The Practice of Self-Study

In yoga there is a term in Sanskrit called Svadyaya. In English this means self-study. This process of getting to know ourselves on a deep level is a crucial and ongoing process. It takes dedication and commitment. It takes the decision to sit with ourselves and look at all pieces of who we are. Doing this with self compassion and acceptance instead of shame and judgment is the hardest part and also takes practice. To me, svadyaya is one of the most important parts of living a yogic lifestyle, of being a human, honestly. It is a connector, a piece of the puzzle that, when missing, does not let all the other pieces fall into place. 

To live our path, our truth, our dharma, we must know and understand ourselves. This knowing of self is never fully done. There is always more for us to learn about ourselves, there is always a deeper layer or a new version of ourselves being born. 

We are constantly evolving. Everyday we can wake up and choose to do things differently. Every moment we can change our minds. Nothing is permanent and we are allowed to change. One reason I love my morning routine is because it allows me not only to greet the beginning of each new day, but to greet a new version of myself. It gives me the opportunity to check in with myself and ask myself who I am. Do I still want the same things I wanted yesterday? Do I still feel the same way I felt about a certain situation? Am I still living the life I want to live? 

Without asking ourselves these questions we can go years without realizing that we’re living a life that no longer fits our present selves. We can start to go through the motions of our lives, repeating patterns and behaviors merely because we think we should, or we think it is who we are or what we want. However, in actuality, we could have outgrown those lives.

There is so much pressure from society for us to know who we are and what we want to do with our lives at a young age; we are told to pick a path, follow it and stick with it. For some people, that structure works well. For others, such as myself, it feels suffocating, like trying to fit ourselves into one box for our whole life. We are not linear beings to fit into a straight line. There have been many times I have decided I wanted to do something only to realize the next day, month or year that that thing no longer resonated with who I was. I used to feel so much shame and frustration around this trait. I am learning to see this in a new way. I had been listening to what my heart and intuition were telling me in that moment, but in each moment I can change and that is ok. I am learning, with self compassion, to forgive myself for changing and love myself through it. Love this new version of self and honor what she wants and needs. 

Sometimes we have to see through a commitment. Sometimes we have to give ourselves permission to let go. 

Minds change like the weather, I hope you’re brave enough to know yourself, love yourself, choose yourself, brand new. 

Study yourself today, get to know who you are in this present moment. You may learn something new.