4/21/2016 0 Comments Life Is ComplicatedLife IS complicated. We can try to make it simple and easier by steeping ourselves in our practices. Or we can work to dumb it down. For most of us, we don’t want to sit in the passenger seat and watch life roll by. We want to participate and that means continuing to grow and change. And that’s hard work. It’s not the easy way. If you are reading this, then you are probably like me, and want to live to the fullest that’s possible, each and every day. And some days, that means dumbing it down because we can only take in so much, we need to process through things, or we need a day to recover from all the crap that happened the day prior. But for the most part, we strive to grow and change, and figure out on continually deeper levels who we are moment by moment. So we can experience life at it’s fullest, share what it is we want to express, and make our mark on the world. Some days this is harder than others – dealing with our demons and these voices that tell us we’re nothing, or remind us of all the times we’ve failed, or that we might fail this time, and this fail will be BIG. We try to talk ourselves out of living large with all those FEARS that stalk our dreams and silent thoughts. And then on other days, we manage to tap into our inner strength, wisdom, and confidence, and we let our lights shine bright and stand fully as we are, speak our thoughts clearly, and turn a blind eye to anyone who doubts us.
On the days when you struggle, or the times when you are losing the fight for your own freedom – those are the times when your practices can help you move forward. Whether it’s a physical or sitting practice, or both, remembering to turn to your practice for support is key. Understanding which practices help you in what moments is also critical. And turning to a teacher, that can help guide you, teach you the practices designed for specific situations, and can understand where you are, and what you are struggling with, can be life changing, and may help propel you further, faster than you can get on your own. Share your voice! I’d love to hear from you in the comments below - what are your favorite practices to keep you moving through life? Or share a time when you let your light shine through the darkness of your fears so you could shine bright!
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2/18/2016 0 Comments Seeking Change or Craving Routine?There's nothing like moving to a new city to fully turn your entire life upside down. If you are feeling completely settled and comfortable in all aspects of your life this will surely shake things up. It definitely did for me! It’s funny what you crave when you are sitting with all this unsettledness. These are the times when any and everything that comforts us comes into play as we try to find something to root us back down and feel our legs again. Ironically, after we moved, it was many of the things I was ready to get away from that I started to miss – the guy on the moped with the squeaky brakes that drove by the house everyday, the noise from our more urban neighborhood {I wanted quiet and to be able to see the stars at night, but all of a sudden I missed those city sounds!} I sought out anything that was familiar to feel at home. It’s why people seek out McDonalds when they are in foreign countries – something to connect them back. It's at times when life is most unstable, that you look for the comforts of what's familiar – seeking out anything that can ground you. {I remember my dreams shortly after we moved all had to do with soft or squishy floors. I knew that was a message of grounding for me - to finish unpacking and organizing so that I could begin to feel at home here.} A healthy way to stabilize is by creating a routine. It's the times when life is chaotic, or you are trying to accomplish something big, that you need the routine to feel grounded, safe, and comfortable. When life is going along smoothly and you are feeling a little stuck or bored - this is the time when you can change things up. Break out of your routine. Maybe get rid of your old routine completely and create a new one. Do something on your list that you’ve been afraid to attempt. Allow some new adventure to come into your life. So are you in a place where you need to create routine or bring on something new? Both are helpful and knowing which one you need, and when, can help you shift between them to keep moving forward in your life. When you listen to what's going on within you, you can figure out which one you need. Staying stuck in a routine can cause you to get bored and feel lost. But using routine to give your self some discipline to get things accomplished is important. Keeping things fresh and new is crucial to growing, so you can learn who you are in new situations. But always being on an adventure doesn’t provide time to get things done in life. Allowing both, gives the opportunity for more of who you are to become known to you, and seen by the world. Where do I even start? As you can tell from my posts, it's been a year of serious transformation. If I forget for even a moment all I have to do is look outside and watch the butterflies, flitting from flower to flower reminding me that no one's struggle with transformation is harder than theirs. I secretly think they are out there waiting for me to finish mine and don my wings and join them for a flight. While I would love to feel the freedom of flying effortlessly through the air and gracefully gliding on the wind currents from beautiful flower to flower, I think their short lives will pass before my transitions are complete. As humans, this is generally the rule - it takes a lifetime (or perhaps several) to get it all figured out. There have been several times along the way though when I think, once I cross this next hurdle, I'll have it all figured out. :) Anyone else out there have that thought too? It's never how it works. There is always more. There has to be. That is life and living it to the fullest is a full lifetime's work. If we got to see everything and get all the answers we'd feel like Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita when Krishna reveals it all to him - completely overwhelmed and begging for it to go back to the way it was. We have to take our progress one step at a time; we can't go faster than what we are ready to handle. When we get ahead of ourselves or stop doing the underlying work, any progress will either be halted, back slide, or will be overwhelming to our system. It's a delicate balance. Here's an example of what not to do. I share it with the hope that you learn from my mistake. A pattern that I've carried with me for as long as I can remember is holding stress in my neck and shoulders. Many of us share this pattern. For me, my system decided that it was time for me to break this pattern. So at any moment that I feel an ounce of stress, now I immediately feel it in my neck. My solution? Avoid stress! I'm not even sure how I thought, in this world, that avoiding stress could be possible, and I laugh at myself now for being so foolish. The point is we can't just avoid a situation to break the pattern. We can delay the work of breaking the pattern by avoiding the situation, but that doesn't mean the pattern is no longer there. I can just hear the universe saying "nice try Jenn." The work is to walk through it – not avoid it. Sometimes it is hard to not just run the other way, but the reward is taking it head on. You won't ever change the pattern by heading in the opposite direction. You will only stall your progress. You have to look the fear in the eyes and then take a giant step forward. I know I've spoken about this before, but this is where all the ground work you've done comes in: courage, vulnerability, and awareness. As I shared in A pattern in the breaking, for the process for reforming our old groove patterns (samskaras) into new ones, here's some further insight into the take action step. I want to share some examples of shifting patterns in action. In the moment when you normally run and hide and breakdown with tears alone, instead stay and cry with the person. In the moment when your habit is to scream and belittle the other person, pause and look inside and see why you’re hurting and want to respond in this manner. When you shift your response, you automatically shift the other person's reaction, because now the situation is different. You can even call a "time out" from whatever is going on and ask the other person for some space to sort out what you are feeling. It helps to have a willing partner to assist with this, but you can do this in your own awareness, even if you don't. Pay attention to what your body is feeling in these moments. Like the tension in my neck makes me aware that I am feeling even one iota of stress, your body is sending you signals all the time. Learn to turn in and notice them. Another great way to look for help with identifying your patterns is by paying attention to your dreams. Our dreams reveal so much to us if we are paying attention. Those recurring dreams you have are revealing a pattern for you. Dreams are a way to get into our unconscious where we can't get in our awake state. Keeping a dream journal or at least spending some time lying in bed going over your dreams each morning is a good way to start. Oftentimes, if we have several dreams in one night, they are communicating the same message to us. If you haven't tried keeping track, check it out and see what you learn. So does it ever feel comfortable when going through these changes? Yes, and no. Change is always uncomfortable on some level; it's this discomfort that, well, makes us want to change in the first place. If it wasn't uncomfortable, we'd never be motivated do it. The comfort comes in knowing that we've been here before. We've made it through previous transitions and we will make it through this one, too. And if we've gone through it before then we know what we will find on the other side - more of our true self shining brighter than we were before. I hope these ideas and examples help you along your way as they have me! And as always, remember to be compassionate with yourself along the way. For me, learning compassion and keeping a gentle heart for myself has been a critical pattern that I'm re-grooving. Om mani padme hum Oh, and never, ever give up the dream to fly with the butterflies. |
AuthorJenn White, Yoga Educator, Meditation Teacher, and Owner of Embodied Bliss, began her journey of yoga and meditation in 2004 while recovering from a back injury. Feeling lost, restless and seeking something more from life, she found her path through meditation. Archives
September 2018
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