Pregnant with Potential: The Power of Presence

Since the Covid-19 Crisis started a topic that comes up often is how unusual, weird, and different time feels. It has now become normal to question “what day is it?” or feel that the day is either dragging on or perhaps flying by. The events of 2020 have changed my understanding of and relationship with time.

The first word of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is “Atha” (pronounced at-ha). This is not an accident. In Sanskrit, the order in which words are placed is particularly important. This is a language without any punctuation or capitalization, so the placement of words are indicators of importance. Often translated as “now”, the ultimate potency of Atha is the fact that it is the opening word of this extremely significant text.

Atha is much more than simply “now”. It is not about something you are going to do as in “now I will go to the store” or “now I am going to bed”. If we are existing in the present moment those activities could be considered Atha. On a deeper level, Atha is really an invocation to presence. It is the NOW that is every moment and all the moments that led up to now. To fully embody Atha we are not elsewhere, in the past or in the future.

Here are some translations of Atha in various versions of the sutras that I have:

Now/Here with, at this auspicious moment.

Now, at this point of transition from the previous involvements.

Now, after having done prior preparations through life and other practices.

Atha is an auspicious moment. It is big. It is when the protagonist in a movie realizes that everything in his/ her life has led up to this very moment. In the real world, that moment can be any and every minute in our lives. This is when the mundane becomes magical. When we are living in presence, we can experience a state of mind that is clear, tranquil, and still. We will be able to discern and distinguish is what is real and not real. We gain insight and wisdom because we are so empty that there is space to fill. This is what happens when we strengthen and train the mind.

These days it feels like our energy and awareness are pulled in so many directions. The stories of our past or anxiety about the future can keep us from being in the present moment. When we are in the present moment our creativity blossoms.  We become pregnant with potential and give birth to living our lives with purpose. The greatest thing about Atha is that it is always Atha. It is the Now. Not the last now or the next now, but this very now. 

I encourage you to put into place practices to allow you to experience presence. I find the more I stay in the present moment the more “in tune” with time I become. One of the ways that I have grown my living in Atha is by committing to a daily Yoga Nidra practice. If you would like to learn a little more about Yoga Nidra you can read an article that I wrote for Banyan Botanicals, click here.

I offer a donation-based Yoga Nidra class via Zoom every Sunday from 4:30 to 5:30. Email me if you would like to join from anywhere. Please send requests by 3:00 Sunday afternoon, the link will be emailed at 3:30. I am also available to work with you privately to help you build a breath and meditation practice that will support you on your journey.