Meditate to liberate

Meditation is how we liberate our own selves

We already know liberating others in not our job: liberating ourselves is. There, we can effectively do the work we are meant to do. Through meditation, not only do we distinguish between purusa and prakrti, but between what’s ours and their's, between the the permanent and the fleeting. We notice our self-induced entrapment to the cycles of pleasure and pain, and generate the courage and strength to liberate from those.

One season is particularly ripe for letting go - and it's upon us. Get excited about - and distracted by - pumpkin spice lattes and pecan pies. And also, embrace the opportunity to prep your prana by releasing the patterns and identifications that no longer serve you. Withdrawing into your self, underneath your foliage, find your roots.

With awareness, we can ride the seasonal changes in physical and mental health. You may be feeling different these days, and that's a sign to dig deep into to everyone's core life need for non-attachment. All of nature is characterized by releasing now, and as it does, do.

The shift requires a seldom-focused-upon yet essential ingredient: non-attachment. It’s role in moving each of us closer to our authentic, amazing, attractive, alchemical selves appears early in the Samadhi Padah as a non-negotiable. Vairagyam is one of the two wings of the Yoga bird, according to T Krishnamacharya, the other being abhyasa. There is no flight, no progress, no direction, no buoyancy, no liberation without balanced practice and non-attachment. In fact, if our practice fails to reveal what habits and identifications are holding us back, keeping us small, keeping us stuck, it’s not working.

What to do? Appropriate practice. The daily one that brings us into a calmer, balanced, centered, observant, aware and steady place. The one that yields self-reflection. The one where we can perceive what’s normally hidden from our view. The one that supports the ability to ward off the influences that trap us in our trauma bonds with substances, activities and people for comfort rather than transformation.

Imagine Autumn’s metaphoric splendor. Imagine - something feels like such an intrinsic part of you. Not only do you know when it’s time to release it, but you don’t second guess it. You do it. With simple, gradual, graceful conviction that eventually leads to a total separation. Not thinking twice. Not looking back. You can shed an entire identity, yet get closer to who you are at your core. The trees are deep in this process of taking their prana inward. What once defined them is going, going, gone, and it nurtures further growth, the absolutely phenomenal reality of it all.