Hello and thank you for stopping by our website. We are Berezan Consulting, welcome to our blog!
As a consulting business, our clients know us best for our quality tax preparation, knowledgeable business consulting, and helpful personal financial guidance. Through our blog, we hope to offer you an opportunity to get to know us “behind the scenes”, see how we also practice or have experience with the consulting guidance we offer, and share our adventure of self-sustaining freedom! We would love to see everyone be able to achieve their own version of self-sustaining freedom!
Both Nathan and I used to work for companies, climbed corporate ladders, and navigated the workforce. Working for other companies, we were always tied into their schedule, their goals, their needs. Nathan and I share a personal and professional goal of using our natural skills, continuing education, and powers of creativity and reasoning to earn an income for ourselves to support our family. We enjoy the feeling of reclaiming our personal power through both self-employment and homeschooling when we exercise our ability to schedule our time how we need to, to meet our goals and needs. If we need to take a few days off because the family is sick, we can do that. If we need to lighten the homeschool load in order to adjust for more work hours during tax season, we can do that. Sometimes, homeschool math is practiced operating a farm table selling homemade food. Being able to live with and respond to the rhythm of your own life on your own terms IS personal freedom!
Our lives weren’t always this way. Our journey to where we are now actually began several years ago with my yoga teacher training. As I write this blog and reflect, I have been practicing yoga for about 13 years. A few years in I got my teacher training and have been certified to teach since 2012. I wanted a way out of the corporate workforce and thought my passion for learning and experiencing yoga could be shared with the world through teaching. Along that journey, my definition of yoga has been changed and shaped through practice, study, and experience; not to mention frustration, persistence, and courage. Yoga is much more than getting on the mat for asana practice. Allow me to share my perspective.
There are four main branches of yoga. Some yoga schools say six or otherwise count differently. From my perspective, there are, in general, four. They are: Raja, Jnana, Karma, and Bhakti. Those are Sanskrit words that are interpreted as: Royal, Knowledge, Selfless Action, and Loving Devotion- respectively.
Branch of Raja yoga
There are actually many parts to Raja yoga. This branch of yoga constitutes the implementation of Ashtanga yoga. This is not to be confused with the asana sequence practice of Ashtanga yoga created by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. I am referring to the Ashtanga Yoga discussed in the Yoga Sutras, the ancient practice of the Eight Limbs of Yoga.
The Eight Limbs of Yoga can be an entire blog in itself, but I will mention them here. The Eight Limbs are Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratiahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi. If you notice, Asana (getting on the mat for posture practice) is only one of eight pieces of this yoga pie. Dhyana is meditation so if you also practice this you practice two of eight pieces. The Yama and Niyama Limbs each have 5 components (10 altogether) and offer guidance on sustainable ways to treat yourself and others. A quality meditation also utilizes Pranayama (Breath Control practice), Pratiahara (Sense Withdrawl), and Dharana (Concentration). Samadhi is the peak culmination of all these practices realized together.
Facing yourself, your circumstances of life, and relationships with others is not always easy. These Limbs offer a daily practice, guidance for making everyday decisions, how to treat any person you may come across, and how to manage your own physical, mental, and emotional health. I invite all readers to brief yourselves on this topic. I expect there will also be a future blog to offer my perspective.
By implementing the disciplines of Ashtanga yoga, we become improved, healthy versions of ourselves. By practicing how to love and respect ourselves and others, we are able to approach each day, each encounter, each situation or circumstance with a healthy body, clear mind, and an open heart.
Branch of Jnana yoga
Practicing Raja yoga can lead to discoveries in Jnana yoga. Jnana yoga is the yoga of knowledge. The type of knowledge is the self-study we pursue and experience in order to grow as individuals. We learn about ourselves, our limits, what excites or depresses us, our boundaries. We can include academic knowledge here as well, but more so within the context of how that academic knowledge led to an understanding of the Self- for example, discovering capabilities, interests, and natural skills and aptitudes.
Through the lens of Jnana yoga we start to see ourselves more objectively. We can see both our strengths and our weaknesses, accept them, and use them to our advantage or plan for their support. It is how we are able to adapt; using what we know regarding our natural skills, continuing education, and powers of creativity and reasoning to earn an income for ourselves to support our family. When we can see ourselves objectively, it also helps us see others more objectively, without the filters (rose-colored or otherwise) we may usually apply.
When we personally put this into daily use, for us, my strength is creativity and Nathan’s strength is reasoning. So when we team up on how to approach achieving a goal, we establish who would be the best leader to make final decisions and talk it out. I believe the key is deciding from the beginning to maintain the objective perspective and leave the ego out of the discussion.
Branch of Karma yoga
Karma yoga is a phrase within the yoga community that, in my experience, means an act that you do for the sake of doing it, without any expectation of reward. Sometimes it also means volunteer your time at the yoga studio in exchange for free or discount classes- a service exchange.
When I practiced this within my yoga business, I volunteered my time at the library and offered free classes to anyone who wanted to attend the regularly scheduled class. I cannot deny that also by doing this there was an opportunity to gain private clients, but that was not the energy I brought into the class (nor did I gain any private clients!). It was my goal to simply give back to the community. Nathan would practice this every day at the office by saying “Good Morning” and “Good Night” to his team of employees. He didn’t always get a “Good Morning” or a “Good Night” back, but that’s not why he did it. He did it to let his team members know that they were noticed and appreciated. I believe these examples speak to the energy exchange that also occurs with Karma yoga. When attempting to exchange either services or energy for personal, professional, or whatever reason- however it pertains to you living your life- it is the intent of the actions that matters most.
Professionally, what this means to us for Berezan Consulting is essentially implementing the practice of Right Livelihood from Buddhist tradition. Right Livelihood pertains to the quality of intention that is associated with the actions you consider your “work” or livelihood- how you earn money or trade services for acquiring what you need to live. Is your work honorable? Are you honest and respectful while you work? Are you aware of how your work affects others (within your team, company, community, or your own home)? What is the spirit behind your work?
Karma yoga means offering a life of service to others. Practicing this branch causes us to keep an awareness on how we “do” for others and the fact that we should be “doing” for others in the first place. Why do we want to do things for others? Why should we want to have an awareness of the intentions behind our actions? Why should we care what “others” want or need and how we can be a part of delivering that? I believe the answer lies in the next branch of yoga.
Branch of Bhakti yoga
The loving devotion of Bhakti yoga refers to how we honor and connect with The Source/God/The Cosmos/The Universe- whatever it is that you call That Which Is Larger Than Myself that you cannot explain but you know is there (or not there) throughout your life. I believe it truly does go both ways- I have myself experienced both. You know when the Spirit of Source is with you because you notice it- synchronicity, “random” occurrences, coincidences you might call “signs”, direct channeling/hearing/seeing your spirit guides; there are so many ways to experience the Spirit of Source. Yet, there are also many ways to experience the lack of Spirit of Source- abandonment, despair, chronic loneliness, “bad luck”, feeling misunderstood. When you feel lost, without options, desperate, I have come to learn that these, too, are lessons to learn.
My current perspective has grown to be: If we are to credit God or The Source for when things go well, we should hold Source equally responsible for when things go wrong. If we believe that The Source is indeed a merciful, compassionate, and loving guide and teacher, then our negative experience is only rubbing our ego the wrong way. We are not being punished, we are having an experience to teach us something about ourselves. However, if we believe that The Source is controlling, merciless, and unforgiving, then our relationship with The Source becomes much more submissive and powerless. Perhaps, like anything, it is the union of this polarity that creates the foundation for our relationship with That Which Is Larger Than Myself.
Since Bhakti yoga refers to our relationship with That, our practice of Karma yoga is intertwined quite a bit here; as well as pieces of Raja yoga. When we maintain awareness of our intentions behind all of our actions- towards ourselves and others- we find ourselves treating all creations of The Source differently; with respect and kindness. Is this not how we would treat The Source directly if it were to materialize into a tangible creature you could interact with? We, in fact, do have an opportunity to interact with The Source as a tangible being every single time we encounter a person, animal, insect, plant- anything and everything that comes from God, The Source. Living this component of your yoga is appropriately regarded as the yoga of devotion.
Also, what rituals or celebrations are used to deepen that personal connection to The Source? Is it daily prayer or meditation? Weekly gatherings with your spiritual group? Recognized celebrations that mark significant occasions in your spiritual model? Maintaining these rituals and celebrations offer an opportunity to keep your spirit centered on your personal honor code that you keep between you and The Source.
Life is a complex experience that we negotiate every moment of every day. These four branches of yoga and how we live them guide everything we here at Berezan Consulting do on a daily basis- personally and professionally. We accept that we are continual works in progress; learning, stretching the boundaries of comfort, and growing into the best version of ourselves every single day. I hope this helps give you some insight to who we are “behind the scenes” and how we approach our work with you as our client.
Namaste,
Kirsten