Yoga is the antithesis of numbing oneself or zoning out. It is full engagement with life. This requires tremendous courage.
It’s challenging to be present and feel fully in every moment, all the time. So, we each do it in amounts we can manage. We encourage and have compassion for ourselves and others along the way. We work to access our infinite courage a little more, and then a little more. We practice staying with ourselves or a feeling or our natural open-heartedness a little longer, and then a little longer.
It can be exhausting to begin with, but like with any exercise, over time and with practice we build strength and stamina. Rolf Gates refers to yoga as a “work-in” instead of a “work-out.” So, when we practice, we work-in to access our bottomless well of courage and develop our strength and stamina to stay.
You can do this right now by closing your eyes, turning your attention inward, and awakening fully to the present moment. Notice the physical body just as it is. Notice the thoughts that come and go. Notice the breath. Elongate the inhales and exhales, and allow the mind to follow the breath as it slows. There is a momentary pause that happens after every exhale, right before the next inhale. Bring your attention to that pause. Can you hover there in that moment of infinity? This is the moment in which we can choose to stay instead of run away. We are gifted this opportunity thousands of times each day. Return home to your Self — that place of infinite courage, compassion, and open-heartedness.
We practice on our mat as training for moments out there, in the world where we spend the other 99% of our time. Every single decision we make brings us closer to or further away from our true Self. Throughout our day we can pause (it begins with the pause), and then ask the question.
When we climb into bed, before grabbing our phone to scroll for another 30 minutes before falling asleep, ask: Does this bring me closer or further from my true Self? Can I lay in silence with myself instead?
Before polishing off that bottle of wine: Does this bring me closer to or further from awakening? Can I take a few breaths and maybe write a little instead?
Before plowing into our lunch: First of all, what am I eating? Is what I’m eating and how I’m eating it bringing me closer or further? Can I pause for a moment to acknowledge where my food came from and express gratitude for how it got to my plate?
Before firing off that email, asking: Am I responding from love or from fear?
All of these require presence, awareness, and courage. You have a bottomless well of all these things within you.
“…we already have what we need. The wisdom, the strength, the confidence, the awakened-heart and mind are always accessible, here, now, always. We are just uncovering them. We are rediscovering them. We’re not inventing them or importing them from somewhere else. They’re here.”
— Pema Chödrön, Taking the Leap
They’re here. You already know this. We’re just remembering…
Krystal Barschig 