Navaratri

In the tradition that I follow, Navaratri is the celebration of the female aspect of Consciousness, the Goddess, for nine consecutive nights. This celebration started on October 3rd and ends on the 12th. One of the aspects of the Goddess that is celebrated is Abundance which is represented by the Goddess Lakśmi. When It comes to Sanskrit names I always like to research their etymological meaning.

Lakśmi is derived from two root words. Lakś which means to perceive, observe, know, understand; and Lakśa which means goal, aim, objective. So one of the meanings of the name Lakśmi is to know and understand the goal. This name hints that in order to create abundance of any kind we must come to know and understand the kind of abundance we want to create, our goal. In order to do this we must realize that our awareness has to be focused on the very goal we are striving to attain. This is one of the things that is celebrated in Navaratri. 

In this sense all the practices of yoga can help us to learn to focus our awareness over a period of time so we can clearly know and understand whatever goal we may have. When it comes to goals I always like to remember what yoga philosophy says is the highest goal of them all: 

To know Oneself

We will be practicing how to gently focus our awareness gradually through our yoga practice this week.

I look forward to seeing you in class

Blessings

Jorge Nihāl