Mat & Beyond Yoga Studio

Asana Journal

Abhinivesha

Recently in my advanced teachers training program with Manoj Kaimal, I have been exploring the kleshas or obstacles that have to be looked into and refined in the quest to receiving states of clarity. Patanjali in the second chapter of the Yoga Sutras lists five kleshas; the last of which is abhinivesha. Like pieces of a puzzle, they all fit. Each of them spoke to me like old friends bringing me greater clarity, having come face to face with them through different life experiences Abhinivesha especially caught my interest as it is described as a fear of death or continuity.

As I contemplated on death and opened out the word; I realised that death did not have to be limited to just the physical body. We come face-to-face with death more often than we realise. There is death in the context of relationships; when things change and the relationship, be it between parent and child, friends, lovers, business partners, siblings is not what it once was. There is death in the context of a loss of a job or a change in position, workplace location from the perspective of employment. As I watch my expatriate students pack their houses and lifestyles as they move from Malaysia to other countries; there is abhinivesha there too. Then there is the death of hopes, dreams, beliefs, attitudes as life happens and opens up our mind to a different perspective/ attitude etc. Abhinivesha lurks in the fringes of our lives; but ever so often it surges to the forefront, overwhelming us with anxieties, insecurities, feelings of loss of control of our emotions and moods as we sometimes struggle to come to terms with the twists and turns that life throws at us.

Ishwara pranidhana…surrender to a higher force, a recognition that things happen and that we are not the ultimate masters of our fate helps us deal with abhinivesha; assimilate the change in a way that empowers us and promotes our continuous evolvement and flow of our consciousness into Kalyana (auspicious) states of acceptance, appreciation and gratitude Namaste