Have you ever considered self-study?  Looking deep within to figure out your inner workings.  That is what Svadhyaya is about.  It is a Niyama and the exploration of Svadhyaya is a profound personal journey.  The process of self-study requires us to dive deep to parts of ourselves we have hidden away.  It is ultimately a key to freedom.

Patanjali wrote Svadhyayadistadevatasamprayogah.  Sri Swami Satchidananda translates this to “By study of spiritual books comes communion with one’s chosen deity.”

Deity is a divine being.  Each and every one of us are a divine being.  Often we lose connection to that which lives within us by blocks we have created.  We wrap ourselves into boxes and then cannot seem to break free.  And often we feel trapped.  Svadhyaya encourages us to go down the path of why we have trapped ourselves and where the path to freedom begins.

Throughout our lives we have conditioned and formulated beliefs, Anthony de Mello calls our belief systems “Models of Reality”.  We create this expected reality and keep ourselves boxed into it.  When something goes wrong and disharmony occurs we blame everything and everyone except ourselves.  Studying the self and breaking free of these boxes we place ourselves in allows us to connect deeper to our true self and create ease within our lives.

Could you imagine being free of everyday stress?  It is possible and it lies at your fingertips, you just have to reach for it!

I encourage you to explore Svadhyaya and get to know you a little more!  Please share your journey below or on facebook.  And check out Debra Adele’s book Yamas & Niyamas!

XO

Katie Bell

PS It may not be easy, keep with it.  You will begin to feel a calm.