Sadhana is a personal process where you bring the best of you. Yogi Bhajan.
Sadhana is any daily spiritual practice. The aim of the Sadhana is to connect with the infinite that is in you. Today, YogaYe invites you to discover the deep meaning of sadhana.
I) What is Sadhana?
Definition
Sadhana is any practice that gives the mind and body a discipline to express the infinite within oneself. It is a personal discipline through which we energize and balance our body and cleanse the mind and the unconscious.
From the theoretical we can call the sadhana as spiritual practice or constant discipline. Sutra 13 of Patanjali tells us: “The practice is the sadhana or recollection of the self. One's joy in life is directly proportional to the amount of sadhana he performs”.
In other words, sadhana is your commitment to get up (early) and spend 10% of your time each day to connect with your unlimited self and clear your mind.
Key terms
The term sādhanā means spiritual effort towards a goal. A person who undertakes such a practice is known in Sanskrit as sadhu (feminine sādhvi), sādhaka (sādhakā) or yogi (yogini).
The purpose of meditation is to attain some level of spiritual realization, which may be enlightenment, pure love of God (prema), liberation (moksha) from the cycle of birth and death (samsāra), a particular goal such as blessings from a deity as in the Bhakti traditions or connecting with our true selves.
Sadhana, aradhana and prabhupati There are three inseparable steps. If you overcome the challenges that arise on the path of discipline, sadhana (discipline) will offer you an attitude (aradhana), a commitment. Once you have made clear the source of energy and light between you and the infinite, that attitude, that commitment, will give you mastery (prabhupati).
Any practice of self-discipline
The word is not a concept exclusive to yogic practice but rather an expression that includes any practice of self-discipline that allows you to explore your limitless self and evaluate yourself to transcend the patterns that take you away from your higher consciousness. That is sadhana.
From that conception, sadhana can then be practicing your favorite sport, also that long walk that you usually take in the morning before starting your day, or that night walk before going to bed... That action that connects you with your spirit and elevate.
A contemporary spiritual teacher and yogi Sadhguru defines sadhana thus: “Everything can be sadhana. The way you eat, the way you sit, the way you stand, the way you breathe, the way you conduct your body, your mind and your energies and emotions - this is sadhana. Sadhana does not mean any specific type of activity, sadhana means that you are using everything as a tool for your well-being”.
The mother and queen of all sadhanas
The devoted yogi practices yoga every day and does it from dawn to dusk. That morning practice is called sadhana, and over the years, the awareness of the practice spreads throughout the day. This word can be explained from the theory, from the sacred texts, from the voice of the teacher and most importantly: from personal experience.
It is said that in these hours (two and a half hours before sunrise) the auric protection and direction of the inner teacher are strongest. In these hours, the prana, the vital force of consciousness is more easily concentrated, which facilitates the process of personal cleaning. In addition, the city or the place where we are is calmer, and our day begins with more peace.
II) Benefits of sadhana
Once this practice becomes a habit, its benefits are multiple and powerful: it gives you internal strength, it gives you energy, it cleanses you, it commits you to yourself, it balances you, it leads you to experience your own being.
As Yogi Ji said: “sadhana is the enrichment of oneself. It is not something that is done to please someone or to get something. Sadhana is a personal process that brings out the best in you.”
A discipline that makes us happy
The discipline of the mind and the body, of the thoughts is necessary to "come out" of maya (an invisible veil separates the real from reality. The Hindu tradition has called it maya, the illusion) or at least, if we do not come out , to recognize and accept it as a part and not as the whole of our existence. When with discipline we become observers and once experienced, we accept the union, we are happy.
The pain in life can be felt physically, but the suffering takes on another dimension, we have new glasses, a zoom, another perspective of life and we begin to see the problems in their proper measure and understand that most of the time, these problems are not as huge as we thought; that everything as it is, is fine. This is why that discipline and daily practice is transformed into joy and finally becomes what it really is: the discipline of love. In the discipline that makes us happy.
Awaken self-love and others
There will be days when it is more difficult to persevere, but little by little and with the help of our inner power and discipline we will achieve it. Doing the sadhana will give us more confidence in ourselves and in the unknown. It will give us more willpower and conviction.
Sadhana is the practice we do to awaken the love within us and that is why we want to do it every day. By awakening that self-love, we can expand it until it reaches the others.
To conclude, sadhana is a habit of consciousness that is formed by choice and not by imposition.
“Sadhana is the enrichment of oneself. It is not something that is done to please someone or to get something. Sadhana is a personal process that brings out the best in you.” Yogi Bhajan.
Ultimately, sadhana is for YogaYe one of our favorite words because it sums up a happy commitment to life, with the meeting of our soul and our true being.
Discover our zafus and start your sadhana from now 😊🙏
Namaste.
