Collage night with my sister…

Been doing a little collaging around here…spreading seeds for some fearless growing… growing that blooms happiness and feeds my soul. Have you done anything lately for feeding your soul?

I just finished up a 10 day yoga practice that in sanskrit is called an anusthan–or what I like to call a “homecoming” for my soul. An anusthan is basically a personal retreat that allows you to turn inward and focus on your spiritual practices. In the yogic tradition, there are two, nine day periods in the lunar calendar called Navratri that are know for high spiritual energy days and those are the days are highly recommended for doing personal anusthans. In our home, it’s the most peaceful time of the year :).

To do an anusthan, all you need to do is choose  a yoga practice that resonates with you, decide how many days your want to dedicate to it and then set aside a specific time for when you’re going to do it daily. There have been years when I take off from work so that I can fully immerse myself in my practices and there have been times when I do these things around my work schedule. It really just depends on what is going for me at the time. 

This year I stayed engaged in my normal routine but incorporated 2 hours of mantra repetition, an hour of meditation, an hour of hath a yoga and on days when it was possible I got in some spiritual reading before bed. I’ve been doing these anusthans for a dozen years now and over and over, I’ve found that taking dedicated time to focus inward is by far one of the most rejuvenating things I can do for myself. My meditations get deeper, my mind get quieter, my heart get lighter and I gain clarity on whatever life issue is unfolding at the time.

While these days are like feasts for my soul, they also provide me an ample opportunity to plant seeds for the rest of year, so that on hard days I can draw on virtues like gratitude, surrender and discrimination.

What kind of seeds are you spreading? How do you feed your soul?