Work to Live or Live to Work?

My teaching schedule has (extremely) expanded. I now teach yoga everyday. When I tell people this I get sympathetic comments. Most of us identify work as that which we should not invest more than 8 hours a day 5 days a week on. We need weekends and vacations to bring us back to balance because work is not play nor rest.

Fortunately for me, my work is as much a play and rest as it is work. I teach one to four classes a day. There is a lot of commuting involved either driving my car or riding my bike. But I also have plenty of time in between classes. I do not miss weekends nor a full day off. Though, I do plan to take some time off to learn (guess what?) more about yoga.

I realize that my path of practicing yoga is to teach yoga. I read somewhere a long time ago that if you want to learn, you read; if you want to understand, you write; if you want to master, you teach. Or something like that. So, I took it to heart and from the beginning I told myself that I would teach in order to learn and master yoga. And yes, I do read and write about yoga.

According to ayurveda, your work, job or career is vital to your well being. Especially, if you are of Pitta age which is the productive stage in the human life cycle from age 20's to 40's. Often when people are unhappy with their life or career situation they begin to look for something else to fulfill them. For me it was traveling. Back in my corporate job, I would dream up exotic destinations and incessantly planed my future vacations. I would also play sick. In fact I was truly ill at ease mentally and emotionally and it did manifest physically.

During the productive age it is vitally important that you do produce. Either you procreate or co-create. If your career or personal life does not allow you to express your full potential the repression turns into symptomatic conditions. Left untreated your life would spiral into what we now call mid-life crisis but it can happen anytime during the productive age (a different crisis at a different stage of life may also manifest). At one point your lid would blow open and you would do something extraordinary (weird, you may say). This is utterly necessary and normal!

I had my crisis at the age of thirty (and look forward for more to come). All of a sudden my life transformed. I did something totally out of character (weird or even sinful, you may say). And five years later I found the work which allowed me to express my full potential. It continues to grow with me. When your career uplifts you your service feeds others as much as it feeds you. You do not feel tired and depressed. You feel alive and vital. Your work is your nourishment.

Not all of us need a mid-life crisis. But all of us need to live life with purpose. Your career and your work is the reason why you are needed here on earth. And I don't mean that it has to be a job. You can be a mother, a monk or a beggar. Whatever your chosen contribution is it must nourish you and others. Is your work junk food or whole food? Are you working to live your daily existence or are you living to work your full potential?

Cultivating Sattva

Yesterday I bought a magazine called Tathaastu meaning "so be it". It contains the subjects I am fascinating with - ayurveda, herbs, vedic astrology and health spa. In it, an article on ayurveda focuses on the Five elements. Sattva is the quality which accompanies the ether or space element. Ether is the container of all the other four elements - air, fire, water and earth. Everything which exists is made up of all five elements in different and unique combinations.

My focus in life is to have a spiritual understanding in order to live a simple, joyful life. Spiritual life cannot be maintained without the cultivation of sattva or ether element. Sattva is clear, calm, pure, still and spacious. It is unconditional love as opposed to personal love. It does not cling to anything yet it allows everything to co-exist.

A person of sattvic nature possesses spaciousness in the body and mind and naturally gravitate toward cleanliness and non-clutter. The body is supple and at ease rather than hard and stiff. The mind is open to all possibilities rather than limited to a certain point of view. In order to cultivate sattva and live your most authentic self you can bring in ether element to your life.

1. Your foods should be light and not overly spiced. Fresh fruits and vegetables are the staples. Raw milk and sattvic herbs should be taken. Organic foods are sattvic. Frozen, canned and processed foods are tamasic which is the opposite of sattva. Only eat after you have fully digested your last meal. Eat a small portion at a time.

3. Your body should be cleansed regularly using only natural products that are sattvic such as plant-based products rather than animal by-products. The use of make up and perfumes covers you up. Let your natural beauty emanates. Regular exercises cleanse you of daily toxin and strengthen your bodily tissues. But competitions bring in stressful, rajasic qualities which reduces sattva.

3. Your living space should be clean and clear of clutters. It should have plenty of natural light. Its colors should be light and clear rather than muddy and opaque. Again, use natural products that are non-harmful to you and the environment.

4. Your relationship needs space. Cultivate acceptance and spaciousness in all of your relations especially the ones which you face daily. Trying to change another person is a good indication that you are lacking space. If you have determined that the relationship is toxic make a change within yourself. Either move on or embrace the person while creating a lot of space in between. Your life will not be better if the other person change his or her habits.

5. Your activities should be carefully chosen. Are you watching, reading, listening to subjects which promote sattva and spiritual life? Do they promote stillness and calmness or do they make you fearful, anxious or angry? Do they promote simplicity or do they make you want more material life?

Even though, we are born with a certain makeup of the five elements we can increase the ether element through our lifestyle and food choices. Of course, too much ether can also make you spacey. Balance is sattva. It is an art not a formula. You need clarity and space in order to create a well balanced inner and outer life.