To succeed, you achieve your desired result. When you practice yoga, you realize that it is made up of many moments of success. It is a continual practice, you will always find somewhere to improve. This is actually why it gets more interesting the longer you practice. And that wonderful aha moment that has eluded you for so long, will constantly reveal itself over time in many ways.
In regards to fear, you will realize that you are not in control of what’s going on around you. These events might invoke fear. Then you remember, you are in control of how you respond to the events. Do you choose to live in fear? Or do you choose the path that will offer you a better life experience?
1. Now I know, there is a flip side to Fear, it is Love.
At the beginning and end of a yoga class, you bring your hands together. This is anjali mudra sometimes called prayer position. It is a reminder to draw into your heart and connect to gratitude. Anjali Mudra calls you to remember all the blessings in life and pause in reflection. And when you are in space of gratitude, you connect to love. You realize that no matter what’s going on in life, there is a blessing happening simultaneously. Love is there to offer healing, inspiration, and motivation.
2. Making decisions based on love instead of fear is actually harder, because it takes courage and faith.
Often, it seems easier to just stay where you are, “why fix it if it ain’t broke.”
Something doesn’t have to be broken to cause complacency or take the sparkle out of your eyes. It’s so easy to talk yourself out of love based choices when fear kicks in. Maybe you got an offer for your dream job, but it is out of state. You can feel it in your belly that this is it! Your chance to fly! But wait, it’s out of state? Hmmm….here you are presented with the opportunity to take a leap of faith, have courage, and pursue your heart’s desire! Will you let fear kick in and talk you out of it?
The more you practice yoga, the more you will cultivate courage and faith.
Courage in yourself that you can do these crazy moves with your body and still walk out of class. You can now do what seemed impossible a moment or two ago! You are resilient!
Faith that if you take one step forward, the universe will take at least two steps towards you.
3. Uh, oh. Not only do my actions affect others, but my thoughts do as well.
Often you will hear the sound aum or om sung in a yoga class. The essence of singing this beautiful sound is three fold. One is to actively participate, you are choosing to show up. Two is to connect with all your classmates. Three is to recognize that your actions and thoughts have an affect on those around you. This happens as you harmonize your voice with others in class and you hear the sound of your om continue on, long after you’ve stopped singing. Maybe in the humming of a light above or the lawn mower outside. But the sound moves on, into the great silence.
Thank goodness, not everyone is a mind reader, but you can still feel it when bad thoughts are coming your way. Just like radio signals in the air, our thoughts go out on a frequency and somewhere someone is tuning in and downloading these vibes.
How wonderful would it be to sit and send out thoughts of love, well-wishes, uplifting someone on their journey today? So as that person tunes in, they download love.
4. It’s up to me to be welcoming.
How many times have you waited for an invitation? Come to class with me, your friend says. Join me for this adventure!
You’re no longer the new kid to yoga anymore. You’ve been to a class or two, now it’s time to pay it forward and be welcoming and friendly to the new courageous student who walked through the door.
5. There is beauty and goodness hiding everywhere, my eye is trained to see it.
Over time with a yoga practice you train your eye to see the beauty and goodness all around you. Your legs may not be straight in your forward bend, but oh! Look at those feet! How wonderfully parallel are they?
It’s not about perfection, it’s about carving away the thoughts that don’t serve you and getting to the beauty that hides inside.
Now when you go into the crowded supermarket, your eye notices the helpful cashier and her awesome purple nails, instead of the frustration of a long line with check payers.
6. It’s no coincidence, it’s synchronicity.
Funny running into you here! Did you ever have someone cross your mind and next thing you know, they’re calling you on the phone? At first it seems out of the blue. Then you start to realize that something bigger is going on here. There’s valuable information to be shared.
You run into an old friend at the grocery store and find out that your favorite band is playing a pop up concert in the next town over. Or you’re in the right place at the right time and get your favorite item on a flash sale.
These moments happen a little too often to be considered just random happenings. Like, how did your yoga teacher know that you needed a class full of restorative yoga poses? You start to realize that there is a bigger dream at play.
7. Gotta trust those gut feelings.
Goosebumps and hair standing up on the back of your neck? You learn to listen to your body. It is one of our greatest assets. Like a tuning fork you will tap into whether a situation is safe or not. Whether it’s a YES or a gotta run for the hills type feeling.
You learn to pay attention to what your body is telling you. If your knee is achy in a particular pose, you speak up and you let the teacher know. You are listening to your knee’s message that something isn’t right. Instead of ignoring it and soldiering through the moment, you trust that something is off. You ask for help and make adjustments accordingly to align yourself into a better place.
8. There are signs everywhere, in the music I listen to, to the bumper sticker in front of me.
Am I paying attention?
Awareness is a gift that comes from doing yoga. No longer do you cloak your thoughts, feelings, and environment, you pay attention.
You step into the role of observer and you learn to say, “Hmmm, that’s interesting. My leg is shaking here and my breath is shallow.” You practice taking the judgement out of the situation, so you can be impartial and take the best path that supports you and those around you in that moment.
9. Compassion, empathy, and engagement. I am actively participating and life is no longer happening to me.
Gravity is a wonderful thing! There are times in a yoga class where you exude effort against gravity and where you surrender and soften to it. You realize that it is a dance. An ebb and flow of giving and receiving. Trying and letting go.
You become aware that everyone has their own journey they must experience. Therefore certain people will struggle more in one pose than another. It doesn’t make anybody greater than or less than, it’s just their journey.
When you experience the falls and the triumphs of gravity in yoga you can’t help but be loving and compassionate to those around you. Life is an adventure with twists and turns, highs and lows. It’s not about where you’re going, as much as it is about how you’re going.
10. It is up to me to make a difference for the better.
Because you know that choices made from a place of Love will always work out better than ones made from fear. Because you have cultivated courage, belief in yourself, and faith. Because you know you’re actions and thoughts affect the world around you. Because you know it’s up to you to lift up the next newbie. Because beauty and goodness are everywhere if you know how and where to look. Because, it’s not just a coincidence you ended up here. Because you have strong, inner knowings. Because those gut feelings are supported with songs that pop up on the radio. Because you are an active participant in life. You know you can make a difference for the better. You are a yogi.
Check out the 10 Biggest Fears BEFORE Starting Yoga.
What are your revelations around doing yoga?
love and light,
xoxo
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