Welcome my name's Sandhya and I've really struggled to clean and I don't know whether you do too.
I'm assuming you do if you listen to this.
You know there's nothing better than a tidy clean sparkling home but somehow you just can't motivate yourself to do it and you wonder why this is.
So let's link this back to the yoga sutras.
So the yoga sutras of Patanjali is a foundational text of yoga philosophy and it gives the principles of yoga focusing on the cultivation of inner peace,
Discipline and spiritual growth and today I wanted to talk to you about the gunas which are qualities of nature.
They're called rajas,
Tamas and tapas.
So let's go back to this now to us feeling sluggish or unmotivated to clean.
So this would be tamas.
If you're feeling sluggish and lazy you're in a state of tamas so you're lacking motivation.
However if you're feeling restless,
You just can't focus on cleaning,
You keep getting distracted by other activities,
This is rajas.
We're aiming to be as disciplined as we can and do the cleaning and this would mean tapas.
Tapas refers to self-control,
And wanting to achieve through dedicated practice.
But how can we change from these states?
Here's a few ideas.
First is acknowledge where you are.
Do you feel sluggish?
The tamas,
Restlessness,
The rajas.
Set yourself a clear intention.
Decide on what you're going to clean.
Decide on what you're going to clean.
This is your act of self-discipline.
And then you need to start moving.
So you need to start small.
So it might even be actually just starting by moving the body.
So shaking your hands,
Giving them a good shake,
Shake out your arms,
Just creating that energy back into the body.
So my yoga philosophy teacher,
Nelanie,
She used to own a clothes shop and she wouldn't have anybody coming in the clothes shop,
So she would tell her staff to start moving around,
Changing the stock around in the shop,
Moving things.
So this is creating that movement now,
That tapas,
And then people used to come in the shop.
So it's creating that energy around it.
So that's what we're trying to do now by shaking or stomping the feet or perhaps putting on your favourite music to get you moving,
To get you motivated.
And then what we need to do is to begin small.
Just think,
Can I clean this side?
Nothing else.
I'm not going to do anything else.
I'm just going to clean off this side.
Clean surfaces make such a big difference.
Or for me,
Cleaning my sink in the bathroom.
When I just go to the toilet,
See that clean sink,
It really makes me feel good.
So start with something small.
It even might mean picking up one small item and putting it on the side you're putting it away.
This just really helps to break that sluggish feeling and get you moving.
You could set a time if you like,
Maybe even a minute time.
I'm going to tidy up for a minute.
Once you get going,
You can get more motivated to keep going.
Starting is the hardest part.
So let me know how you got on.
Have you done a little bit of cleaning?
Even if it's a small bit,
I'd love to know.
And then just take a moment.
Even if you've done something small,
Just moved one item.
Observe how you feel.
What does it feel like to have actually done something rather than been sitting there thinking,
I must do this.
I really want to.
I can't be bothered.
Let me know.
And if you do something small or something bigger,
Give yourself a little reward after.
Might be a pat on the back,
A nice herbal tea or just a moment to take a breath in and a breath out.
Breath in and breath out.
Well done.
I wish you all the best for your cleaning.
This is Sandhya.
Take care.
