"Your life is a sacred journey. It is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges at every step along the way. You are on the path..exactly where you are meant to be right now...And from here, you can only go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of healing, of courage, of beauty, of wisdom, of power, of dignity, and of love." -Caroline Adams
Shivers. I could not have said this more beautifully.
Many of the instructors I have practiced under describe yoga as a journey of the soul more-so than a physical exercise. Sure, yoga requires strength of body and mind, a little flexibility, stamina, and diligence, but so does life. The most rewarding and transforming yoga classes in which I participated cast yoga in a light that exemplified the practice as a freedom from limitations. Now, if you and I are alike, having perfectionist, OCD tendencies is a reality, and life is nothing if not planned and orderly. Control and comfort zones are two of my best friends, and yoga is a safe place for me to let go of my limitations on myself and the world around me. Yoga has no space for my tendency to compare my progress with others, and that has been a refreshing change from my norm (refer to my last post on self-celebration). Another integral reason that I have come to love and embrace my time on the mat lies in my relationship with patience. Patience is not a strong suit of mine; in fact, some of the people closest to me might confess it to be one of my biggest faults. However, yoga gives me the room and grace to fail at this virtue and continue to try and improve. When I can't nail an inversion (I know, so fancy with the lingo! Basically this is anything where your head is below your heart, usually requiring some kind of balance), frustration and discouragement want to settle in, but the focus of yoga is so kind and forgiving that I can easily give myself the grace to try it again or rest comfortably knowing that there is no rush and I can accomplish that goal another day. In my personal experience, yoga is an escape and a release from worldly pressures and expectations. If you are not wanting or able to practice yoga, I highly suggest exploring other unique ways to find a release.
Why Yoga has CHANGED me, and why the yoga mindset can change you, too
Whether or not you are a yogi, learning to be mindful and embrace some of the core teachings that yoga implements can greatly alter your ability to see life from new lenses. Diligence is key here; we all hold our own vices in the depths of our beings, and it is challenging to 1. Understand and identify our character faults and 2. Embrace them without judgment while simultaneously making room to improve them. While doing a little groundwork online in support of this post, I looked at pages that cited the key principles of yoga. Some that stood out to me:
Meditation
Meditation, personally, calms my mind during times of stress, chaos, or even day-to-day monotony and allows me to reconnect with daily needs, emotions, and subconscious thoughts. Meditation is a learned skill that only improves with practice. There is certainly something to be said for a true quietness of the mind, and it can be difficult to achieve with the constant presence of stimuli in our daily lives. I sometimes struggle to disconnect from the endless ways to connect (social media, texting, television, music), but this disconnection tends to bring me clarity and serenity and refreshes my mind for positivity and resilience during daily challenges.
Balance
I want to dedicate a whole post to balance in life, but without going into too much detail, balance learned from yoga postures can translate into harmony of our minds, a place where we can more fluidly integrate our work lives into our home lives, our emotions with our thoughts, and our relationships with ourselves with our relationships with others. Balance in yoga demands consciousness, a willingness to focus our attention on more than one thing (our posture, our breath, our energy). I strive constantly for a more harmonious balance within my life, and yoga has afforded me the consciousness to try.
Freedom from Judgment
This virtue is monumentally important in my practice, both of yoga and spiritual growth. The studio radiates positivity which is, well, positively contagious. Each person that walks into the studio holds their own beauty, and the instructors facilitate that kind of attitude throughout class. You cannot walk into a class and leave the same, at least I cannot. I suffer from imposition of harsh judgments on others, and perhaps even more harsh judgments on myself. Yoga has been my best instructor in this virtue. When I find myself burdened by judgment, I try to call on my mindfulness to draw me out and bring clarity and perspective back into my heart. This post may make these practices sound trite and simple. They are anything but trite or simple, however, in the interest of time, the abridged version seems logical. In summary for this piece, I always try to remind myself that I am perfectly imperfect and that positivity outshines any judgments I can possibly make.
Commitment
Practice makes perfect, or in this case, practice makes movement. Yoga relies on constant movement--change, ebb and flow knowing that not every day will feel and behave the same and that progress comes in all shapes and sizes. The practice of yoga taught me never to strive for "perfection" because perfection is completely subjective, but rather to strive for small improvements. I find this reminder helpful in my everyday life, as I mentioned in my previous post. Commitment to practice and openness to change foster improvement.
Patience
With patience comes transformation.
Namaste with love,
Erika
P.S. Leave me a comment about your favorite ways to practice these virtues!
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