I just had a lovely visit with my dear friend. She is ready to embark on a great adventure and I am so excited for her. She is already a healer and, at the age of 32, is going to enroll in school to up-level her healing abilities. I have no doubt she will be successful in meeting her goal of sharing what she is learning and empowering others to embrace a healthy lifestyle.

My friend truly inspires me because in Yoga and Vedic teaching we encounter this notion of dharma. It’s often translated as “duty” which makes me say, “Ugh.” But fortunately it has other meanings too: “teaching,” “that which is established,” “morality,” “justice,” “good works,” and “devotion.” What I’ve learned about Sanksrit is that when a word has many meanings, it's an important concept that we need to pay attention to!

In the conversation with my friend, dharma carried the meaning of “life path,” “calling,” or “vocation.” Isn’t it wonderful when we know we are on the right path? Wouldn’t we be ready to do just about anything to fulfill that life path? Would we move across the country, go back to school and take a pay cut? Yes, yes, and yes.

The reason we practice Yoga, meditate, journal and reflect on the course of our life is so that we can know our dharma and do our dharma to the best of our ability. What we discover is that the Universe has our back when we set our course and start out on that journey. In fact, we can always look up to see the North Star which symbolizes our life goal. No matter what goes on around us that Star is always beckoning us to stay the course.

This week is a good week to reflect on these questions in light of the August 1st Aquarius Super Moon: Where am I going? How am I going to get there? Who is here to support me along the way? Let’s enjoy the trip!

It’s a hot summer, there’s no doubt about it! In yoga class and in my writings I’ve been offering yogic guidance for cooling down. My best suggestions have been 1) eat cooling foods, 2) practice shitali pranayama, or cooling breath, and 3) do yoga twists around the mid-section of the body. This is an excellent three-part strategy to cool down.

In my studies this week, however, I learned that while these strategies are somewhat helpful, they also tend to heat the body. And this makes sense when you think about—for each of these activities, you have to use effort to do them, kind of like trying to cool your face by using your hand as a fan. This extra effort we expend may actually negate any effects we think we’re gaining from them.

WHAT?! Any other ideas for cooling these hot, hot days?

Let’s try resting to cool down. In yoga class we call this “shavasana,” the pose of the corpse. Or we can do any of the wonderful restorative yoga postures where we use lots of props to support the body in a restful pose. Resting postures work more effectively than these other practices because rest activates the parasympathetic response of the nervous system.

When the parasympathetic system is activated, blood moves away from the surface of the skin toward the internal organs. As a result, the organs are nicely supported and happily begin to gurgle, activating what is also called the “rest and digest” response. At the same time, the hands and feet get chilly, which makes the body cool down pretty quickly.

So on these hot days, do continue to eat cooling foods, practice shitali and twists to release heat from the midsection of the body. But also make time each day for 20 minutes or more of still, dark, quiet rest. Resting really does make you cool—in more ways than one.

As we celebrate American Independence Day, I’ve been pondering the freedom of Yoga and how we could celebrate that this week too.
 
One of the Sanskrit words for freedom is moksha. It has several meanings including emancipation, liberation, freedom, release. In the yogic tradition, it is said that practicing yoga leads to moksha. Have you ever experienced freedom while in a yoga pose, while meditating or practicing a breath exercise? In other words, freedom in the body, mind, emotions or breath? I know I have, and in those moments I had a physical and mental experience of liberation and release.
 
But Yoga is free in another way—it doesn’t cost anything to practice yoga. I know, there is always someone trying to make a buck off of yoga. Full disclosure, I do too because Yoga is not only my path in life but also my livelihood. I pay for yoga trainings too when I study with my teachers. Yes, we should compensate our yoga teachers to support their work and express gratitude for the beautiful way they share the tradition with us.
 
I believe that my role as a teacher is to empower others to recognize the wisdom that already exists within them. I may have a way of teaching or sharing the wisdom of Yoga that connects with others, but then ultimately each person has to internalize the tradition and make it their own. No outer teacher can do that for us; we must make friends with our own inner teacher.
 
And that is what makes Yoga totally and absolutely free! You are free to take it or leave it; to choose some practices and not others; to believe the philosophy or not; and especially, to practice on your own free of charge in your home, your car, at work or in the park.
 
How will you celebrate freedom this week?