I could tell you all about that moment along the Hudson River. The room I was renting out at the time in Washington Heights, NYC. The number of sunsets I watched and didn’t watch because I was out dancing and performing, rehearsing, or working. I could tell you all about my coffee shop job(shout out to my dearest friends who are still with me since those Oren’s Daily Roast days), and how I slowly said goodbye to it as I started teaching yoga. I could tell you stories of failure, heartbreak, success, confusion, uncertainty, love, loss, and more. That was over ten years ago and pre-marriage, miscarriage, and children. Why am I telling you this? You’ll see…
For now, pause, one of those “sacred pauses”, as I call them, where you put everything down. Close your eyes(after you read the following instructions, lol!), and take some slow, deep breaths. Let go of all your thoughts, and empty out. Now, for a moment, consider HOW FAR YOU’VE COME. The past hour, the past day, the past week. Consider how far you have come in the past month, 6 months, and year. And, continue considering how far you’ve come, but in a way that CELEBRATES HOW FAR YOU’VE COME. Journal it if you can. And then, come back here to read the rest. 😉
Did you celebrate some amazing events? Some positive experiences? Did you celebrate how you made it thru difficulty? How you navigated stormy waters without capsizing? I hope so. Don’t worry if this was a hard practice at first. Give yourself another attempt tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. Because I am a believer in acknowledging how far we’ve come. I believe it can be an enlightening practice where we get to become more aware of who we are and how we are; how we make decisions and the ways in which we move in the world. I believe it can support us in truly understanding ourselves in all dimensions. And isn’t that the path of yoga! To know thy Self. To become Self-realized, and to fully understand who we are, in that “I am That” and “That I Am”.
For those reasons above, that is why it was our meditation in this weeks classes during savasana and final relaxation to contemplate “how far you’ve come”. And to celebrate it.
It all started with this quote from Buddha, “True love is born from understanding.” He also said, “If you truly loved yourself, you could never hurt another.” I applied this to self-love.
If we are to truly love our Self, then we must understand our Self and self better. We must start at the beginning, to even offer our Self time, space, and effort to journey into the ‘getting to know ones self’! And to continually show compassion and consideration towards our Self in the journey as we get to know our Self more fully.
Just like a journey into the center of the Earth, the journey into the core of our own Being will hold barriers that need to be drilled threw, and hot molten lava that is going to burn us. But, the Universe has equipped us with ALL we will need in this adventure/process/journey! And, the burning away holds great power in burning away our unsupportive thoughts and actions.
Rumi wrote, “Your task is not to seek love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
Yoga tells us we have all we need within us. We will always be able to withstand the ‘heat’, the ‘depths’, and then the resurfacing, or call it a resurrection, the Phoenix from the ashes, or the “Great Remembering” of who we Are, as I call it. “Great Remembering” because who we are at our core has never changed and will never change. We Are Bright, We Are Luminous, We Are Light, We Are Love, We Are That, which at best is indescribable and unnameable!
Interesting I am talking about lava, because all this week my family has been watching this WONDERFUL song about love, I mean, lava, I mean love you, I mean, lava you!
ENJOY! WATCH HERE!
Breathe and Believe.