Here Comes the Son

In yoga philosophy there's a lot of talk about the Sun. Surya.

When we do our Sun Salutations, aka Surya Namaskar, we are acknowledging the brilliance of that light both outside and inside. When we say "Namas Te" we are acknowledging the same thing; the radiance of the Self, which recognizes the divine light in all of existence. "Te" actually refers to the individual version of that radiance, "tejase." "Namaskar" is to honor, recognize, bow down to.

There's a lot of talk about the light of consciousness being brighter even than 10,000 suns.

That's bright.

Lately I've been feeling my son move around a lot inside me. I am awed by this.

I am awed by knowing that the spark of consciousness is inside him, animating his limbs, communicating with me in a way I have never experienced before.

When we were trying to conceive, I had many conversations with the Universe and with all those souls floating around, waiting to get in. I wanted them to know that this will be a very yogic birth and yogic family life with meditation and spiritual practice at its center. That the community of family and friends here will support a life lived on the spiritual path.

I want my son to know that we know he is the Sun itself, a luminous, life-giving, tapas-firing force.

In the yoga sutras, where there is tapas, or fire, or discipline, there is also svadhyaya, or self-study, and both are closely linked to ishvara pranidhana, or absolute surrender to God. This pregnancy has featured all three niyamas (self-observances) from the beginning, and will continue to do so through labor, delivery, birth, and raising the little man.