“Established in yoga, perform action.”
On days when nothing goes your way, when you feel powerless, when you think life’s throwing you under the proverbial bus – you could be forgiven for thinking you’d had no say in any of it. But guess what, you did.
Urghh, don’t hate me. I get that you might not bet taking this as good news, but it is. It’s a VERY good thing.
Think about it. As unsavoury as it is to think to yourself ‘well, that’s another fine mess I got me into’, it at least acknowledges that you always had a say on some level – and we all want freedom to choose, yes?
YES JOSIE! 😉
So, let’s be clear. Every moment leading up to this moment (reading this post included), has been because of a choice you made in the past. You are always making choices even if you aren’t conscious of it at the time.
And there you have it, I’ve given it away, the magic word or the ESSENTIAL yogi ingredient for living the life you want for longer is ….consciousness
This is important to know, because if you’re not conscious of the choices you make (and a lot of the time we’re not) you may be reacting to your world based on past experiences, conditioned behaviour or limiting beliefs that hold you back or send you off track. You could be simply responding to social expectations, or what I call the ‘shoulding’ of life.
“Your Truth”
(I should do this, I should do that, or so and so said I should….). Sounds noble doesn’t it? But it’s not what you want. It’s not a desire that’s come from the deepest part of who you are, your Truth. And trust me, your heart and soul knows that and reports back with icky feelings like anxiety and depression or distress and ‘dis-ease’. You with me?
How mind-blowing is it to know that the way you choose to approach challenges, tackle arguments, speak to people, solve problems, can all be triggered automatically and predictably, without you even realising that’s what has happened.
This is what that can look like.
- You are fed up with being overweight but you neck a piece of homemade cake to make mum happy.
- You’re not fulfilled in your job but you take that promotion because you’ve got to live a normal life and other people’s happiness is more important than yours.
- You want all the benefits of a meditation and yoga practice but you don’t go to class because that ‘woo woo’ stuff works for other people, not you.
See what’s happening? You choose, but those choices are not lining up with what you really, really want at a deep level. Over time you get further and further away from who you want to be and the life you long for. Then one day, you look back and say… ‘shit, how did I get here?’
If you’ve arrived at this place and you’re aware of it, do a little happy dance. Far from being bad news, it’s what you need to hear. Because you can’t change what you’re not aware or conscious of, right?
Still enjoying your happy dance? Great. Next job is to get shit hot at making choices. How? Practice being present, conscious and aware. The more often you do this in your life the more you get to improve the quality of the choices you are making in each moment. The more you’ll be making ‘dag nam’ sure those choices match up with what it is you need and want from the deepest level of your being.
“How to Act”
“Established in yoga perform action” or ‘yogastah kuru karmini’ is a line from the Yoga scripture The Bhaghavad Gita. It’s an instruction that the reluctant warrior Arjuna receives from Krishna (an incarnation of the divine) in an answer of how to act in battle.
It reminds us that we need to be in a state of union (yoga), connected with our mind, body and soul, before we choose how to act. Action taken from this place is what leads to a life of greater fulfilment.
And guess what, the practice of meditation, yoga and (asana) is our go-to guide for achieving that.
Wow…and you thought it was all about touching your toes…right? Oh no, it’s so much more.
I really hope you enjoyed reading this blog. If any of this resonates with you and you want to dive in deeper to these ancient wisdom traditions and tools, I’d love to share more of my take on these teachings.
If you want to get regular doses of yoga-inspired life enhancing lessons, go get yourself on my mailing list. You can find a link to it on the home page.
In the meantime, feel free to share this post with anyone you think would benefit and don’t be shy about asking questions, sending comments or just saying hi. I’d love to hear from you and get to know what you think.
Until next time my choice-making yogi friend.
Namaste.
Josie X
