Through the practice I have discovered Life. While my body is always present, my mind is often elsewhere, caught in projects, worries and analysis. Yoga and meditation have given me the tools necessary to keep my mind in the Now. Life is only available in the present moment. The past is already gone; the future has not yet arrived.
When we establish ourselves in the present moment we are able to get in touch with the healing and nourishing elements that are always within us and around us.
One month into a new year, as we progress on a renewed path, we often have ideals we think we should be living up to. We put expectations on ourselves to improve in some way.
Difficulty is inevitable in human life, but what causes misery is not the difficulty but our assumption that we are meant to have everlasting happiness. When life becomes difficult or painful, we feel that something has gone wrong.
We pressure ourselves with the idea that if we could only do the right thing we would have everlasting happiness. All this brings is stress and anguish against a self-perceived imperfection.
Science explains how the stress hormones produced by our mental state can affect our weight as much as the amount of calories we consume. I am willing to bet that we all know someone who has either gained weight or not lost weight while restricting calories on a diet.
We are souls with a body, though often we treat ourselves as a body with a soul.
Yoga has taught me that a pose can’t heal me as much as the degree of love I feel while in it. If I can’t feel free with who I am right now, I will be nothing more but a skilled practitioner of breath and alignment. I may learn to reduce my stress but overly focusing on the body will never satisfy the soul.
The path informs the destination. We will never be satisfied with achieving our goals if we don’t learn to be satisfied right now.
A disease is no longer dis-ease if we find ease with it.
Each yoga practice ends with the pose Savasana, in which we are asked to let go completely and allow everything to be as it is.
Can we find a hint of savasana in every pose no matter how challenging? Can we do the same when we are no longer on the yoga mat?
7 comments:
Daniel, thank you for a wonderfully uplifting, motivating and peaceful blog. Couldn't have come at a better time (are you psychic)? I've been out of yoga this week due to a case of strep (and a bad cold w/it) and my mood/disposition reflects the lack of active practice. Everything you said in your blog today hit home.
Thank you so much!
Thank you, Daniel, for this beautiful passage to remind me to stay in the moment and just BE! While I only attended a few yoga classes with you and I have since moved to Boulder, CO, I always loved being in your presence because you created the space for me to be wherever i am in that moment. Looking forward to reading your future blogs! Thanks for sharing.
What a beautiful post. Thank you Daniel!
'We are souls with a body, though often we treat ourselves as a body with a soul.'
I don't think anything more beautiful can be said of the practice of presence.
Thank-you for such an inspiring gift!
Daniel, thanks so much for your insight. It is helpful and inspiring!
Excellent, thank you.
"A disease is no longer dis-ease if we find ease with it."
Beautiful. Thank you.
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