Siva Nataraja, Lord of Dance, is a well-known murti often found in Yoga studios. It’s the statue of Siva dancing, balancing on one foot, dreadlocks flying and his four arms extended, each holding an item or a mudra. Often he is surrounded by a ring of flames. This particular representation of Siva is depicting ‘the 5 Acts’ or the Panca-Krtyas, the five ways the divine takes action.
The 5 Divine Acts are:
• Srsti: creation, emission, or the flowing forth of Self-expression.
• Sthiti: holding, preservation, stasis, or maintenance.
• Samhara: dissolution, resorption, or destruction.
• Tirodhana: concealment, occlusion, or forgetting.
• Anugraha: revelation, remembering, or the bestowal of grace.
As Christopher Wallace writes in his 2012 text Tantra Illuminated, ‘The five divine Acts are not only what God/ess does, in fact, they are all S/He ever does. So, everything that is happening in the universe expresses one or more of these Acts.’[i] Swami Shantananda, in his 2003 book The Splendor of Recognition, writes, ‘With these five Acts…the Lord carries out everything that happens in the universe. If we pay attention, we can see the Panca-Krtya in the cycles of life that occur all around us: in taking birth, in living, in dying, as well as in the suffering that comes from ignorance of the Self and the delight that follows true knowledge.’[ii] As well as at the larger level, these Acts are also always taking place—simultaneously—on smaller levels, down to the cellular, cognitive and energetic levels.
This week I’ve been offering a daily training to my Patreon supporters considering each of these 5 Acts in turn and using the teachings as an inquiry into our Yoga businesses. Today we turned our focus to the Fourth Act, Tirodhāna, the state of concealing, forgetting, blindness, ignorance, forgetfulness or being veiled to our essence: to our ultimate nature[iii]. We discussed how this Act may come to bear in our businesses, especially at this mid-point in the year.
During the triaing we used Tirodhāna as an inquiry prompt in several ways. For today, let’s consider this: where have we turned away from our true hearts’ desires and how can we return to them? Let’s explore this question in the context of supporting you in reclaiming your Yoga business vision for 2022, despite any meandering the route may have taken to date.
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Returning to Our Heart’s Desire
Remember the Siva Nataraja murti? In this icon, the concept of Tirodhāna is represented by the arm that crosses Siva’s chest, crosses his heart. This is a powerful symbol: Siva is showing us the power of occluding the heart, something that happens all too often in Yoga business.
Many Yoga teachers over the years, when coached by me on how they can grow their Yoga businesses lament, ‘But I didn’t become a Yoga teacher to sit all day at my computer!’ I can understand completely how they feel.
For many of us we decided to train as Yoga teachers because it felt like our true heart’s desire. Sharing Yoga—something that had healed and transformed us all in some way—became a calling that we simply had to heed. And yet now in the day-to-day pattern of being a Yoga teacher we may feel very far removed from that original calling.
Maybe you’re teaching for a studio that doesn’t actually align with your values, and you’re feeling underpaid and starting to resent being asked to undertake duties outside the scope of your role.
Maybe you’ve been teaching retreats for an international touring company, meeting your students the very same day you start teaching them and unable to keep in touch after the retreat is over.
Maybe you’re offering 10 classes a week at your home studio, all of them under-attended and only barely making you any money.
Sure, you’re still teaching. And maybe you’re even almost doing exactly what you wanted back when you heard the call. But is it your true heart’s desire? Or have you fallen into a day-to-day rut of ‘almost right’?
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This morning I worked with this inquiry in my journal. For a few months now I’ve been craving more time for my morning practice. I’ve been a devotee of Julia Cameron’s ‘morning pages’ for about 15 years now. Every morning, over a steaming cup of coffee (#nocoffeenoprana), I write out three pages of Svādhyāya. Prior to that I sit in bed and take a So Hum meditation. But I want to add Asana to my mornings, rather than having all of my movement practice later in the day. I’ve started setting my alarm half an hour earlier, but it still doesn’t give me the spaciousness I’ve been craving.
I’ve started work at 7am for the past four years. I have clients all over the world and so need to make sure I’m available at times that suit their time zones as well as mine. So, I start work early and take a longer lunch break. 7am is just the way it’s done.
But here’s the thing: 7am was almost doing exactly what I wanted. When the insight arose this morning to start work an hour later my initial thought was, ‘But what about my clients?’ Challenging myself further, I did an audit of my calendar, checking the last month and the coming month’s client appointment bookings.
Guess what? Only ONE of my clients chooses the 7am spot, and she often selects 8am instead.
Boom! In this small way, I realised where my heart’s true desire wasn’t being met and took action to meet it. My scheduler is now changed. Now I have the time I long for to be on my mat before it gets light outside. AND my clients aren’t going to be impacted at all. In fact, having their coach show up AFTER practise might work rather well in their favour.
Do you journal? Maybe give it a try, writing whatever comes to mind (and not censoring yourself in any way… I mean it!) when you ponder this question:
Where have I turned away from my true heart’s desire and how can I return to it?
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If you’d like to watch the replays of all of the trainings from this week, you can sign up as a Patreon subscriber for just $5 here: https://www.patreon.com/AmyMcDonald
As well as accessing all 5 of the ‘Reimagining Business in 2022: The 5 Acts of Siva’ replays, you’ll also get access to bonus episodes of the Abundant Yoga Teacher Podcast as well as my monthly Book and Film Club! Come hang out with us!
[i] Wallis, Christopher D (2012) Tantra Illuminated: The Philosophy, History, and Practice of a Timeless Tradition, Anusara Press, The Woodlands, TX
[ii] Swami Shantananda (2003) The Splendor of Recognition: an Exploration of the Pratyabhijñā-hṛdayam: a Text on the Ancient Science of the Soul, SYDA Foundation, South Fallsburg, NY
[iii] http://www.jamesboagyoga.com/blog-articles/inquiry-five-acts, accessed 7 July, 2022