At the beginning of this year I was still very much focusing on healing. Both from spinal surgery and also from cumulative stresses from the last year. I felt that I had lost my bounce, my enthusiasm for life and that smiles did not come as readily to my lips or my heart. So I […]
Tag: happiness
loss and acceptance
Yoga provides us with these eye-opening realizations so often. Increasing evidence of the little ways in which we have changed. How things that would previously have been more aggravating to our inner calm now no longer provide more than a fleeting observation. They lessen in importance, as they are no longer the structure around which we base our identity.
To find contentment we need to look inward and introvert rather than looking outward and basing our identity upon extroversion…how we are placed in the world relative to others and how others may view us. In this life nothing is permanent except the existence of change. Hence to reduce the insecurity and unhappiness caused by loss or change we need to recognize and accept that which is inside ourselves. That which is unchanging.
make your own inner sunshine with yoga
So when life becomes too busy to get to your weekly class or to find a few minutes of peace and alone time in each day. Ask yourself why. We are not going to be happy being alone with ourselves if we are running away from taking a risk. Do you want to live with that feeling of anxiety, of feeling disconnected, depressed and lethargic. Or do you want to feel at peace, energized and connected to a knowledge that is bigger than just you. To do so sit with fear, watch your pain and anxieties, learn from your breath and know that all will pass. Know that the solution could be found in yoga; learn to explore and get to know yourself, to turn inward and to be honest with yourself. Then you will find more happiness, more inner sunshine whatever the weather is doing outside!
Be the change you want to see in the world
I haven’t got it perfect by a long shot, and still need reminding that decisions have to sit comfortably in my heart space or they probably aren’t aligning with my path & won’t make me happy. That immediate gratification may not be worth the longer term stress . It is sometimes harder work to take the right path, but obstacles can be a challenge or encourage flexibility.
all work & no play
For me, I am trying to schedule in more time to just potter. Days where I have no schedule apart from to enjoy my practice, wander down the river with my dog and notice. I think that is the important lesson for me..to remember to notice! To allow my senses to become more sensitized to smells, to touch, to sound or just to being open to the world I move through every day. During meditation I often feel that the birds start to sing or the breeze to touch me. Whereas it’s more likely that without thoughts and actions constantly intruding on my senses, they are more able to open to the experience of the world around me. Noticing the birdsong or the smell of grass on the breeze that day-to-day life forgets. Try to, just for a week, allow your self a few minutes every day to just sit and notice the world around you. To relax your control on your senses and experience and opening, a letting go of the self control. A sense of just being in the moment with what ever arises.