Photo: Kim Long Photography

Satya is one of the Yamas from Patajali’s Yoga Sutra’s and means truthfulness in speech, thoughts and deeds. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, all the stores and ads remind us this is a time to honor love (or just another Hallmark holiday for the cynics out there), but I find this a wonderful time to honor those we love and a time to bring Satya into focus in ourselves and in our relationships.

Truthfulness. That word holds a different amount of weight for different people. If you live in truth, meaning, you live in such a way that you are truthful to yourself and others, speak in such a way that you are sensitive to others feelings and act out of the spirit of love and take responsibility for your actions, you might feel a lightness in relationship to this word. If you are hiding from yourself or others, making judgements about others and holding grudges, this word might carry a burdening weight, but truthfulness to many of us can also be a journey of discovery. Who am I really? What is my truth? Many of us are always trying to fill that empty space that we are convinced needs to be filled in order to feel whole and complete. But what we forget is, we are already whole and complete, we were the day we were born. Listen to what you already know. Really LISTEN. This doesn’t necessary mean you’ll know what to do about what comes up (believe me, this I know for a fact) but the answer lies in that space. It might just be a matter of quieting the noise around you and sitting with yourself to hear it, feel it and maybe even more time to come to terms with it, but it is there. It is also the goodness you have to share with the world despite the bad experiences that life brings that has shadowed your light. Satya is not just taking responsibility for your life, it’s honoring the life you deserve to live. 

According to Patanjali, things come automatically to the person practicing Satya. “To one established in truthfulness, actions and their results become subservient.” In other words, you need not run after things, for they will run after you. That to me is worth living by.

This Valentine’s Day, enjoy your chocolates and celebrations, and remember to take some time to recognize Satya in your life.

XOXO,
Julie