Aparigraha - Conscious Act Of Letting Go To Receive Abundance

I'm Tanya.

Today's practice is on non grasping or non attachment.

And in yoga we call it a parigraha and it's one of the eight limbs of yoga.

So non attachment to you know maybe a relationship,

Maybe a thing,

Maybe an idea,

Maybe a story that we have told ourselves or maybe even our own story that is very a real story.

But we can sometimes attach ourselves to that and think that that's all that we are and we are so much more than that.

You are so much more than that.

And so today's mudra and I like to introduce a hand mudra in every session.

The hand mudra is basically a yoga posture for your hands and we take on different shapes in our hands and it also helps to activate the different nadis or energy channels in our bodies.

And so the hand mudras can create different feelings and sensations in our body.

And really I like to use them in the meditation to really help to support meditation.

Because otherwise if you're brand new to meditation at all or even if you're not,

What tends to happen right is that we tend to get restless or our mind goes places or we just get uncomfortable or uneasy sometimes.

Sometimes there is a sense of unease that comes up and the hand mudras are really designed to just keep us grounded in the meditation so that we don't get too scattered or lost.

Although that's okay if it does happen just to return to the mudra or to the breath.

So today's hand mudra is called the pushpaanjali mudra and it's one of my favorites because A,

It's really easy to do and pushpa means flower and anjali means hand together.

So pushpa,

So we're going to take just basically the pinkies are going to come together and then the rest of the hand is open like so.

So it's pretty simple,

Just very basic and it's called pushpaanjali.

It's pushpa meaning flower and anjali meaning hands together.

And when your hands rest in your lap,

Maybe just the pinkies are touching.

Very comfortable,

Easy mudra to use.

And this non-attachment or aparigraha mudra,

This pushpaanjali mudra,

Basically instills,

So we think of the flowers that are in our hands,

Right?

And when we are holding flowers,

Sometimes we're giving them to someone,

Right?

And you've probably have heard that saying that the one who gives flowers,

Their scent remains in the one who has given.

It's something like that.

I'm just paraphrasing.

But I love that idea is that the offering to someone because we offered that,

That scent remains in our hands and we still,

We even receive that gift of offering.

So with the idea of offering someone flowers,

Instilling a sense of generosity and it is the attitude of non-grasping.

So let's just bring that sense of non-grasping,

Of offering,

Of generosity into the practice today.

So find a comfortable seat.

You can have your eyes closed or open.

You can be sitting in a chair or on a cushion or on a pillow.

You can be sitting on your bed.

And we can think of a bouquet of flowers,

Right?

Because we can be attached to many things at one time,

Certainly.

We can be attached to,

You know,

A career,

An idea,

Lots of,

We have lots of attachments.

That's normal.

So it's like we have this bouquet of flowers in our hands and we're holding them loosely waiting for the person in front of us,

Which could be us in the mirror that we're ready to offer them to.

So finding your breath,

Just letting it flow in naturally without attachment to even how you're supposed to be sitting or how your breath is supposed to feel today.

If you're feeling if this is right or wrong,

Meditation is really just about accepting what is arising and what is in the moment.

And with these open hand position of the Puspanjali mudra,

We want to invite in the absence of attachment,

The absence of greed,

Whether it's on a material level or on a relationship level or on our own history.

So with this openness in the hands,

Let it bring in a sense of generosity,

Non-grasping,

Bringing in a sense of even gratitude and generosity.

So there may be something that's arising that you feel attached to an idea,

An emotion,

A person,

A place or a thing.

And if you want to hold that person,

Place,

Feeling or thing as if it is in the hands,

You can even slide the hands a little bit more forward as if an offering,

As if to send it to release it so we're not closed fist,

Not tightly gripping.

We have a loose grip,

The palm soft.

The grasping or attachment to material things,

To ideas,

To emotions,

To stories can be obstacles.

It can be obstacles to our own awakening to who we really are and who and how we can show up in the world with a sense of liberation and yet rooted,

Grounded in our walk,

Grounded in our seat,

But not attached to the outcome even.

So when you've arrived in your meditation,

Did you have an expectation?

And we can in this moment let go of that expectation,

Feeling whatever is coming up,

Whatever is bubbling up,

Let it show,

Let it come to the surface.

And that is part of the release that then we can acknowledge what that is that we've been holding on to,

That we have expected,

That we feel like defines us,

But it is not truly what is resident and what is present and what will always be present within us.

So we remove these obstacles that hold us back from our own awakening to find our inner,

Our truth,

Our true self,

That we don't need what it is that we think what we are attached to in order to shine,

In order to be full,

In order to have this feeling of generosity and non-grasping.

So offering off those flowers as the scent remains in your hands,

Open hands,

Energy flowing.

And we can also receive in the same position.

It's that current.

It's the current of receiving and giving that flow of the breath in and out.

So just take a few more moments to just really feel the flow of your breath,

Receive it,

And without holding it,

Let it out just as an offering.

So just take a few more moments to just really feel the flow of the breath in and out.

And we can now take a few more moments to just really feel the flow of the breath in and out.

We can release that mudra.

Maybe wiggle the fingers and take a deep breath in and letting it out.

And if your eyes were closed,

Allow those lids to lift and welcome in the room,

Welcome in the surface beneath you,

Welcome in anything else that you might sense.

Be well.

Thank you.