Have you ever been in a situation where something hits you so hard things just end up making the perfect sense of why they happened?!
This happened to me today in yoga. My yoga instructor Eric was teaching and we were holding poses that was very difficult for quite a while. Eric was explaining how your mind gives out before your body! You need to learn to push through that struggle. Your conscious mind wants to give up. But, your subconscious mind knows better, it knows this feeling will not last forever. You can do anything for 10 more breaths, right?
He also talked about when this process is happening you are collecting joy, a sense of accomplishment, and a sense of self awareness you may not understand fully at the moment. Yoga helps you achieve a sense of mind over body accomplishment you may not have been aware you could do. A great way to increase mental clarity is through meditation and exercise. Yoga combines the two to create excellent clarity in the mind. When we are focused completely on holding balance in a pose the mind becomes sharp, all other thoughts are removed giving the mind clear focus.
“When you want to come out of a pose, see if you can stay with the discomfort a few more seconds. There are psychological benefits to challenging yourself to do something you’ve never done before. “It took me a year to do Handstand. ( it took me 15!) When I finally was able to balance on my hands, it was transformative,” says Walden.
“Working through difficulty requires tapas [discipline], and you feel your power. Doing something when your mind or body says it doesn’t want to—that’s empowering.” I completely believe this is true!
All of these things were happening to me during my darkest days. They made me the person I am today, a person who I am proud of. The wisdom I gathered along my journey, I can now share from a place of authenticity and calmness. Now sharing what I went though for many years, I realize, I am not alone. I never want anyone to feel alone during a period of their darkness. This, I realized fully today in yoga.
When I was struggling with my life. I ended up in the ER, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be here. I felt completely worthless, unloved, I felt like I was only here to serve others. It wasn’t a good feeling, I was just done.
My nurse in the ER that day saw something very different in me, she held my hand on my bed and told me to open up. She said, open up to a family member you trust about my current situation. I was too afraid because I had portrayed to everybody this perfect image. My family thought my life was perfect.
I took her advice and spoke to my cousin. She drove to my house nearly every day for a few weeks. She, a neighbor, and my second mom were all there for me!! They knew I was struggling but before I opened up, they didn’t know how to approach me, I later found out. We can fool ourselves, but only for so long! My therapist said to me, that only I knew when I was done and when I would never look back.
I had moments where I was afraid to drive, I was afraid to go to the grocery store, I was afraid to eat, I was afraid of everything. The one thing I was not afraid of was that l could go into the bathroom or in my closet and be alone and I could hold a yoga pose, usually plank, and completely disassociate with anything else going on. I don’t think disassociation is a good thing, but for me, at that point in my life, it was a lifesaver. From this I learned to use this as a tool, I learned to meditate my way through very difficult situations. I could tune out what was going on but still be in a conscious mind, but just in a very different place. Being able to do this brought me back to a very happy place. I could see the light again. I knew that my situation would be OK. I knew I would be able to figure a way out. Yoga was the answer for me. I love being able to calm and clarify my mind anytime I choose, and what a beautiful feeling of comfort this is, and it is mine anytime I choose to call upon it!
Enjoy these beautiful quotes of calm mindfulness:
“Right now I am trying to be in a place of calm, a place where I can chill out and then handle the chaos of life better. You don’t just get it overnight; you have to work at it. It’s a daily struggle.”
Jackee Harry
“Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than the one you have in mind.”
—David G. Allen
“Feelings are just visitors, let them come and go.”
—Mooji
Have a beautiful day🌻