What you know to be True will at times be challenged — sometimes by strangers (which can be tough), and sometimes by loved ones (which can be even tougher). Before I go any further, I want to say that you never have to defend or justify acting in a way that honors your Truth.
These challenges provide us the opportunity to check in with ourselves, perhaps strengthen our connection and conviction. For me, the extra challenge comes next… I find it tempting to harden, get defensive, angry, separate me from them, and make me right and them wrong. So the question I pose today is this: How do we deepen our roots, strengthen our connection to our Truth while still remaining soft, open, compassionate, and inclusive? Can you be strong, firm, and unwavering and simultaneously flexible, open, and receptive?
We can apply this to our physical yoga asana practice as we do poses that invoke strength and require grounding and alignment in our body and mind while maintaining an open heart and calm, steady breath.
In Taking the Leap, Pema Chödrön offers offers three steps we can take in our effort to remain open and receptive when we are triggered:
- Acknowledge that you are hooked.
- Pause, take three conscious breaths, and lean in. Lean in to the energy.
- Relax and move on.
She writes, “The biggest challenge in doing this practice is to embrace the restless energy, to stay awake to it rather than automatically exiting.” (Taking the Leap, p. 41)
It takes practice.
Krystal Barschig 