The practice of apariagraha is of non-hoarding, of non-attachment. Its not only material things that we let go of though, but it also about ideas, people and places that we hold on to, act possessively towards or hoard. This clinging onto something or someone is a barrier to freedom. This would probably be very applicable for me with regards to clinging onto my time spent in the UK. When I went back to London a few weeks ago I sometimes felt miserable and hated myself that I wasn’t good enough to get a job to continue living there and instead had to come back to Singapore. I loved life there and my entire trip there I kept thinking “I want to live here so much”. I was holding onto the idea that my life would be great if I could move there and live there and as a result felt like a miserable failure.
This probably links quite well to the Niyama Ishvara Pranidhana, which means surrendering to the fact that you cannot control everything in life. Isvara Pranishana can be seen instead of fighting against life’s twists and turns, we remain open to experiencing life as it unfolds. I only have a vague idea of how my life looks like for the next few months and this worries me sometimes, because I like having plans and knowing what I’ll be doing. But I think I should just learn to take things as they come and appreciate being in the present moment.
Namaste,
Lyssetta
@yogi.lys
