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Kripalu sunshine
Warm glow and pranayama
Found my Mother Ship
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I am taking ten days for learning, chilling and Middle Ground nourishment.
May you too find space to expand and quiet to drop into this week.
Namaste
Category Archives for Yoga
Learning Something New – Be Like a Toddler
This re-post is dedicated to the people I have the privilege of teaching and mentoring.
ooOoo
As adults we are so used to being competent and knowledgable…. at least in some areas of our lives!
So when we take on a new challenge or want to learn something new it can be difficult.
I teach new yoga students and yoga teachers, and see how tough it can be for some to get their heads around being a beginner again.
Learning something new as adults makes us feel vulnerable. It’s a time where old fears about our worthiness surface, self doubt seeps in and egos rush to defend ingrained thinking and old beliefs.
One way of countering this all too human reaction is to apply the Zen wisdom of Beginner’s Mind. This concept refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level.
Here are some steps to practice:
1. Be open and curious. Beginner’s Mind is about using the spirit of enquiry. There’s a Zen story about this:
A student visited a Japanese master to inquire about Zen. The master served tea. When the visitor’s cup was full, the master kept pouring. Tea spilled out of the cup and over the table.
“The cup is full!” said the visitor. “No more will go in!”
“Like this cup,” said the master, “You are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
2.Take one step at a time and let go of the outcome. Focus on what needs to be studied at each step.
3. Be like a toddler. Fall down seven times, get up eight times. Celebrate falling down as well as getting up.
4. Let go of knowing. Embrace “I don’t know” thinking rather than conditioned “I know or I should know” thinking. We only know things up until now. How can we expect to know something beyond our experience?
5. Shake off shoulds. Shoulds are imposed on us. Instead, be the best you can be in that moment and take responsibility for your actions. Own your own life rather than ‘shoulding’ all over it.
6. Use your experience. Keep an open mind on how to apply your experience to each new circumstance. Get creative with what you know and what you are learning.
7. Experience the moment fully. Slow down and pause. Be fully present to what is going on around you and within you.
When you do this your mind quietens and you make space for the new. You find your Middle Ground.
Namaste
At Every Fork in the Road
Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Pexels.com
The Path to Freedom
“What is the path to freedom here?
The answer is clear the moment
I ask. At every fork in the road,
there is a conditioned response
and one that is unpatterned, bold
and free. The old, known way is
more comfortable, but the other
path holds mystery and wonder.”
~ Danna Faulds, from her collection of writings and poems “Limitless”
I love this question. What is the path to freedom here?
So often we will ask “What’s the right way here?” or “What should I be doing now?” This alerts the mind to start to analyze what is “right” – which is usually based on our old conditioning or brings up feelings of guilt and “shoulds” from the past. So often the answer is fear based, especially the fear of making a mistake.
Can you see that we have already created a cage around our response and limited our choice based on the old known way.
It isn’t about avoiding doing something wrong or pleasing someone else. It isn’t about being a good or a righteous person either. Or being safe and comfortable.
In my experience, the answer isn’t in the analytical mind at all, but is in the passion and inspiration that fills your heart and uplifts your soul.
Its about being aware, bold and free to approach the mystery of the unknown, and trust the inner voice that’s calling you.
One step at a time is all it takes.
This question will take you there.
Dealing with Ego on a Spiritual Path
When we are on a spiritual path, the idea of ego becomes something to overcome and get past. It feels contrary to how we want to be in the world.
Its the part of ourselves that we would rather hide or deny rather than show. So we battle with it or suppress it…. or disguise it.
Here are some examples from my own experience of an ego in disguise:
~ We see ourselves as knowledgeable and evolved…. so we don’t want to be seen as not knowing or caught up in our self image.
~ We see ourselves as spiritual beings who give a lot to others…. so we don’t want to appear selfish and put ourselves first.
~ We see ourselves as good people in a world of danger and mistrust… because the world is a place where things are out of our control and other people can harm or take advantage of us.
Does this sound familiar to you? Can you see the ego at play here – in our thoughts about how we don’t want to be.
That’s our ego in disguise.
We are creating a “better” ego to overcome the inferior one from the past.
The irony is that in order for us to evolve past our ego we need to get intimate with it and acknowledge it. If we want to truly evolve into a new level of consciousness then this is the place that must be embraced.
Photo by brenoanp on Pexels.com
When we look at the aspects of our ego, or our shadow side, and we feel resistance and discomfort … its a good thing.
Of course, this very human part of us doesn’t want to be looked at. Yet, when we accept is as a part of our experience, we begin to see it more clearly. We feel it’s impact and see the power it has had over us for most of our lives … even now.
Being awake and conscious and witnessing how our ego comes and goes is something that the most enlightened people are able to do. It brings a smile and possibly a shrug. There is curiosity, compassion and detachment.
We cannot deny it just as the left needs the right, one side of a coin has to have the other, and they cannot be separated from the other.
When we accept it and see it for what it is, it loses its power. We must embrace it in order for it to be no longer important as a driver in our lives.
If we continue to beat it up it will find ways to become more powerful in our thinking and stories about ourselves.
Be kind to your ego, so you can let it go and transform into your whole Being.
Self Questioning
free image from Dreamstime
“To have the courage to
Question one’s certainties, is
True courage.”
~ The Lost Writings of Wu Hsin translated by Roy Melvyn
Sit with this a while and see what comes up for you…
Bringing our awareness to the beliefs that we hold, and usually take for granted, is the first step in our personal growth and spiritual self inquiry. When we look inwards and question our thinking and assumptions, it opens up new perspectives and gives us the opportunity to learn about what has been unknown…. or what may never be discoverable in this life.
This venture into the unknown is a courageous path because the ego-mind will be alert for any conflicting views or threats to its long held position. The ego holds on to those beliefs that have become our certainties about life. It can keep us rigid, stubborn, critical and damning, or simply safe and stuck.
The choice is ours. To embrace the new or hold on to our certainties.
To those on the path of Yoga teacher training, take courage as you embrace what is beyond belief.
Namaste
Ego in Yoga
This is a re-post especially for those on the spiritual path of yoga.
“Ego can take many different forms and shapes. It is like the hydra. You cut off one head and another head replaces it. You cut off that head and see a third head and a fourth head ad infinitum.
This is because in the manifest dimension, ego identity is the root of life, and if the ego identity is lost, then life as we know it no longer exists.
It exists as light; life becomes light.”
Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati
I enjoy reading the different metaphors explaining the complexity of our ego, and can relate to the idea of a hydra. Our ego will do everything in its power to survive – especially adapting and changing shape.
The ego is very clever. It will allow one version of our body-mind to die and create a better version that fits in with either (1) how it wants to be seen in the world or (2) what is perceives is needed to stay alive in its physical body.
In my experience with others on a spiritual path, the newer version of ego is likely to be a more evolved version of the previous one. It may show up as being kinder person, a more patient parent, a wiser leader, a humble follower, a beacon of sanity in a world judged as mad…
These are still roles that the ego plays. Less damaging perhaps, yet still ego driven.
Recognizing the hydra heads of the ego is the gateway to le
The answer however is not to keep cutting its heads off. After all this would be an ego motivated act!
Instead embrace ego for what it is. A part of our very human nature that clings to life. It is neither good nor bad. It simply is.
Then we can wake up and realize we really are the divine light beyond ego and our human form.
Namaste
Release the Need to Save People from their Problems
Release the Need to Save People by Sanaya Roman*
”You can dissolve obstacles to love by releasing the need to save people from their problems. You can love others as your soul does by allowing them to be responsible for their own lives.
Taking care of others, worrying about their lives, and solving their problems can occupy so much of your attention and emotions that you have no energy left to put into your own life and spiritual path.
When you stop saving others, you can release any resentment you might feel for all the time and energy you spent on them.
When you save others, you can become a victim when they do not use your help in the way you would like, when they continue to create similar problems, or when they expect and demand that you continue to save them.
Learn to recognize when you are helping others because you feel that they do not have the strength or ability to solve their own problems.
When you feel an urge to help people in a way that will “save” them or take away their lessons, stop!
You may find that your desire to help others really comes from your own need to feel better and to have less concern and worry about their problems.
Assume that people have the ability to solve their own problems, even if you can’t see how they will. While your soul is interested in assisting people, it does not interfere with their lives. It allows people to have their own ideas, to live in whatever way they choose, to learn from their mistakes and to achieve their own successes.”
“Sometimes pain and suffering are necessary. No one can grow for us.” ~ Author unknown
This has been a profound lesson for me on my spiritual journey. When we recognize that we have a need to rescue others, or need other people to need us, we don’t allow them to have their own experience and to grow as human beings. It also diminishes our ability to connect at an authentic soul to soul level with others.
The aim of Yoga is to bring the mind to a state where we can see clearly without distortion of the truth
In Yoga, aparigraha or non attachment is one if the most difficult observances on our path to enlightenment. As a practice, it is usually focused on letting go of material objects and not being greedy or grasping. However, it can also apply to our thinking and in relationship to others. With self inquiry we can start to explore the motivations and thinking behind our actions and interactions in the world. Some questions to ponder are:
Am I grasping for attention … recognition … appreciation… to make me feel better about myself?
Am I interfering or trying to fix other people in an effort to fix myself?
In preventing them from feeling pain or being challenged, am I keeping them from growing?
While we are compassionate towards others and support them on their journey, it’s important to honor them and their experience, and allow them to grow through their own self inquiry.
The need to save others can keep us attached and prevents us, and them, from becoming truly free.
*Soul to Soul (p. 114). Monkfish Book Publishing. Kindle Edition.
