Living Life In Light: A Yogi’s Journey

By Nathalie Croix

Living Life in Light, A Yogi’s Journey is more than a memoir and more than a how-to book. Within the pages, lifelong yogi, healer, and spiritual teacher, author Nathalie Croix guides you on the road to health, love, and enlightenment, helping you to discover your inner child, the essence of who you really are.

A culmination of decades of study, travel, meditation, and teaching, Living Life in Light offers practical and actionable steps so you can begin practicing yoga on and off the mat and living your life in light today. Croix presents a host of healing techniques, concepts, and tools that assisted her in her own journey and her day-to-day walk in life.

A teacher of love, Croix’s practices will transform your body, mind, and spirit and your relationship to the world, life as it is, and others you come in contact with each day.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Oct 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9781684711413

Book preview

LIVING

LIFE

IN LIGHT

A YOGI’S JOURNEY

NATHALIE CROIX

Copyright © 2019 Nathalie Croix.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-6847-1140-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6847-1142-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6847-1141-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019910884

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date:  10/10/2019

THE LIGHT IN ME

THINKS THE LIGHT IN YOU

IS FREAKING AWESOME

NAMASTE

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to the betterment of planet Earth and to all living beings.

As well as to all who stand up for those in need, who are here to protect our animals, our trees, our oceans, nature, the peacemakers—the ones who teach by example.

The seekers, the doers of Earth School.

I commend your bravery and courage to stand up tall.

"Practicing yoga is a privilege, and with this privilege comes a duty to be kind, share a smile, and to offer the yoga from your mat into

the rest of your life"

Keep in mind that, when you practice yoga, you’re not practicing to improve yourself. You are perfect. The practice is there to help you know that.

–Maty Ezraty

SpiritFireTiger.jpg

PART ONE

INTRODUCTION

Yoga is a powerful practice, which is here to inform and serve us both on and off the mat. Each student is unique. I encourage my students to approach their practice with inquiry each day and radical acceptance.—Nathalie Croix

We are all unique individuals.

In my many years of teaching and devoting my life to many healing modalities and understanding human beings, I have observed and learned that when we are closest to our true nature, the essence of who we are, we are not only happier beings but also kinder to the world around us.

I believe at the core of humans there is an innate quality of goodness.

I believe that when we open our hearts to others and we see the soul by looking at someone’s eyes with empathy, compassion, and presence you will discover that in that moment there is no other, because the other is you.

When you look at someone with the eyes of love, you see love.

Love is the essence of who we are.

Inside every adult, even the wounded ones, there is an innocent child. The child who you first embodied when you came here to this Earth plane. That is the one I am interested in.

I believe that the purest and most sublime version of yourself is alive and well and resides within you, that is your Light.

Your light is unique and is a true gift to humanity.

I wrote this book, Living Life In Light, to assist you in the discovery of your inner child, the discovery of the essence of who you are.

In this book, I present many healing techniques, concepts and tools which have assisted me in my journey and my day-to-day walk in this thing called life.

My intention with this book is to share with you from my heart space, from my own experience, because that is all I can do.

So, I ask for your patience. If I bring up a topic, idea, or concept which doesn’t resonate with you, know that I honor your truth.

Please take what resonates with you and leave the rest.

There are many ways. Many paths. In this book I present one way. I do not claim to be the owner of the truth. What I am sharing with you are parts of the practice of yoga and of a spiritual journey which have not only awakened me, but also worked wonders in my life. It has transformed who I am and connected me to a higher version of myself. However, I am fully aware that there are many truths and many other interpretations of life and of yoga. Thus, I honor your truth, at each and every moment.

Let’s together, celebrate diversity and each other’s differences.

This book invites you to

Embrace Living Your Life In Light

Let Your Light SHINE BRIGHT!

A PRACTICE OF RADICAL

ACCEPTANCE

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open … No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.

This quote is from the beautiful modern dancer and choreographer, the late

—Martha Graham

Yoga is a practice of radical acceptance.

We are all unique individuals.

We are all here writing our own music.

I have learned that there is no cookie-cutter format.

We learn the rules, so we have a strong enough foundation.

A good foundation in yoga is like a good foundation when building a house. You can’t just begin building a house with the roof. We must begin with a strong foundation. Furthermore, even if you could begin with the roof, why would you want to skip the most magical part of the journey, the self-discovery of creating a solid foundation?

When we skip the beginning phases of anything in life, we forget to gift ourselves the beginner’s mind. The beginner’s mind is where we connect with our inner child.

That quality, of a child’s mind, is what invites curiosity and lets us know all things are possible.

It is never too late in life to start again.

I applaud you for your bravery to start fresh and the courage to welcome new beginnings and for gifting yourself the time and the curiosity to discover a new art form and ultimately rediscover yourself.

Yoga teaches us that there is no separation.

We are all one.

Congratulations on falling in love with life.

Congratulations on falling in love with yourself all over again.

Why Yoga?

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Nathalie Croix. In this lifetime, I have been practicing yoga since childhood. I have devoted my life to yoga and other Eastern-based healing practices. Throughout these many years, I have had the privilege to witness thousands of people transform right in front of my eyes, and what a gift that is. What a blessing to hold space for others to transform!

No matter where we are in our planet, yoga is always relevant.

It’s no wonder that Patanjali, the ancient sage who wrote The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, begins this important text with Sutra 1.1: Atha Yoga Anushasanam. There are many translations for this sutra. My favorite, the one I connect with the most, is this:

The time for yoga is now.

Now is all we have.

The past is the past and the future is not yet here.

Additionally, what is relevant about sutra 1.1 is that no matter when you begin the studies of yoga, at least from the perspective of the sutras, the time is always now. You may be a child, as I was. You may be in the senior years of your life. You may be experiencing an array of life circumstances, such as being poor, rich, young, elderly, married, single, in ill health, in great health. But none of this matters because the time is always now. That is a powerful way to begin any spiritual tradition.

Patanjali follows sutra 1.1 with sutra 1.2, which is considered by many the most important thread. There are many translations of Sutra 1.2 Yoga Citta Vrtti Nirodhah and I invite you to check them all out to see which one resonates with your heart.

Yoga is to still the fluctuations of the mind.

That’s it. To me that says it all. It’s so simple and so clear.

Yoga is a practice of steadiness. Equanimity. It is a practice of quieting the monkey mind.

The vritti, in the context of yoga, is the impediment to enlightenment. Vrittis can be translated as disturbances of the mind.

A good analogy is that consciousness, when in a state of equanimity, is calm and awake. The vrittis can be seen as waves and ripples disrupting steady waters.

To me, the monkey mind is the mind that is always jumping from one thing to the next, without much space between ideas or thoughts. Therefore, it is a reactive mind. It is a mind that identifies itself with being the master and the controller of your emotions and your state of being at each and every moment. It’s when you perceive no separation between yourself and your thoughts. This false belief system is not real.

Yoga teaches us that you are not your thoughts.

The essence of who you are is much deeper than what appears on the surface. Throughout history, spiritual seekers have devoted their lives in search of their true self. This is one of the main topics we are going to explore in this book together.

I am excited to take you on the journey of light.

Namaste.

(For the purpose of this book, I will translate namaste as The light in me sees the light in you.)

YOGA — THE

REVOLUTION WITHIN

The yoga sutras are regarded by many to be yoga’s most authoritative text, tracing back to around the second century BCE. Some scholars argue that the sutras are not a body of work by one man but more likely by a collective group of highly enlightened individuals. This is similar to Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and other foundational texts that are likely the result of collaboration by individuals over time, informed by the oral tradition preceding it.

Although we will likely never know more about its writing, we do know that the authors of the sutras came together to offer the world one of its greatest texts about human existence in its complexity and evolution toward enlightenment. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali consists of 196 sutras (or threads). In this book, I will share with you the ones that not only have deeply touched and changed me, but also form the philosophy by which I live.

Although yoga has been a big part of me for most of my life, I profoundly hesitated to write a book about yoga, largely because it can mean so many different things to so many people. How can one put into words a science, a philosophy, and a spiritual practice that has shed so much light into our world for thousands of years and has transformed billions of people’s lives?

It is quite humbling to write about this enormous topic and ancient healing art. But I will do my best to share the many tools that have enhanced my life each day.

This is my story. I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to a French father and a Brazilian mother. My parents separated when I was very young. My mother married an Argentinian, who is my now stepfather, when I was about five years old. My stepfather worked for an international company, and due to his line of work, we often moved to different countries.

I was introduced to yoga as a young child. I was nine years old and lived in Mexico City, DF, Mexico. My best friend’s mother, whom I considered like an aunt, was a devotee of Gurumayi. If you have seen the movie Eat, Pray, Love, the Indian guru, the main character, encounters Gurumayi in the Indian ashram. My aunt took me to the Siddha Yoga Ashram in Mexico City,