Sadhana is a Sanskrit word that means a daily spiritual practice. The Yogis believed Sadhana as setting side time each day to practice techniques and activities such as meditation, yoga, chanting, and reading sacred literature.
But the fact is we don’t live in the Himalayas and have the luxury of so much time and space. So at SOMA, we have redefined the word”Sadhana” to meet today’s fast paced life. The current urban world which tends to get very material and superficial is like that of a dry garden and Sadhana is the nourishment that brings it back to life. It’s those daily habits be it in the night or the morning hours that can change your life. – be it scraping your tongue or finding that time to reflect in the night or switching on the kettle and sitting down and sipping that hot water in the morning and making time to eliminate and feel that whoosh and Prana(life force energy) flowing up and down. So Sadhana to us in SOMA is all that nourishing practices you can fill your day up with. Those practices that will help you flow in harmony with the cosmic rhythms.
So I remember every day after my mom would finish up with her morning chores and emerge from the bathroom, she heads to her prayer room by default to do a particular series of tasks. To a normal man it might seem very random but they are very symbolic gestures. She would light a lamp, look at the photo of her parents smiling back at her, they died over 20 years ago. She would whisper some words to them, she would smell a flower or the incense stick, recite mantra (or prayer), put a rice puff or palm sugar & tulsi leaf on her tongue and then rush to begin her day. Decades later I learned that what she did by default every single day of her life is what Ayurveda tells us as an intake of positive energy at the beginning of the day that will set the tone for what the universe will bring later or how we will receive it. So it’s basically tiny morning rituals that fill you indriyas(your senses) with something sweet before the world takes over. The 5 S’s:
- Suganda – Ganda means smell. So in the morning smell a flower, a burning incense or even sweet fresh air from the trees or mountains or beach around you.
- Sumukha – Mukh means mouth – have something sweet to taste – a small piece of fruit, a piece of rock sugar or a sweet fragrant leaf growing around you. In India, tulsi leaves are put on the tongue first thing in the morning.
- Sudrishti – Drish is sight. So something pleasant to see. Can be the trees or nature outside your window or even your baby sleeping next to you. It can be the people you love, gaze at the sunrise – anything that inspires the mind.
- Sukatha – Katha is utterance – so speaking virtuous words first thing – hence my mom did the chanting or prayer and whispering to her parents
- Sushabda – Shabd is sound – so my mom switches on some morning raga or listen to the birds chipring
The modern world has adapted these rituals in its own product version – begin the day with deodorant to feel and smell fresh, then taste that morning cup of coffee, gaze at the beautiful paintings of nature on their walls, listen to music on music on the electronic digitized players and rush off into the world.
So where we are going with this is – In SOMA, we believe we should try to spend 1-2 minutes or hours with ourselves before the world demands our time for us. Stop, beware of our senses and begin the day by choosing nature and sacred relationships.
Before you face the world each day, do yourself a favor—tune up your nervous system and attune yourself to your highest inner self – be it exercise, meditation, journaling, a nourishing breakfast or a chanting a peaceful prayer or even sipping some warm water in silence.
