Yoga’s Invitation
Yoga was designed to be a PRACTICE. One that helps develop and strengthen your capacity to be the best version of YOU! In fact, the highest purpose of yoga is to know yourself, to connect with that unique part of you that no one else can do. And, counter to many things in life which reward getting it done now, yoga in its true form asks you to SLOW down, still the mental noise, feel your emotions, stay with your emotions, and make space for your wisdom and creativity to flow.
In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, we learn that it is only through a dedicated, long term practice with full attention, devotion and a positive attitude, that we can succeed.
In other words, the practice of yoga asks us to show up on our mat every day, with faithfulness and a great big “YES” in our heart. Not out of obligation or because we “should”, but because getting to know ourselves and the layers of who we are, including our shadow side, is the ultimate path to freedom, contentment and JOY!
This does not mean you are always practicing asana for an hour. It may look like sitting down for 5-10 minutes and focusing on your inhalation and exhalation, reading something inspirational, journaling and maybe even crying. The invitation is to be with YOU. To allow yourself to be present and to feel and connect with all that is working without you, like your breath and your beating heart.
How is success measured? When you feel awake and have a deeper connection to yourself, a sense of reverence, gratitude and belonging to a bigger universal force. It’s when you have more and more moments of feeling free and open hearted. Or, as Patanjali puts it, when….
“Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover
yourself to be a greater person than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”
Next time you roll out out of bed, sneak away for 5-10 minutes to a quiet space (before looking at your phone). Sit on a pillow, light a candle, notice your breath and welcome yoga’s invitation to practice becoming more of your best self. Dig a little deeper and mine out the unique jewel that you are, the one that no one else will ever get to live into, but YOU.