We are surrounded by doubt and fear, from all directions, all around us. We are bombarded by images of who we should be, what we should wear, eat, and drive, and how our bodies should look. All these “standards” that we inevitably hold ourselves up to (in spite of ourselves and our better, innate judgement) succeed in driving, and sometimes even creating, that fear. Fear of not fitting in, of not belonging, of being outcast…and all the while, the only thing we are accomplishing is the complete and utter suppression of our true selves…of our innate light, of our inspiring individuality that stems from the source of all energy which we all come from and to which we all return.
Our minds tell us stories…incessantly feeding us judgements of ourselves and others that have not one shred of truth to them, but we rise to the bait regardless, making “agreements” with these tales and allowing our decisions and beliefs to be based on them. We allow ourselves to be guided by doubt, giving room, and therefore legitimacy, to said doubts, eliminating certainty and peace from our lives.
So how do we deal with the endless world of possibilities that present themselves once we awaken from this state of suspension and lethargy that has silently been holding us back from becoming our ideal selves?
The best place to start is at the beginning. Tapping into who we are when we’re alone, when we’re with our families (immediate and extended), who we were as children before we began being fed the steady stream of conformity-based propaganda that modern-day, urban society dishes out for no apparent reason (other than the obvious financially-based ones). And most of all, agreeing to stop listening to those stories that the mind creates. To quote Cat from Jivamukti London, “Stop paying attention to those stories. None of them are true. That which does not serve you, let go of.”
The perfect place to put all this into practice is exactly there…in your practice. Every yoga class/practice/session will present you with a challenge, an opportunity to face your fears. Do it. Face them. Nothing is ever as daunting in actuality as it seemed in theory. When that voice the mind conjures up as you’re preparing yourself for an especially challenging asana starts rattling off every reason why you’ll be unable to move fully into the posture, let your active voice be stronger. Remind yourself that you are indeed more capable than you could possibly imagine, and that the only person standing in your way is yourself. Let yourself soar to the heights that you always imagined possible but never dared to attain for fear of seeing just how capable you actually are.
Once you’ve gone there, once you’ve experienced what it feels like to jump beyond yourself, remember your essence. Let go of the ego and feel your connection to all things, and offer up that courage that it took to draw your magificence out into the open to everyone and everything around you. Understand that to shine as brightly as you can is to inspire those around you to do the same. The brighter we are as a collective whole dictates where we move towards as a community and a society…and the stronger our intentions, the more likely that destination will be back to that same light we’re drawing out of ourselves. Full circle.