Week 1: Winter 2021 40 Day Sadhana
Welcome to the practice!
The 40 Day practice has long been a valuable and impactful tool in my life, and the significance of 40 Days at this time of the year is particularly pertinent! We are now a few days into the season of Lent, when Christians honor a time of withdrawal, introspection, stillness and discipline that leads up to the great celebration of Easter, springtime, light and the promise of new life.
So, if now seems like a good time for honoring the present moment and deepening your spiritual practice, let’s dive in!
The program consists of 6 weekly meetings of one hour each during which time we engage in discussion, reflection, journaling and spend time recommitting to the practice for the week ahead. In addition, you will be offered invitations for the upcoming week in the form of different practices including yoga asana (movement), meditation to name a few.
Let’s review the Intention Setting Practice for Week 1. Please complete it on your own time if you were unable to attend the group meeting. The intention for the following practice is to first review the previous 4–5 years, noticing significant moments and mindset or growth points during each year. In doing so, we will be led to the current year, 2021 and poised to ask the question: “what is the invitation for growth in 2021?”
Week 1: Intention Setting Practice
- Write “2017” in your journal. Then “started”; “ended”; “in between”; and “how did I depart from my default this year? What was the growth I observed?”
For example: 2017
Started: Beacon Hill Friends House, Boston (my physical home base at the beginning of the year)
Ended: Living with parents Hamden, CT (my physical home base at the end of the year)
In between: Minnesota; Kenya with Africa Yoga Project; met Isaac for the first time; summer in Hamden, CT; Croatia with friends; travel with Africa Yoga Project; Thanksgiving to Christmas with parents in Connecticut
How did I depart from my default this year? What was the growth I experienced? I decided to leave the comfortable and stable environment of Boston, for the deep call I was feeling to go out into the world and explore… the call to go beyond my comfort zone and take advantage of the moment. I recognized that Boston was not a place I saw myself long term, and felt it was necessary to explore other options and find a new place to settle. This leap ended up introducing me to my future husband, although I didn’t know this at the time as we only met as friends in 2017.
2. Repeat the above for the subsequent years: 2018, 2019, 2020, and feel free to also include 2016 to make it a 5 year review.
3. Now we’ve reached 2021. Write down phrases, words, or intentions that come to mind when you reflect on where you are right now. What do you see as the invitation for growth from where you stand. What is your current default reaction to stress or obstacles and what would the opposite response look like? What would it look like to step out of your comfort zone and more into the person you feel called to be? What would have to shift for your to show up and be of greater service to your communities?
4. Write down a bunch of phrases and words. Then start to narrow down and distill the meaning of those thoughts into 3 impactful words. Three words that really get to the core of who you see yourself stepping into this year. Three words that embody your future and who you feel called to be more of.
For example, in 2018 my 3 words were “joy, depth, completion”. I had just come off of a whirlwind year of travel, new experiences and felt called to be more grounded. I wanted to settle in and create more depth and confidence in my offerings as a yoga teacher, to complete the year where I started and to not be derailed by sadness or frustration. So, I leaned into experiencing and embodying “joy, depth, completion” on a daily basis in 2018. The words felt like huge stretches at the beginning of the year, but by the end of the year I was really feeling their power and the way they had shaped each major decision and turning point over the year. One concrete outcome of leaning into these words was that in 2018 I fully committed to paying off my debt, and I saw this come to fruition by the end of 2019.
5. What are your words for 2021? Don’t overthink it, either. Trust that whatever you choose will serve you well. And you can also think about them as words for just the 40 Day Sadhana if it seems too overwhelming to commit to words for the whole of the year. If there’s no clarity at first, you can spend a few days considering the words and editing before you finally land on 3 words- or maybe your words could be commitment and clarity if over-thinking and perfection is holding you back!
6. Write them boldly in a colorful marker and post them in a place where you will see them everyday- your mirror, the refrigerator, etc.
Now that you’ve completed the Intention Setting Practice, that’s the bulk of this week’s focus: to gain clarity on these three words as a way to kick off the sadhana.
We can also dip our toes into a daily meditation and yoga asana practice.
Invitations for practice this week
Read your 3 words daily: and consider how they show up!
Daily yoga practice: any class of your choice in person or online; offerings through SarahandIsaacyoga (Tuesday/ Thursday 8–8:30am EST and Saturdays 9:30am EST); or a 30-minute offering focusing on breath awareness that I recorded. passcode: !42xat1q
Daily meditation practice: First watch this video about establishing your meditation with consideration of the physical space, the time of day, etc. If you like Khushi’s vibe, I highly recommend following along with her guided meditations that can be found and purchased here, or you can contact me and I can make a donation directly to Khushi and connect you with the recordings. Otherwise download a meditation app such as Insight Timer or Headspace and just choose a recording every day. Start small with the duration of time so that you can build up consistency rather than focus on quantity.
Remember, the practice of these 40 Days is gaining clarity, and building consistency over time. We won’t get it perfect on a daily basis, but the invitation is to continually show up and notice. And every Friday we’ll have the chance to support each other and offer new ideas.
See you next week! Reach out if you’d like to join us for Week 2! The focus will be meditation.
