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october 2017yogajournal.com.auattack, my marriage was under stress
and my body was suffering from a series
of injuries. I felt caught by the weight of
all. But I slowly took the lesson of yoga
into the inner work of the mind. Just
like some days your yoga practice will
feel amazing and other days you will feel
like you’re made of tin. The difficult days
are actually when yoga happens. You
learn not to hold on to the highs and not
to fight against the lows. Yoga is a state
of being, and that being-ness is
characterised by peace.
Drop the drama
I needed peace and I was caught in a
web of drama. Intense emotions
themselves can be a sort of addiction. If
drama is all you know, you can actually
get attached to it. The more drama you
have in your life, the more normal it
seems. What started for me with a
choice to sit for five minutes a day was a
reminder that peace is always an option.
If you can’t see the peaceful path, you
don’t have to move forward. Just like if a
pose hurts, you don’t have to push
through it. You can choose to observe
quietly and wait for the peaceful path to
be revealed to you. Knowing when to act
and when to sit quietly is a discipline of
the mind and the spirit. This is in
essence why we practice, so that you
carry the seed of a deep peace that
passes all understanding and in your
heart. If it doesn’t give you rest, if it
doesn’t give you peace, and if it doesn’t
share love, then it’s probably not the
best choice. Don’t rush, let it take the
time it takes.
Sooner or later
you will find
your own way
to peace.
I had to learn that I am responsible
for my own thoughts. We all have to
watch our thoughts diligently because
thoughts are the number one
determination of whether or not you will
be at peace or whether you get caught up
in some storm. There’s a concept in
Sanskrit called prapanca, which means
proliferation. It’s the process by which
one small thought multiplies and builds
until it produces a panic-ridden disaster
scenario that has you running for your
life. Here’s an example: I have a pimple,
pimples are bad, no one will think I’m
pretty if I have pimples, if no one finds
me attractive I’ll never find love, life
without love is meaningless, why should
I be alive, I should just die now. This is
just an example, and an exaggeration,
but you can see how one thought leads to
another. If left unrestrained thoughts
multiply and take on a momentum that
create a false reality. Soon the thoughts
themselves can weigh down so heavily so
there’s nothing left but to feel boxed in
and claustrophobic. But, no matter how
intense the spiralling storm of thought
seems, you always have a choice. Do not
get pulled into the drama of your own
mind and especially not anyone else’s.
The more you feel hooked, the more
desperate it makes you, the more you just
have to pull back. It isn’t easy, in fact it’s
the hardest thing in life to remain
peaceful amidst a dramatic storm. The
waves crash down all around you, the
wind comes roaring in, while you choose
to remain still with firm roots. Learning to respond
instead of react
Every day I wake up and renew my
commitment to be vigilant in thought
and action. The smallest seed ofcomplaint can grow like a weed in the
garden of the mind. Then, before you
know it, all you have are weeds. Not a
single one of us is beyond needing to
tend to the state of our inner world.
Yoga gives us the strength to sort
through our thoughts and get rid of
the harmful ones. You cannot control
the outcome of every situation, but you
can control how you respond to it. If
everything is annoying and everyone is
evil, you live in fear. But if everything
is fixable and everyone is basically
good (but sometimes foolish), then
you live in love. Cleaning out the mind
is perhaps the greatest responsibility
we have. You are responsible for
everything you think, say and do.
Taking responsibility and getting real
about what’s inside can be hard,
humbling and sometimes
heartbreaking. There are those of us
who have blocked out facing reality
simply because the truth is too painful
to face. But sooner or later we will be
strong enough to walk into the jungle
of the mind, pick up the tool of
practice and start weeding. Eventually,
the mind shines, like a ray of sun after
a long storm, clear and free, and your
spirit will be at peace. Start now
You can start today. Assume any
comfortable seated position. Sit for
five minutes. Watch your breath.
Practice observation without
judgement (no good or bad). Train
your mind to be at peace. Refrain from
reactions and just be. You can change
your world by changing your mind.
Just like I did. The journey only begins
when you are finally ready to take the
first step.