Equinox

This Wednesday we celebrate the fall equinox. If you were to regularly watch the sun rise and set, you’d see that during the first half of the year (until the Summer Solstice, about June 21) the sun rises and sets each day a little further north along the horizon.  For the second half of the year, the sun starts to head south again. The Equinox happens once in the spring and once in the fall when the sun is exactly half way between the north and south extremes. On this day of the equinox, there are as many daylight hours as there are nighttime hours.

The Equinox reminds us about natural balance. In yoga, this balance is often called Satva. Satva is the perfect blend of two qualities (Gunas) called Rajas and Tamas. Rajas is the quality that would be compared to the summer—hot, full of energy, and dynamic. Tamas would be compared to the Winter—slow, low energy, and inert. Satva is the perfect balance between the two. It’s the quality that we are looking to achieve through the judicial balance of effort and ease in our yoga practice. When you leave a yoga practice or meditation and feel energized, alert, and focused but also grounded, content, and calm, that is the quality of Satva.

This week, let’s practice understanding that our world (internal and external) naturally goes through cycles and that whatever is happening right now, it’s bound to cycle into something different so enjoy the moment. Also, let’s practice finding Satva in our personal  lives by feeling into where we might be out of balance and use the Equinox as a celebration of working to achieve balance.

See you in class!