Editor’s Note: Miri Rivlin is a Level 3 CIYT based in the Palo Alto, CA. I discovered her through the many videos she has posted to social media that show the dazzling creativity and inventiveness of her practice. It wasn’t surprising that Miri was fun to talk to, and I look forward to a longer public conversation on Instagram Live, Saturday, September 7th at 1pm EST.
- Dan Shuman
“Through cultivation of friendliness, compassion, joy and indifference to pleasure and pain,virtue and vice respectively, the consciousness becomes favorably disposed, serene and benevolent.”
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 1.33 as translated by B.K.S. Iyengar in “Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
The Sanskrit expression Nati Nati means "neither this, nor that". This concept can be found in ancient texts, and can be experienced through yoga practice.
We have preconceived ideas of ourselves, but an attentive yoga practice can help reveal the unknown, break ingrained patterns and perceptions, and promote true deep happiness.
After more than 2 decades of yoga practice, I have cultivated a positive approach based upon joy and lightness that is fun to embrace. This gives me a glimpse of acting according to what is in front of me, and less based on my old, habitual patterns.
When my spouse and I travel, I cannot practice in my comfort zone, nor for the length of time that I wish.
My most creative works are a result of Nati Nati.
Don't get me wrong - I'm the same person, making lots of human mistakes, but there is a sense of santosa (contentment).
Do you hesitate to practice without a teacher? Without props or a set sequence? Give it a try, because instead of practicing yoga in class, it's something different.
Yoga becomes a lab to evaluate our own concepts, to be attentive and without expectations. The unknown reveals itself in an unpredictable way.
How can we call ourselves scaredy cats when we practice dropbacks? And how does this physical act give us the courage to deal with daily life? In the process we understand how we respond to nature. It's not who we are, but how we navigate ever-changing circumstances that defines us.
Yoga has become an integral part of my life journey, and I enjoy sharing my love of the subject through teaching. It is too important to keep to ourselves. If more people practice it, our personal and universal conditions are likely to improve. The more we are able to let go, the more we are able to practice the qualities which are presented in sutra 1.33, and those qualities are my goal.
Miri and several Level 3 CIYTs have taught donation-based classes for IYNAUS. These classes are free for IYNAUS members. To access these classes and enjoy more member benefits, you can join IYNAUS by clicking the button below.