The fifth and last niyama is called Isvara Pranidhana. This one is about surrender and devotion to the Supreme Being. This is where yoga philosophy might lose people and they think this stuff is religious, but this is just the spiritual practice regardless of religious ideas, or perhaps underneath all religious ideas. And I'm curious about you who's reading this, if you are atheist, how might these concepts land for you?

This dedication to a higher power that resides in you is ultimately about service. Your work and duty and personality isn't just for yourself, we must keep our ego-gratifications and pride in check and to offer up our whole-hearted selves to be in service to others. Not like we have a daunting duty to achieve great service-like things (although for some, that is their path), but just in our pure being-state and the way we carry out our lives. There is a type of tension that we experience in everyday life, and we try our best to control it or ignore it or get carried away with it. Through surrendering, we can consciously observe our habits and patterns of mind without judging ourselves. This means we can learn how to respect ourselves even when we are accidentally being a shitty human. We are all capable of ego-centric tendencies like impatience, doubt, fear, pride, ignorance, lethargy, attachment, aversion, arrogance, distraction, self-loathing, the list can go on. We all know what these feel like. When we relate to other people's egos through the lens of our own ego, then conflicts and judgments and opinions may arise. Our human relationships are reflections of our relationship with this Spirit inside of us. The word Namaste we say at the end of yoga class means that the spirit in me acknowledges and sees the spirit in you. We are united. The ego doesn't like surrendering its position. It wants to justify all of its petty actions and thoughts whether that be in a high or low esteem. Kids do this very obviously, but adults do it more sophisticated.

Surrendering to God, or Ultimate Reality (whatever word you like) and recognising this life force inside of us with a conscious trust and a faith in reality unhooks us from the snares of desires and aversions. I think about this when I see a bird cruising around without any worries, just eating and flying. Living in the moment. We can't as easily do that because we have bills to pay, and get sucked into the vortex of worrying about the future. But can we trust in our journey, open to whatever arises as a way to learn about who we really are? If we can truly rest in the present moment being nourished by our connection with the universal life force, this is the most concentrated way to realise the Soul.

How do we practice devotion and surrender? This is not about acquiring this state or intellectualising it. The practice is practiced to show us the way home, but it is not getting from point A to B, but more of a turning a light switch on, a direct approach. Is like when you forget someones name, and then it suddenly comes to you, and you're like, Ah-ha, there is it! But the person's name is just a word concept, not who they are. The map is not the territory and the menu is not the meal. And so this remembering to surrender all of your efforts to a higher power rather than to let pride sneak into your practice, we can have this Ah-ha moment, this isn't me. I am part of something greater. I can't get it or keep it or lose it, because this God concept is always present and the word God is just a word. Another great analogy is putting your hand in a river and trying to hold the water. You can't hold onto it, it slips past, but it doesn't leave your hand either.

Discipline (tapas) without devotion can tend towards being cold and routine and sometimes lifeless. Devotion is focused attention because what we are present to determines the course of our lives. If this devotion has courage, trust, faith, and dedication of our whole selves, then we can be immersed into the universal energy of love. So committing to discipline with devotion is the key for resting in Silence (the language of God).

Reflect:

When am I most connected to Spirit?

What does this higher power mean to me?