Why develop a Daily Yoga Practice
Welcome to February 2017. When 2017 came in many of us set goals, some of mine is to eat out less, save money, get out of debt, and a few others that are meaningful to me. Goals create a target to aim for, these are much different than purpose; where as purpose means to live by faith. Each of us may have a different point of view on faith; for me it is trusting and tapping into my source. Wayne Dyer speaks to this in much of his works, Baron Baptiste says; "We do our Work and trust that the Visions, the Intuitions, and the Guidance will come to us. When we ask to be used on behalf of Goodness' sake, we may be used for Great things." The work I do daily is to reconnect to my purpose, my goals and then move forward into the work, this is difficult without a daily practice of setting an intention, meditation to quiet the mind, and strengthening the practice of letting go of that which takes me out.
Our mind is a garden and in the garden our thoughts plant seeds, if I am constantly having negative thoughts, my garden will bear no flowers or fruit, only weeds, if my thoughts are filled with judgement and directing blame to others instead of owning my feelings and trusting the process of letting go, I will be reactive to the world around me; this is work and its not easy. Let the seeds of negativity dry up and blow away, don't allow them to take root. The tools to come out of the reactiveness and into the process healing involves cultivating compassion, forgiveness and a true desire to let go, and live a happier life. Does this mean I am perfect? Oh no, I am far from perfect, but I am whole, not broken and not damaged. I have one life and I want to live happy peaceful and free, they path to this is through a daily practice of meditation, yoga, coming into the present moment and letting go of fear. Trust the process and tap into purpose.
When I tap into my purpose and develop the "practices of enlightenment"BB they reveal the truth, in my truth I am connected to purpose which I can measure myself for where I am at any given moment, with my thoughts, my behaviors and I can come back to my center and from there light will radiate outward.
Practicing yoga daily help to empty the mind from the chaos around me, it helps me to come back to center, and it makes me stronger. When you first begin yoga you make a new connection to your body, perhaps you will encounter a heightened sense of awareness of your body through sensation of your shoulders, core, and hip. If you start and stop your practice over and over and over again, this heightened awareness will be strong and it may take you out, you will not achieve the desired outcome for your body and will become discouraged. This is the start of the cycle that I call "one step forward and two steps back" when you practice 3-5 times a week you will begin to notice a difference in your body, mind and spirit. I encourage you to dig deeper and step up your practice, connect to your body in a new way and begin to make the shift of your fixed drishti's letting go of judgement and negativity and tapping into possibility. If you are constantly doing a 60 minute class, step up to your edge and take a 90 minute class, notice if this is something that you avoid. In each posture you take create a "Total Body Expression" from the inside out, letting the posture represent the life you want to live.
Reconnect to your purpose, what are your goals for 2017?