By Theresa Shay
Five one-syllable words I heard Kaliji share in September at SoHum (TriYoga International’s program space in Kentucky) have been rising in my mind for weeks, shaping a new way of looking at stillness.
The words came through in what is known as a TriYoga Sutra. These are short poem-like missives, delivered spontaneously, that capture the bindu (essence) of TriYoga®’s ageless wisdom.
What Kaliji shared reminded me of a Christian teaching, and corollaries, that I’ve long appreciated.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.
As I heard the first line of the TriYoga Sutra lying on my back at SoHum, the words plucked a note that has long resonated for me.
“Be still.”
The words that followed, however, directed my attention to a fresh understanding.
“Be stilled.”
Oh.
I listened.
“Stay”
A note I’d been humming for decades crescendoed into a full chord. Five words, everything.
Be still.
Be stilled.
Stay.
At the core of TriYoga is the wisdom that we must learn to sustain steady and still concentration to receive the gift of yoga. I love TriYoga for this. The lesson about stillness is not at all for the body, though we use the form for the journey. When the body holds a position, Asana, nothing is still below the surface. Blood flows, lymph circulates, breaths cycle in and out. We can, however, explore the body’s challenges in a “still” posture to uncover a subtler, more profound call: stilling the mind.
So much moves toward us even as we privately struggle to land and not to move away from Self. When we settle into the condition of making ourselves available, the grace of presence reaches us. A power fills in and supports. We have become permeable are are guaranteed to receive. Stillness is effortless because we have become the object of the peace we crave, no longer the actor, no longer driving or striving, no longer the doer.
We open our eyes at the end of a TriYoga class and smile at each other, internally aware of this gift of having connected. We have no words to describe it, no way to explain it. But we feel it. We have been relieved from our whirring, from our worrying, from our exhausting efforts to wrestle life into shape.
And now?
Stay.
In yogaflow®, we learn the principle of maintaining common alignments between postures, a practice that builds our capacity to focus. Keep the pelvis level when the hip opens. Keep the lower back long when the leg lifts. Keep the chest lifted when the elbows bend. This TriYoga principle encourages energy lines to remain open so lifeforce can flow more freely. Why undo what’s working only to have to put effort into recreating that same alignment from scratch a moment later? This is a practical kind of stillness, a quality of concentration that serves.
The sutra captures the trinity: dissolve the obstacles that block the Flow. Land in the Now. Be still.
Create the experience of being met by a power greater than your individual will. Receive. Be stilled.
Now sustain.
Yes, stay.
You are a home to your Self, where you are meant to live.
Five short words. A lesson for a lifetime.
Theresa Shay is the founding director of TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania, where she teaches yoga, meditation, and practices for scoliosis wellness. Her writings share wisdom cultivated from decades of TriYoga study and practice.
Learn more about her here. Theresa can be reached at Theresa@PennsylvaniaYoga.com. Find her on Instagram @TriYogaCentralPA and @scoliosis_wellness_journey for more inspiration and light.