Don't Be Lazy With Your Happiness

I like to say to my students, " You have all ready completed the perfect practice just by showing up, just by walking through those doors, your practice is complete.  The rest is just about letting go and settling in."    That's really half the battle right?  Showing up?  But just imagine what your life would be like if you chose to "show up"  for yourself, everyday in a positive and meaningful way.  Leave the self-doubt at home.  Forget your fear.  Allow yourself to be accepting and forgiving instead of feeling ashamed or guilty.  Replace expectation and control with interest and curiosity.

For me, the most important part of choosing to show up is maintaining a steady yoga practice. Here are some of the reasons I love yoga.

The physical, or asana practice of yoga, moves energy in the body.  When negative things happen in our life, that negative energy builds up in the body.  It may manifest itself physically, such as chronic low back pain, tightness in the neck, or insomnia  This negative energy may manifest itself emotionally, such as irritability, paranoia, fear, anger, or depression. When you practice yoga, you are giving yourself the opportunity to release these shadows that are hiding in your physical, mental, and emotional body.  This movement accompanied by breath creates a literal shift in the body.

Beginning in May of  2012, I  added meditation to my practice.    The style of meditation that works for me is called jappa. Jappa involves the repetition of mantra using a mala of 108 beads.   A mantra can be compared to a prayer, but it can be as simple as one word, for example, peace, or compassion.  Meditation with mantra helps us to release and break through our samskaras.  Samskaras are conscious or subconscious patterns or habits that we are holding onto. I love B.K.S. Iyengar's defintion, "mental impressions of the past".   By meditating  using mantra I am cleaning out my psyche, and am working through stuff that I may not even be able to define with words.  We all carry this baggage around, its shadows and cobwebs clinging to the deepest recesses of ourselves.  This junk skulks and hides out, affecting our choices, our relationships, and the quality of our lives.  Meditating with mantra is one way to process and let go of this rubbish.  Since I began meditating, I can truly say my life is much richer.  I also believe that my meditation practice has helped me to reconnect to my voice, giving me the courage to write, and put myself out there.

In essence, the asana practice allows us to create space and connect in our bodies, the meditation practice allows us to create space and connect to the essence of our true potential.  Either moving connected to breath in asana, or sitting still connected to mantra in meditation,  a gentle unfolding begins to take place and at the center of that unfolding is a supreme connection to spirit and awareness.

Yoga is about choosing to know yourself in the most intimate and personal way you can.  Yoga is about choosing to be present, even when things get ugly, ESPECIALLY when things get ugly.  When you really allow yourself to become immersed in this practice, you can't just skip over the unpleasantries of life.  You begin to ask yourself, why am I reacting this way?  What's the real issue here?  How does this serve me positively?  You have to allow yourself to completely unravel, to willingly go into the darkest parts of yourself, and stay there, and then be okay with letting go of the parts that don't serve you.   When you begin to let go, you create space.  This new space is yours for the taking.  No past experiences, behaviors, or habits, fill it up.  It can be filled with what you choose, compassion, kindness, gratitude, LIGHT.

When I step on my mat, and connect to my breath I instantly feel calmer and more at peace.  I feel like I am coming home, to myself, back to a place of simplicity, steadiness, and ease.  Every movement, every breath, represents and re-establishes the supreme connection.  My practice helps me to remember and to reconnect to the intrinsic essence of grace and knowing that exists in me and in all of us.   This daily reconnection creates more balance, stability, and joy in my life.

What does it mean to show up?  Well, I guess the specifics are different for the individual, but I think the general message is the same.  Spend time doing things that serve you positively and increase the quality of your life.  DO THE WORK.  Happiness takes effort and commitment.  Happiness takes a certain kind of discipline even.  It is not owed to us, it is not guaranteed.  It is a blessing and a gift that we need to individually and collectively strive for every day with every breath.  Don't be lazy with your happiness.  Take five minutes a day to do something you love, or to simply sit with your breath.  Create opportunities to dance, sing, move, laugh, hug and kiss.  Be present.  CHOOSE to be fully engaged in your life, choose to show up, whatever that means to you.

with love, k