Celebrate the Summer of Happiness with Ashaya Yoga!

The weather in the last few weeks here in New England has been really gloomy: cold, wet, windy, and rainy! It seemed like it just wouldn’t let up. Usually by the middle of May, everything here is in full bloom, and it feels like summer. But not this year. It remained cold and dreary until today!

The temps still weren’t that high, maybe 70º F max in the sun. With the brisk breeze it felt more like 64º. But no complaining, I’ll take it. The sun was out, birds were chirping, bees were buzzing, and most of my neighbors were out cutting their lawn or gardening. I went out for a bike ride. I hadn’t ridden for about two weeks while the weather wasn’t great. I was overdue for a ride!

I had a fabulous ride through the Berkshire Mountain “rollers” (which is what bikers call the hills around here)! My legs were tired, and I didn’t have the stamina I normally have at this time of the year. But nevertheless, I did what I could and settled into my breath rhythm and slowly felt the power come back into my legs. I was so happy just to be out on my bike and seeing the explosion of nature when the weather warms up and the sun comes out. 

Everything was alive! Vibrating with life-force, Shakti. At the end of my ride when I pulled into my driveway, I saw a huge deer run through my backyard. The deer was so beautiful, graceful, and primal, it took my breath away!

Do we really need the sun to celebrate our happiness? Well, it depends. I say yes because without the promise of the light, it’s harder to feel joy. It’s harder to feel hopeful, to relax into the notion that everything is okay, life is okay, and that all is well. I never really understood SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), but I think I was feeling some of that since the gloomy weather persisted for weeks.

Yoga teaches us that deep inside our heart is the source space of consciousness that’s always throbbing with ecstatic bliss.

Kshoba means “throb” in Sanskrit and refers to the pulsating nature of the universe. Regardless of what’s happening on the outside, we must take a deeper dive within to discover the everlasting aquifer of abundance consciousness that’s always there. I know for certain it’s there because every morning when I meditate, I can feel it. I go there, deep inside myself and dwell in the nectarean, healing, blissful vibration of source consciousness.

Without doing my sadhana, I wouldn’t be able to feel the depth of joy within, no matter what the weather is doing. 

This bliss consciousness fills me for the entire day. Still, it’s so much easier to be happy when some of the externals are going my way, like warm, sunny days at the end of May (which are perfect for biking!)

This summer I hope you’ll join me for three months of the Summer of Happiness where I focus on practices that elevate the spirit and lift the heart with joy. You’ll receive mantras, pranayamas, asanas, and affirmations geared toward happy living, not in a superficial way, but in a meaningful Tantric way. 

In order to penetrate the depths of happiness, we’ll need to wade through the negative narratives, beliefs, and things that get in our way. The fundamental understanding is that happiness is what’s leftover when we’re out of the way!

As the Buddhist monk, Pema Chödrön says, “You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.” 

Tantra would say that you are the sky AND you are everything else, including the weather. How do we connect to the “weather” of our lives? How do we embrace our challenges and problems? How can we come to a deeper level of love and acceptance that includes our suffering, loneliness, sadness, loss, anxiety, doubt, and insecurity? 

Welcome to the profound teachings of Tantra where you are accepted for exactly who you are, where you are seen as perfectly imperfect just as you are, and that’s perfect, where you are already enough, you are more than good enough, and you have a light to shine, a gift to give, and a dream to live.

I look forward to seeing you on the mat! And if you join the membership now, the first 14 days are on me!

Namaste,

Todd

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