Truth be told, I am at a point in my own spiritual evolution where I find myself standing in between the swinging doors of living a life of devotion following the Yama-Niyama of the Yoga Sutras.

However, when it comes to the Yama-Niyama of Brahmacarya I’ve been living fully in the world of sensual enjoyments.

And that’s why when I took Michelle Phillips Essential Basics Yoga class on Saturday, May 19th 2012 at Yoga Pura. I knew that I was going to have a really tough time chewing on and ultimately swallowing the bite size pieces of Asteya and Bramacarya.

Just in case you were wondering “The Science of Yoga” by I.K. Taimni defines Asteya and Brahmacarya as...

Asteya literally means abstaining from stealing.
Brahmacarya in its wider sense stands not only for abstinence from sexual indulgence but freedom from craving for all kinds of sensual enjoyments.

For the most part I was able to digest Asteya but Brahmacarya wasn’t something that I was willing to swallow.

Now, keep in mind that Michelle did an excellent job of making sure to remind everyone that from a “Western Perspective”, Brahmacarya means “moderation” in relationship to all kinds of sensual enjoyments.

It still didnt help me swallow this bite size piece of information any better and here is why...

When I started practicing yoga on a yoga mat, I was already deeply established in the habit of doing everything Big and Shallow.

What this means was...

I was all about eating as much Fast Food and Junk Food in as big of portions possible.
I was all about drinking as much booze as possible.
I was all about having meaningless and casual sex with any woman who was interested.

And it has been through my practice of Yoga that I’ve gradually and what seems to be slowly begun to let go of my attachments to these sensual cravings.

But and this is a big but, I’ve done so by doing and practicing lots and lots of yoga on the mat. And I practice yoga on the mat a lot because if I dont, I generally have a tendency to fall even deeper into my sensual cravings.

So when Michelle offered up the bite size piece of Brahmacarya when I tried to swallow it. I instead found myself mentally and emotionally vomiting and releasing the sensual indulgences I’ve craved throughout this lifetime.

And it was all happening while we were moving in and out of a variety of yoga postures.

In the final resting pose of Shavasana I found myself saying...

“I release and I let go.”

At that point, I dropped into the deepest states of my Beingness and rested within the Love, Joy and Peace far beyond the sensual pleasures of life.

Big Love Always,

Thaddeus