5 Things Yoga Has Taught Me (Part 1)

1.  I ALWAYS miss a spot shaving.  When was the last time that two inch forest above the inside of my left ankle was visited by a landscape artist?  I wonder how many times I’ll notice that spot before I remember to shave it.

2.  I need to sweep and mop more often.  Seriously, I live alone.  How did my floor get so dirty?  I understand that I live in the desert, but this is unreasonable. I totally mopped like last month.

3.  People love Instagram pictures of yoga poses.  It doesn’t even have to be an impressive pose, people are suckers for spandex yoga related snaps.  I’ve posted at least three Instagrams of myself in tree pose in vaguely different sceneries and they always get 20+ likes.  I’m curious to see what’ll happen when I achieve scorpion.

“How you like me now, Instagram?”

4.  You can’t always touch your toes.  Your body doesn’t care that you could do it yesterday, so you shouldn’t either.

5.  Staring at your fat rolls is really distracting.  And it’s hard not to fixate on them.  My main purpose of doing yoga isn’t to become more physically fit, it’s to find a spiritual closeness to myself.  It’s only natural that things will look weird when you’re bent in half trying to grab your opposite ankle while breathing deeply.  Those rolls don’t make you obese, they make you human.

 

Image from yogaposeweekly.com

Let go of that which does not serve you.

Breathe love in, exhale that which does not serve you.

For the first time in weeks I was drawn to my mat.  I had been sitting on my couch thinking about those who had scorned me, who had made me doubt my worth.  How awful a thing to sit and think about when you “weren’t good enough”.  And what absurd a notion it is that you are not enough.  I am not the right fit for everyone, but I must honor who I am.  Instead of wishing that I had never met these people, I want to fill myself with positive energy.  Fill myself with so much love that there is no room for their negativity.  I am love.  I have everything to offer, and I must first give to myself.

When did I allow others’ thoughts to become more important than my own?  It is only your life to live.  It belongs to no one else.  How can you achieve happiness when your psyche is consumed with self contempt?   Intend to live with love.  Love yourself, love those around you, love what has created you.  Treat yourself with kindness.  It is necessary to believe in your self confidence- to inhale deeply and have it fill you up from head to toe.   Intend to care for yourself and celebrate the divinity that is inside of you.  Own it.

Namaste- the divine in me honors the divine in you.