Om Shanti - Not Provoked? Andrew Raba and Rosalind Atkinson

What does it really mean to be not provoked? I called in my dear friend Andrew Raba for this one, because he’s the final and complete master of Shanti, obviously never disturbed by anything ever. Well, not quite. But we did want to talk about this phrase from the tradition: Om Shanti Shanti Shanti. It’s something we’ve both chanted a thousand times, but the meaning that’s really stuck with us is one we learned from Mark, “not provoked.”

Andrew shared so honestly about a moment where he lost it in front of a whole group of students. A group of teenage boys showed up to Yoga class, laughing and disrupting everything, and he found himself cold with anger. He was teaching Shanti, and he was not feeling it. What happened next was such a beautiful reminder of how the practice works over time, and how Om comes first for a reason. I loved this conversation so much. It’s about friendship, real practice, and what becomes possible when we stop trying to be peaceful and start actually digesting what provokes us.

Key Takeaways

Not Provoked Is a Practice – Shanti doesn’t mean calm or passive. It means being able to receive life without being hijacked by memory or reaction.

Yoga as Internal Bomb Diffusal – The point of practice is to clear out those little bombs of pain that get lit up in a relationship.

Om Comes First – Om reminds us that life is already complete. From that remembrance, peace becomes possible.

Reaction Is a Signal – If I’m reacting, I’m being shown something. That’s not failure. That’s the moment the fruit is ripe to fall.

Shame Doesn’t Heal – Beating ourselves up for being reactive just keeps the cycle going. What helps is love, humor, and depersonalizing the pain.

Peace Improves Relationships – The true test of Yoga isn’t how long you can chant. It’s whether your practice helps you stay open when you’d normally shut down.

Where to Find Our Guest

Andrew Raba’s Website: https://www.yogainschools.org.nz

Andrew Raba on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_andyraba_ 

Links & Resources

You are the beauty. You are the intelligence. You are already in perfect harmony with life. You don’t need to seek it. You need only participate in it.

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