe you can find that inner freedom within right now, or maybe it is time to explore within. If so, I’d love to help.

Fluff free freedom is an online course that helps you to find the state of inner freedom that comes from truly recognizing your mind for what it can and can’t do. It takes you from stressed to calm, from uncertainty to clarity, to being present and mindful and to really getting clear on living your best life. Check it out here.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

Feb, 2022

YOU are the only one who can free yourself

Yes a teacher might point you in the right direction.

But unless you do the work yourself, you probably wont get to experience the wonderful state of freedom that is available for you.

The wonderful state of bliss and connection that comes from dropping back from the busy mind.

The state of yoga that is your birthright.

This is something that takes work to realise, it certainly isn’t immediately obvious, is it?

To see the mind for what it can do and what it can’t do.

To practice being still and dropping away from the mental drama so as to experience the bliss and Shakti of being.

It is wonderful to have a mind and we use the mind in so many ways to make our way in life.

We get so familiar with it that we mistakenly think that we are the mind and that the mind is somehow what defines us.

Our work is to free ourselves from the trap of the mind.

The trap of the ego.

The trap of the mind-developed sense of self.

As this card suggests that you contemplate, you are the only one that can do that for yourself.

When you do, what is left is experience of inner freedom and bliss. Of perspective. We realise the Self as one big connected being.

We are the droplet in the ocean, so we are the ocean itself.

Freeing yourself is the work of yoga.

Oh, and when you truly get that, guess what? Then there is more work!

Feeling free within in a big step.

And then life goes on and continues to require actions, responses, interactions and so on. If you take the time and effort to keep noticing (and not just float around in your newfound bliss bubble) you will observe that life still has its ups and downs. You can observe yourself interacting. You see the effect of your interactions. You can observe your mind chatting.

Perhaps you have a new compassion for yourself and for others.

***

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a starting point.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

*If you are interested in experiencing more inner freedom in your life, then my online course Fluff-free freedom might be just perfect for you. Find out more HERE

Aug, 2021

Now is the time to get back in touch with your Self, to come home to your Self.

This quote is a good reminder for me that right now is where our work is.

Not in some future time when everything about life is more tidy and organized. Not when we have more money, more time, better relationships etc. No, that is an excuse to put it off. Why wait?

Why not experience inner freedom now?

If not now, then when?

Patanjali used the word ‘atha’ in the first of the Yoga Sutras, which is ‘Atha yoganusasanam’. I am not a Sanskrit scholar, but my understanding is that this translates as ‘now to Yoga’. Now is the time.

Not some other time, but right now.

Why waste another day not exploring the possibility of feeling connected and free?

If we are willing to let go, willing to drop back from the mind, we are there, home with our Self.

Still-mind Meditation and contemplation are the means that worked for me to experience this, along with my practice on the mat. I don’t think anything works sufficiently without some guidance and support. Some help to tease out the way we live in our heads…

The usual ways we think of our ‘self’ is a person with a body and a mind isn’t it? The mind comes up with a ‘me’ that describes our roles, our relationships, our desires, our problems, the whole lot.

We think that mind-created ‘me’ is who we are.

It takes a lot of effort to see that ‘me’ is something that the mind creates.

That the mind creation called ‘me’ is only some thoughts and has no substance really – isn’t that mind-blowing?

What this card suggests is that there is a Self to come home to, and that Self becomes apparent when we drop the ‘me’ self, when we drop back from the thoughts altogether. What may become apparent when we drop the body and mind (like we do when we practice corpse pose, and also when we meditate) is a stillness and quietness, a place from where the mind can be observed.

To me, this is much more where we want to keep our awareness. That quiet, watching, non-commenting Self. The expansive and unlimited space. The place where we experience what I like to call inner freedom.

Lets do all we can to get in touch with that now!

To realise your Self, to come home to your Self.

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a starting point.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

*If you are interested in the possibility of experiencing more inner freedom in your life, then my online course Fluff-free freedom might be just perfect for you. Find out more HERE

Jul, 2021

You already have everything you need within

You don’t have to search anywhere else.

The freedom you seek is within. The happiness you seek is right there too.

The truth about your being and reality, which maybe you did or maybe you didn’t know was part of the puzzle, is right there as well. The truth of your path, your dharma, is within you.

How do you find out what there is to know if it is within?

You have to be quiet.

You have to quieten the busy mind and drop back from it.

Ironically, if you really want to know your path, if you really want to experience freedom within, you have to be willing to surrender the need to control and know.

When you give up all the mental habits and desires you may well find a sort of profound joy and okay-ness.

And then perhaps a glimmer of insight as to your path will bubble up and become apparent. Where you are right now is perfect for now. Sometimes it is perfect for later on too, but we all know that change is inevitable. Maybe in stillness we get a little nudge about moving in a certain direction. And if you listen quietly maybe the message gets clearer or maybe it fades away.

I have always found that projects and ideas have presented themselves, and rightly or wrongly I have tended to follow the little nudges. Some have been more outwardly ‘successful’ than others but I always grow and learn from them.

The nudges I have followed are many, here are a few:

*Do yoga teacher training (way, way back in 2001!)

*Teach meditation as well as yoga

*Teach mother and baby yoga

*Teach yoga for breast cancer

*Write a book

*Buy our house in Mordialloc (moving to the beach from the eastern suburbs where we had spent most of our married life)

*Create yoga off the mat contemplation cards

*Blog and chat about the contemplation cards

*Create an online course that takes people to a state of inner freedom

Some of these projects had a natural duration and others continue. The thing I have found is to stay open and to stay tuned in to the inner voice, so to speak.

Life presents us with opportunities as well as what might be seen as challenges. These are the ups and downs of any life. How we accept and ride those waves is up to us. Spend some time tuning into your inner wisdom and you might find that everything really is okay. You really can feel a sense of inner joy and okay-ness. Maybe even great bliss and love. That is always my wish for you.

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a starting point.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE and postage is free in Australia. They make a perfect gift too.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

*If you are interested in the possibility of experiencing more inner freedom in your life, then my online course Fluff-free freedom might be just perfect for you. Find out more HERE

Apr, 2021

The mind is a useful tool for living

Have you ever thought of the mind as a tool? As not the whole of you are, but something useful to help you in your life? And just like other tools, something that you can drop for a while too?

We have many tools to help us live well. For example, we have a car to take us places. It is a fabulous device for transporting us around. The mobile phone is another useful device. It helps to keep us connected with others (oh and so many other uses too!) And what about our computers? They really do make our lives easier even if they also have us tearing our hair out at times!

The thing about these tools is that they are great for assisting us to live well but we don’t need or want them to run our lives.

We turn the car off and leave it in the garage. We shut down the laptop or at least close the lid. We (hopefully!) take a break from constantly interacting with our mobile phones. And all the other gadgets we use throughout the day – we understand their place in helping us to live our lives and don’t mistake them for who we are, right?

The mind is also a useful device, great for thinking, planning, and helping us to communicate.

It really does make a difference when we learn to take a break from the mind. To drop back from reacting to the chatter and busyness that the mind creates. The constant mental commentary is so familiar that it fools us. The mind creates a sense of ‘me’ and we forget that we are not the mind. I think it is almost like some people who forget they are not their phone!

It is not of course immediately obvious that you are not your mind.

The ‘me’ in your head is a mental projection and not the whole of who you are. We gradually develop meditative awareness as we learn to drop back from the mental busyness. This is something we have been exploring in **Fluff-free freedom, and it really does make a difference in people’s lives.

It is not as though having a mind isn’t useful, of course it is! Dropping back from the mind is what helps us to feel connected, whole and free.

Not having to be drawn into the drama of the mind gives choice and perspective and ultimately gives us the capacity to feel into the larger, creative flow and sense of being. My invitation is for you to find this inner freedom for yourself.

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a starting point.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE and postage is free in Australia. They make a perfect gift too.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

**Find out more about my online course Fluff-free freedom HERE

Mar, 2021

Sarasvati with yoga off the mat contemplation cards

Don’t fill all your time with busyness

de-clutter your schedule — Don’t fill all your time with busyness, leave some space for life!

Have you ever thought about decluttering your schedule?

I have been clearing and de-cluttering lately, and it feels so nice and fresh. It reminds me that just as I can clear out a wardrobe or kitchen cupboard, I can also don’t have to clutter up my schedule. It is important to keep some time clear just as it is important to keep some cupboard space clear.

Do you schedule every minute with things to do?

How would life feel if there was some space between tasks and appointments?

Space for ‘life’ to reach you?

Space for inspiration?

Space for feeling into the flow?

Space to feel inner freedom?

Sometimes the words used to describe finding space have negative connotations, you know like lazy, indolent, laggard, slovenly, slacking off.

We have been conditioned to think these are all bad things, but are you going to let that stop you? I wonder whether we haven’t learnt that it is okay to make space for life?

Don’t get me wrong, if we were like that all the time, just sitting around for days on end, then perhaps there would be a problem. In case you don’t know, I’m a doer much of the time.

Leaving some unstructured time in our day seems so counter to the ‘making the most of every moment’ efficiency that we are supposed to have theses days. But I have found it is really useful.

Maybe that is why we have had to add more formal downtime in practices such as restorative yoga, massage and healing practices – because otherwise we don’t leave time to just be?

Supported restorative yoga, deep relaxation, shavasana and meditation are all practices that we can use to find space.

How do you de-clutter your time?

Do you leave any time in your day to just be?

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a start.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE and postage is free in Australia. They make a perfect gift too.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

Feb, 2021

Don’t look outside yourself for happiness

Can you find happiness within rather than being reliant on anything external?

Do you say things like, ‘I’ll be happy WHEN …

and then there is a great list of possibilities …

*When I lose 10 pounds (or kilos)

*When I have the perfect relationship

*When i have the perfect house

*When I have the perfect children

*When I have the perfect job

*When I can travel overseas again

*When I have a more up-to-date wardrobe

It is so easy to think that it is external things that give us happiness – the cake, the chocolate (oh yes, the chocolate!!), the perfect relationship, the right income, being the right weight, wearing the right clothes, children behaving, things going to your ‘plan’.

But … really … how can something external have such an effect on our state?

Surely we know that is not a long-lasting or reliable situation?

Being happy is much more an attitude and an inner state. This is the living practice of yoga off the mat, isn’t it?

And it is something we all have access to if we drop the mental chatter for a bit and feel within. Can you do that? Can you close your eyes and feel a sense of quiet, a sense of watching and perhaps even a warm glow inside? Can you sit with that feeling? Can you even allow it to expand?

We really do have to find our own happiness. Our own inner joy that is remarkably reliable, even if things are not going the way we want them to. Perhaps you first taste this feeling on the yoga mat? Or out in nature? Then it is a matter of remembering it, of keeping the feeling, of practicing yoga off the mat as well.

As the saying goes ‘happiness is an inside job’.

It really is. Have you found that? Please share your experience!

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a start.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE and postage is free in Australia. They make a perfect gift too.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

Jan, 2021

Don’t take your thoughts too seriously

It really is wonderful to have a mind. Our minds helps us to navigate through life, to figure things out, to communicate and so much more. We become used to nutting things out and perhaps it comes as a bit of a shock to realise that it is not the mind that is going to be used to experience the stillness, one-ness, connection to all, the bliss of meditation, the realisation of Self.

It takes dropping back from the mind, it takes surrendering the mind to get a taste of bliss, freedom and connection to all.

So it really helps to be able to see the mind for what it CAN DO and also what it CAN’T DO.

We can’t use the mind to experience the ‘big’ Self.

We can understand the concept, and minds are great for that. We can know we have to drop the mind. We can observe the mind creating a sense of ‘me’. We can know that the idea in our head of chocolate cake is different to the reality of chocolate cake. It is harder to see that same thing with our self.

Minds don’t like being dropped, do they? They come up with all sorts of resistance! You know, the itch, the need to cough or swallow just as you are settling into a deeper state. Perhaps this developed as part of our survival instinct?

When we see that the mind only comes up with models, not with reality itself, how freeing is that?

How amusing to be able to watch what the mind invents! The mind decides what is right and what is wrong, what it likes and what it doesn’t like. And yet these are all just thoughts, not reality.

When we meditate, we learn to observe the mind rather then be so caught up in it. When you drop the meditation method, what is left is quiet awareness, and that includes awareness of the mind. Have you noticed that? That is part of the path to a state of inner freedom, recognizing that the thoughts are observable.

It is fun, so remember not to take your thoughts too seriously!

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a start. I’d love your feedback and look out for my blog about the next card soon.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE and postage is free in Australia. They make a perfect gift too.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

Nov, 2020

Yoga off the mat contemplation cards to inspire your practice

Find the bliss and freedom that is dancing and sparkling within

You may or may not believe that every cell in your body is alive with prana, with subtle energy, as well as the oxygen required for cellular respiration.

In her book ‘My stroke of insight’ Jill Bolte Taylor calls her cells her ‘girls’. She talks to them and encourages them. She has a unique insight due to her stroke and subsequent recovery.

In fact what you believe doesn’t really matter, it is the experience that matters.

You really can experience the inner bliss and freedom that yoga talks about and offers.

Maybe you have been fortunate enough to experience this in your meditation practice or at some other time, or maybe not. I can’t put myself into your body, but I’m pretty sure that this experience of bliss is available to all serious meditators at some point.

We soon realize that we can’t make these blissful experiences happen, but we can set up the circumstances and be willing to drop back and surrender to the experience.

I think dropping back or letting go is probably the hardest part of the meditation journey for many of us.

We just get a tiny taste of something that feels still and expansive and the mind jumps right back in. Have you experienced that?

Perhaps it takes a degree of courage to let go? A strong mind to let go of the mind?

The mind does not like to be let go of! It can’t know the experience that we have when it is dropped. But really, when you finally do manage to let go and drop away from the mind, that is when the magic happens. That is when we really do experience the feeling of bliss.

A feeling of love, a feeling of being peaceful and expansive …I do encourage you to find this out for yourself.

A place from where you can witness without having to be drawn in. You can see the mind but not have to take it so seriously. See it for what it can do, but see also that there is a watching aspect that is the observer of the thoughts.

Drop back, let go, find this inner place of observing and it really will change your experience of life.

Please share your experiences!

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a start. I’d love your feedback and look out for my blog about the next card soon.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE and postage is free in Australia. They make a perfect gift too.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

Sep, 2020

This moment now – perhaps messy, perhaps complicated – is perfect

It seems like a strange time, when there is a world wide pandemic, to pick this card. How can things possibly be perfect?

Then again, it is easy to see that there are perfect moments. Things when everything seems to go well. A beautiful day, a delicious meal, a nice full belly, time with loved ones, all feel so perfect.

What might be harder to see is that every moment is a perfect one.

This moment, whatever it contains, is perfect because it is what it is. If we argue with it, if we don’t want to accept it, then we are arguing with reality. We will never win that argument, it means we are not accepting reality. So the cold wet rainy day, the burnt meal, the hungry belly, how on earth can those situations be perfect as well? The messy and complicated life we are having, how can that possibly be perfect?

So back to the pandemic, no one in their right mind would wish that upon the world, right? However it is the situation that we have. I am not going to enter a discussion about whether it is good or bad for the planet, for humanity etc. because it is what it is, and no amount of explaining or rationalizing will change that.

I could come up with reasons why things are perfect. Of course our planet needs rain and a variety of weather, of course occasionally feeling hungry helps us appreciate food, and so on.

But again, that is not really the point. The point is that arguing with the reality of the moment is not accepting this moment.

The moment is perfect because it is the moment that it is. It is what it is. For this moment now, it is perfect.

This yoga practice of acceptance can be really hard. Perhaps we see things that seem desirable that we don’t have and think why can’t I have that / be like that? Whether it is the ease that you see in someone else, or the abilities that someone else has or even the circumstances in which we see someone else. Or maybe it is the other way around, we wish that they were not in that situation?

Of course things will not stay as they are right now, they never do, and time will give perspective. And we can work towards change, don’t let us forget that.

This practice of acceptance does not have to mean mean apathy.

I guess acceptance is another way of embracing the reality of our life right now. Our personality, our roles, whatever situation we are in and so on. It doesn’t mean we can’t make things different – both for our selves and others – but for now we can also be fully okay with this very moment.

It IS the one that we have.

I’d love to know YOUR thoughts! Has the practice of acceptance of the perfection of each moment made a difference to you?

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a start. I’d love your feedback and look out for my blog about the next card soon.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE and postage is free in Australia. They make a perfect gift too.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

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