Emotions are part of what makes us human. Understanding them gives us the necessary strength, power, and hope to rise beyond their grip. To regain balance during turbulent times and refuel the desire for growth, it is necessary to explore our emotional terrain.
Part 1 of this series focuses on four main emotions: ananda (joy), karuna (sorrow), veera (courage), and bhayanka (fear). Each emotion has a final abode: shanta (peace). During this course, you will learn a six-step process to help you reclaim your peace, physical wellness, and santosha (contentment).
According to Bharat Muni’s Natyashastra, every emotion is part of a balancing, opposite pair. Realizing this duality is the heart of emotional healing, and yogic and ayurvedic wisdom can give us important tools to help bring harmony to our lives. For example, using practices that invoke the emotion opposite to the one you are experiencing can allow you to see the bigger picture, easing the intensity of your current emotional experience.
Joy and Sorrow
Grief is an inevitable experience. We all have people and things that we love—that we wish to hold on to forever. However, life promises change. With this process of change comes the experiences of loss, grief, and suffering. In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, we are guided to be inspired by “Vishoka va jyotishmati,” which means to focus on light, luminosity, eternal joy. During this live course, you’ll explore how you can apply the wisdom from yoga, tantra, and ayurveda to deal with loss and grief.
Courage and Fear
According to Patanjali, fear remains in all of us—even in the wisest of the wise. It flows by its own momentum. In this course, we consider: What is fear? Whom or what do we fear? Why do we fear? Is fear necessary? How do we equip our breath, mind, emotions, and body to deal with this primal feeling that is necessary yet potentially paralyzing? Learn the yogic methods of stilling the warrior’s stance, gazing with the eyes of discernment, and acting with the tools of dharma (duty).
In this course, you’ll explore:
The role that diet, colors, and objects such as gemstones can play in aggravating and supporting your emotions.
The nature of emotions through the lens of the doshas, gunas, and elements.
The emotional connection between the brain and the body, as well as the mind and the breath.
Six yogic steps to help you deal with emotions.
How to use courage, self-inquiry, and practice to understand, discern, and balance sorrow, fear, loss, and anxiety.
You’ll walk away with tangible, actionable, and supportive yoga practices of pranayama, mantra, kriyas, asanas, relaxation, and meditation to free yourself from emotional overwhelm and experience more peace.
This course was previously recorded live.