The Lessons of Saucha by Bill Wofford

As many of you know, our community’s dear leader, Lexie, is out of town this week and made the perhaps questionable choice of leaving me in charge. Spring is in the air, I’ve got a bit of time to spare, and yogamergencies are pretty rare. So… nothing to worry about, right?

Surely I wouldn’t take advantage of her absence to pull some kind of epic or childish April Fools prank. Or worse, debase the revered pages of the Yoga Garden PBO blog. Would I? Actually—no. I won’t.

I was tempted. But then I got to thinking about Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.

Sutra 2:32 introduces saucha, the first of the niyamas—practices that invite us toward clarity, integrity, and right relationship. Saucha is often translated as purity or cleanliness, but it’s more than wiping down your mat or tidying your space. It’s about what we allow in—and how carefully we move through the world. .

And yes, this time of year practically begs for a spring cleaning metaphor. I could talk about wildflowers reclaiming what was once a beer bottle graveyard, or the less glamorous realities of post–heated flow cleanup. There’s plenty to work with.

But what’s been on my mind lately is a different kind of cleaning—detox.

Our trip to India in January gave Lexie and me a natural reset. After the usual holiday excess, we simplified—less alcohol, less sugar, less noise. Cleaner inputs. Cleaner outputs.

And then, slowly, the old patterns start creeping back.

First a glass of wine. Then some ice cream. Then an Amazon purchase I didn’t really need and probably could’ve sourced locally.

You know how it goes.

So—time for another reset.

The good news is, the season is on our side. Spring is arriving. The farmer’s markets are waking up. The woods are bursting with mushrooms after the rains. And a kriya or pranayama practice is always just one decision away.

In Rishikesh, we learned techniques said to help release toxins—not just physical, but emotional and mental as well. I can’t point you to a stack of double-blind studies proving it all out. But I can say this: when I practice with intention and consistency, I feel better. Clearer. Lighter. More like myself.

That’s enough evidence for me.

If you’re feeling the pull toward a reset of your own, come join me this Saturday for a Kriya workshop—or join Lexie and me for an upcoming Kriya Yoga Journey on April 25 or May 23.

And one more thing…

What’s the difference between a dad joke and a bad joke?

The first letter.

Sorry. It is April 1st, after all.