Ayurveda = Being in tune with yourself and the world around you. Two-part series.
Ayurveda is the science of life, and more concisely, the science of your life. We ask the question in order to feel harmonious and healthy: how do we tune ourselves to the seasons, the environment, the lunar cycles, the days of the week and the 24hr day? In this article it is the days of the week we will take a look at.
As teachers of yoga, it is essential is to discover is your rhythm. Being out in the world sharing your gifts, or being in or out of the social realms, requires that you take time to prepare yourself so that you do not feel depleted or suffer from ‘burn out’. How do you do it? How do you nourish yourself? Ayurveda treats our physical body as a microcosm of the macrocosm. Take care of the microcosm by keeping in harmony with the macrocosm and life starts to feel AOK.
One gentle way to tune into yourself each day is to honor the day itself. Is it a Monday? A Tuesday? Even a Saturday? Each day offers its own quality and rhythm. Tuning into it will give you a sense of confidence that you are ‘going with the flow’, rather than swimming upstream, or worse, feeling like you are knocking your head against a wall.
Planetary Yantras are the perfect tool for taking a moment to tune into the energy of the day. Once you are in sync with the day, you will have an easeful time connecting to your purpose that day, whether to spend the day alone, in company, in study or teaching. Opening the channel to connect with your students and the content of your classes will be effortless.
Here is the list of days of the week and planetary influences.
If you would like to create these Yantras for yourself or color their outlines as a practice please refer to Nine Designs For Inner Peace (Destiny Books) by Sarah Tomlinson.
Notice how you feel as you read through this list, see if your weekly flow aligns with the energy of the days of the week. The idea is to ride the wave of the week’s flow, rather than fight it, or feel like you are always swimming upstream.
The rhythm will be different for each of you. For example some of you may fail miserably if you try to be competitive and challenging on a Monday, hey, why not wait until Tuesday to align with that more dynamic martian energy, and so on. Others may soar with the lunar currents present on ‘Moon’ days and be highly successful. See what feels right for you.
The colors for each day correspond with the pure color in the planetary Yantra associated with the day. Before working with the Yantra it is a good idea to see how you can incorporate a little of the day’s color, into the day. From the color of your undergarments to the color of your nail polish, you will feel noticeably more aligned to the energy of the day.
Days of the week: colors and qualities
Monday — Moon Yantra — Receptivity, Nourishment, Nurturing, Divine Feminine, The Mother (pastel blues, silver, grey, white, mauve)
Tuesday — Mars Yantra — Focus, Action, Passion, Warrior, Strength (red, orange, bronze)
Wednesday — Mercury Yantra — Study, Learning, Communication, Nature, Playfulness (greens)
Thursday — Jupiter Yantra — Community, Family, Knowledge, Generosity, Ritual, Friends (gold, yellow)
Friday — Venus Yantra — Senses, Beauty, Art, Romance (white, pink, lavender)
Saturday — Saturn Yantra —Simplicity, Silence, Physical, Boundaries (dark blue, black)
Sunday — Sun Yantra — Eclectic, Fun, Party, Adventure, Integrating (orange, gold, red)
When I spend time at the Johari house in Haridwar, India, the home of my teacher, the late great Harish Johari, it is a delight each morning to wake up and find the ladies of the house revealing some of the day’s color. Be it in their gemstones, their shawls or the trim of their flowing sari. In this home the colors extend into the choices of lentil cooked in the dal, and the vegetables and fruits consumed. Harish was the greatest proponent I know of sharing the importance of Planetary Yantras and using color to bring yourself into balance.
We will look more at how to work with the Yantras that embody and focus the colors in future articles. For now see if you can begin to use color to notice your own flow through the week. As your microcosm starts to find its flow, perhaps your macrocosm; students, clients, family, friends and beyond, will flourish along with you.
Image of Yantras by Sarah Tomlinson as seen in Shiva Rea’s Tending the Heart Fire
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