{"id":23624,"date":"2020-06-12T12:24:49","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T12:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/2020\/06\/12\/faith-in-a-higher-power-the-fifth-niyama-and-connection-to-source\/"},"modified":"2020-06-12T12:24:49","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T12:24:49","slug":"faith-in-a-higher-power-the-fifth-niyama-and-connection-to-source","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/2020\/06\/12\/faith-in-a-higher-power-the-fifth-niyama-and-connection-to-source\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith in a Higher Power: The Fifth Niyama and Connection to Source"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"faith<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

As we tap into the fire of tapas and learn more about ourselves through the practice of self-study<\/a>, we begin to strip away layers of ego. Eventually, we reach a point beyond our intellect. At that point, we need faith in a higher power to go further. Faith in a higher power is the fifth niyama, ishvara-pranidhana in Sanskrit. Without this faith or belief in something greater than our individual selves, other practices are pointless.<\/p>\n

In the yogic tradition, the higher power is not outside of us. It\u2019s an inner knowing<\/a> that goes beyond the mind and intellect. It is not us (this is important), but we are part of it. <\/p>\n

We\u2019re connected with our source in the same way a drop of water is not the ocean but is part of the whole body of water. We are part of the whole body of the universe. But we cannot understand this with our minds.<\/p>\n

Faith in a Higher Power is Faith in\u00a0A Driving Force<\/span><\/h3>\n

I experience ishvara-pranidhana often as a writer. Many times, words seem to come through me rather than from me. In fact, I\u2019m most productive and can function best when I let my inner knowing do most of the work. <\/p>\n

Of course, I use what\u00a0my mind knows about grammar and punctuation and putting words together so they flow well in sentences, but that isn\u2019t enough. In the same way, knowing ourselves (svadhyaya) is not enough. In the great spiritual traditions, we find ourselves only to lose ourselves so we can become part of something greater and more profound. that\u2019s what the fifth niyama teaches us\u2014to have faith that there is something more.<\/p>\n

Faith in a Higher Power Is Not About the Meaning of Life<\/span><\/h3>\n

I recently read an article about searching for meaning in life. The author, a yoga teacher, took the surprising approach that we need to stop doing this! This seemed impossible and empty to me at first. Then I realized she was not saying there is no meaning; she was simply saying we don\u2019t need to spend all our energy trying to figure out what that meaning is.<\/p>\n

In other words, we need to practice the fifth niyama. We need to surrender to a higher power and allow that power to work through us. It takes faith to do this, because our minds and egos want to understand what we\u2019re doing and why we\u2019re doing it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s scary to give up control, but as any wise person will tell you, the more you know, the more you realize how much you don\u2019t know. With so much mystery, the only choice we have if we want to evolve spiritually is to put our faith in a higher power and become part of that mysterious force.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re All Connected<\/span><\/h3>\n

The choices we make as individuals affect the entire universe. This is a bold statement, but in yoga, we believe we\u2019re all connected. No, we can\u2019t control or change the world on our own, but everything we do contributes, even if only in a small way.<\/p>\n

Do we want to be part of good or part of evil? Do we want to be love or do we want to be fear? In order to be love\u2014in order to contribute to the greater good\u2014we need to trust it exists and continually seek ways to connect our small selves to that greater truth. Worship, prayer, mantra, meditation, and other forms of spiritual practice are essential tools that take us beyond ourselves.<\/p>\n

Would you like to explore more yoga topics in depth\u2014perhaps with a group of yoga friends? Get your copy of Yoga Circles<\/a>, A Guide to Creating<\/em> Community off the Mat<\/em>. You\u2019ll find lots of topics and activities for living the yoga lifestyle and enjoying time with like-minded yogis! Click here<\/a> to order!<\/p>\n

The post Faith in a Higher Power: The Fifth Niyama and Connection to Source<\/a> appeared first on Yoga Circles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As we tap into the fire of tapas and learn more about ourselves through the practice of self-study, we begin to strip away layers of ego. Eventually, we reach a point beyond our intellect. At that point, we need faith in a higher power to go further. Faith in a higher power is the fifth … [Read more…]
\nThe post Faith in a Higher Power: The Fifth Niyama and Connection to Source appeared first on Yoga Circles.Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we tap into the fire of tapas and learn more about ourselves through the practice of self-study, we begin to strip away layers of ego. Eventually, we reach a point beyond our intellect. At that point, we need faith in a higher power to go further. Faith in a higher power is the fifth niyama, ishvara-pranidhana in Sanskrit. Without this faith or belief in something greater than our individual selves, other practices are pointless. In the yogic tradition, the higher power is not outside of us. It\u2019s an inner knowing that goes beyond the mind and intellect. It is not us (this is important), but we are part of it. We\u2019re connected with our source in the same way a drop of water is not the ocean but is part of the whole body of water. We are part of the whole body of the universe. But we cannot understand this with our minds. Faith in a Higher Power is Faith in\u00a0A Driving Force I experience ishvara-pranidhana often as a writer. Many times, words seem to come through me rather than from me. In fact, I\u2019m most productive and can function best when I let my inner knowing do…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[91],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23624"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}