Virya

As we move into the month of August, we come to the second of Patanjali’s attitudes and mindsets that are helpful for achieving inner peace. Virya implies vitality or energy.  We will be exploring our individual paths of Virya.  How do you manage, nourish, nurture, and restore vital life force energy? What depletes it?

Virya derives from the Sanskrit word vira, meaning warrior.  It implies that there is a need for us to develop a strong nature to face the challenges of our personal spiritual journey.  Courage facilitates the overcoming of those parts of us we need to face, and often release as we make this journey.  Hence Virya (the vitality, resilience, courage, or strength) is an integral part of our yoga life journey.

Tibetan Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron wrote in The Wisdom of No Escape:

"It isn't easy and it's accompanied by a lot of fear, a lot of resentment, and a lot of doubt. That's what it means to be human, that's what it means to be a warrior. You go through the process of taking off the armor that you might have had some illusion was protecting you from something only to find that actually it's shielding you from being fully alive and fully awake. Then you go forward and you meet the dragon, and every meeting shows you where there's still some armor to take off. Take refuge in the courage and the potential of fearlessness of removing all the armor that covers awakeness."

Taking time each morning and/or evening to sit for a few moments to assess your energy is an important piece of your practice.  What did you eat that increased energy and sustained it?  What conversations or relationships uplift you or equally be aware of those that drain you.  Be aware of activities that charge you and those that waste you. 

The awakening can be gentle or explosive, it can be slow or surprisingly fast but the beautiful essence of inner peace is worth the challenges!  Are you ready?  Let’s support one another as we find our inner warrior, goddess, vitality!