10/05/2026
All classes are back on as normal for the next couple of weeks (before the next bank holiday interruption, many apologies in advance 😬🙏)
The first niyama (internal observance) of the Yoga Sutras is saucha, cleanliness. This relates to the body, but it also relates to the mind. We keep our body clean daily because we know we should and it feels good when we do. We clean our clothes and our environment and feel the effect of an uncluttered and clean space immediately.
But inside our inner world of thought forms, how do we practice it there? How do we practice this with the same loving attention in our mental health as well as our physical health? We feed our body healthy foods, and in the same way, we need to feed our mind conscious attention and positive vibrations.
Mental cleanliness means tidying away all the thought forms that give energy to the aspect of your psyche that wants to take life force away from you, to create dis-ease in the mind. We can, through the process of observation and just paying attention, notice when this inner voice speaks through our ego, our sense of "I".
We hear it in the form of self-defeating thoughts about ourselves, our efforts, our worth, about what other people are thinking etc. And we can stop watering those seeds. We can notice that old pattern playing out again, that's saying we can't for whatever reason. We can distance ourselves from that voice of doubt and override it through our awareness of it. And most wonderfully, we can choose to find out for ourselves instead. "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right" (Henry Ford).
On the flip side, we can plant the seeds of thought forms we DO want to lay down the roots and foundations for, that we want to become new patterns/habits or well used and instinctive neural pathways of the brain.
We can wire the brain with frequencies that we choose when we actively involve ourselves in the creation process. We can nurture those seeds by watering them frequently, telling our growing life force that we are loved, safe, healthy, whole, perfect, powerful, and harmonious. If nothing else, the body is listening to these words and whether you believe them or not, the body will act upon them.
So wire your body to align with the thoughts you choose to have, and make a habit of loving yourself every single day through your intent and your conscious language.
We'd never say the things we say to ourselves to anyone else. Think of your human body and mind as a beloved pet. That we have one single job in this lifetime to do when it boils down to it, to look after, rest, love, care for, feed, exercise, and nurture in body and mind. And we wouldn't put down our pet or call them ugly or stupid or incapable or direct any hate or frustration at them. Yoga teaches us to love ourselves for many reasons. Mental cleanliness is something initially we have to try at, but eventually through yoga practice, it becomes a natural state of being implemented from the inside out.
And when we catch ourselves in the act of inevitably condemning ourselves, we slowly start to become more aware of it. And we reframe and replace that thought with the seed we're germinating and nurturing, and then let it go. In this way, we clean up the space of our mind, we create clarity. And from clarity comes right action.
Language is important. It wires our reality. We are what we think, to quote the Buddha.
I can't - blocks your energy
I am - creates your identity
I attract - calls it into existence
I release - clears your path
Speak with intention
Especially to yourself.
Love and Light
H X
