Svadhyaya, reflexivity, and soft joy in the body

So much of what we’re taught to believe about ourselves goes unexamined.
It shows up in the way we move, the way we rest (or don’t), the stories we carry about our worth, our strength, our softness.

This week, I’ve been thinking about what it means to really study the self, not through the lens of self-help or productivity, but through the practices of Svadhyaya and reflexivity. One comes from yogic philosophy. The other from critical social theory. Both ask us to pause, look inward, and ask better questions.

What if the body could help us answer?

🌊 Waves, Wires, and the Work of Remembering

Svadhyaya and Reflexivity in Practice

For many of us, yoga starts with asana—the movement, the breath, the stretch.
We learn to notice our bodies.
We build strength.
We find pockets of relief.

But there’s always more under the surface.

Yoga doesn’t end at the edges of the pose. Beneath the form lies something subtler: awareness. And one of the clearest invitations to that awareness is the niyama Svadhyaya, often translated as “self-study.”

But this isn’t the Western idea of self-study—not analysis, self-help, or fixing.
It’s not about changing who you are.
It’s about remembering what’s true.

Svadhyaya, as described in yogic philosophy, is a contemplative practice. A way of seeing—not just the self with a lowercase “s,” but the Self with a capital “S.”

One classical metaphor compares the self to a wave on the ocean: temporary, moving, distinct for a time—but never truly separate from the sea. Just so, our thoughts, identities, and stories rise and fall—but beneath them lies something vast, connected, and enduring.

The wave is the self. The ocean is the Self.
And the practice of Svadhyaya is the quiet work of remembering the difference.

Traditionally, Svadhyaya includes study of sacred texts like the Yoga Sutras or Bhagavad Gita, reflection through meditation or mantra, or working with a teacher to go deeper.
But the heart of the practice is simple:
We turn inward to see clearly.
We listen—not to fix, but to understand.

In physical practice, Svadhyaya might look like:

• Noticing when we override our body’s cues.

• Sitting in stillness long enough to hear what rises.

• Asking gently, Where does this story live in my body?

Svadhyaya is the practice of being with what is—so that, breath by breath, we might remember who we are.

Now let’s widen the lens.

If Svadhyaya asks, How am I connected to the ocean?
Reflexivity asks, Why am I this particular wave?

Why do I carry this shape, this momentum, this rhythm?
What cultural tides shaped me?
What systems carved this path?

In sociology, reflexivity is the practice of examining how our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors are shaped by larger forces—capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy, ableism, colonialism.
It’s turning the mirror outward and inward at the same time.

Yoga speaks of Maya—the illusion that clouds our perception.
Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu gave us Doxa—those deep, unquestioned beliefs we absorb from our social environment and mistake for truth.

Both Svadhyaya and reflexivity ask us to disrupt autopilot.
To peel back illusion.
To return to what’s real.

This Sunday, I’m offering a practice that brings these two approaches together.

It’s the first in a new series exploring how emotion and sensation live in the body—and how our experiences, beliefs, and culture shape what we feel and how we move through it.

We begin with joy.
Not as a bypass, but as a question:

🎉 This Week’s Practice: Where Joy Lives – A Restorative Meditation

This week’s practice is a soft exploration of where joy lives in the body.

We’ll begin with grounding and gentle pranayama to settle into presence. From there, we’ll move into fully supported restorative postures that give us space to tune in, not to perform or push, but to notice.

Through visualization, we’ll recall memories, places, and sensations that have brought us joy, then trace where that joy shows up in the body: warmth in the chest, softness in the belly, lightness in the limbs. Maybe it flickers. Maybe it hides. Maybe it floods you.

There’s no right way or wrong way for joy to show up.

Suggested props:
• 2 large pillows or 1 bolster/couch cushion
• 2 small pillows or yoga blocks
• 2–3 blankets or towels
• Optional: an eye pillow or scarf, cozy layers, and any grounding items that support your sensory comfort

🗓️ May 18, 2025 – 9:00 PM Eastern
📍 Watch on YouTube

If you missed Sunday’s Restorative Yoga for Holding Hope | Heart-Opening Practice for All Bodies, you can watch it on YouTube now!

The work of self-study isn’t always comfortable. But it’s clarifying.
It helps us notice what we’ve inherited, what we’ve internalized, and what we’re ready to release.

This practice doesn’t promise transformation in one breath or one pose.
But it does invite something deeper: connection. Awareness. Choice.

So if joy feels distant— come anyway.
We’ll look for it together.
We’ll remember how to feel it again, one breath at a time.

In rest, resistance, and sweet glimpses of joy,
Shannon