Shaoca Challenge: Jan 2014
Welcome to the New Year – 2014, and with it the Shaoca Challenge!!
As we know, the practice of yoga entails the constant endeavor for refinement: To lead a more pure and sentient life. And shaoca itself means cleanliness and purity in all realms of life: physical, psychic, emotional, moral, and spiritual.
So the Shaoca Challenge entails purifying or refining a particular arena of life. It is a wide-open playing field. You might choose something mental such as alleviating stress through regular yoga or meditation, or you might choose something pertaining to your diet like a reduction in sugar or sweets, or eliminating caffeine, or eating more raw, plant-based foods. Or the challenge might be something related with your home such as cleaning out the garage. As stated, the playing field is wide open – all realms of life are viable options. Think of this as that key, opportune moment to do that undone project, or inculcate that new habit or practice that will bring a greater sense of purity in your life.
Feel free to share your topic with us or if you prefer keep it to yourself – either way let us know that you are on board!!
Much success to you in your endeavor…
Note: Shaoca, sometimes written as shauca, is one of the ten principles of yama and niyama as well as one of the ten characteristics of dharma. So it is a highly valued and meaningful point.
I will be starting each day with hot water and lemon, and stretching. This is one step towards drinking less caffeine and more water (I would be lying to say I’ll ever completely quit coffee, but I’ve cut down drastically). I may choose to drink coffee later in the day, but by starting my day this way I break the a.m coffee habit and am less likely to end up dehydrated later. I’ll also incorporate more salads in a different way than usual, like shaved fennel with apple, olive oil, lemon juice and salt!
Hey Lori!!
Great seeing you here – indeed! that warm, lemon or lime water is a great start to the day. You can even mix a pinch of salt with your lemon or lime before adding the hot water. Either way, a wonderful alkaline way to start the day!!
Thanks for the tip on the shaved fennel and apple salad – fennel happens to be a favorite of mine…
Wishing you a successful start to 2014!!
I have never been a big one for New Year’s resolutions, but I liked your idea of Shaoca to start the year off. I came up with a short and hopefully doable list to undertake for the month and some for the year. I divided it into people connections, environment ( mundane cleaning and organizing), spiritual and physical/health. With one or two habit additions under each area, I feel like it will help bring more balance to 2014.
Thanks for continuing to provide these growth opportunities.
Thanks, Satyam, for the inspirational challenge! I like RN”s idea, too!
I will look at areas of nutrition, mental state and physical environment for opportunities to refine and purify. I already have some ideas. What a great way to start the year!
I also really like RN’s idea as I was having trouble sorting through the many aspects of my life that would benefit from this challenge. So my first challenge will be to organize my ideas like this and pick the most pressing from each category. Thanks, RN…this really helps me to clarify this challenge and narrow it down to specifics.
Yes, thanks RN, I agree with Liz and Annie. While reading the description of the Shaoca challenge I had so many ideas floating around in my head it seemed impossible to decide on one. The idea of divding my thoughts into categories is very helpful. A good place to start for me will be with meditation and relaxation and being present in this moment.
Happy New Year.
This sounds very inspirational and I will give it some thought right now. Reducing stress through meditation is always high on my list but a spiritual search is a new branch I’d like to explore
The Shaoca Challenge is coming at a perfect time for me. As the New Year has started, I naturally feel inspired to clear away all sorts of clutter, mental and physical (lots of that in our storage area).
Thanks for a great challenge to start off the year.