līlā (लीला):
divine play
My maternal grandmother, “Mam,” as we used to call her, first introduced me to yoga. I remember as a young girl watching her do lion’s pose, shoulder stand and plough, her long white hair carefully pinned up in a bun. I can still vividly picture her meditation cushion as well as the letter she wrote me with explicit numerical instructions on how to meditate.
She was appropriately the first person to teach me the concept of lila: the universe is merely a play of the divine, so one should never become too attached or take anything too seriously and instead laugh, enjoy, and go with the flow. I hope to honor her with this work in gratitude for starting me on the path.
ānanda (आनन्द):
bliss,
ultimate happiness
”Just half an inch behind your pain is bliss.” - Dr. Vasant Lad, B.A.M.S., M.A.Sc.
Anyone who has seen Dr. Lad, my teacher and world renowned Ayurvedic physician, author and founder of the Ayurvedic Institute, has witnessed his lightheartedness - that joy and laughter are always only a breath away.
I felt the same was true of the late S.N. Goenka, one of the foremost teachers of Vipassana meditation. I can’t help but smile when he smiles in his recorded teachings. It is this divine, contagious, playful, ever accessible, ever present essence of joy, humor and lightheartedness that is the inspiration of this practice and my aspired approach to life and healing.
May this practice serve to honor the immense wisdom, service, dedication and joy of all my teachers, past, present and future.