Being human is hard. I believe Rumi said this, more or less.
There is a great deal of pressure on people to make themselves better when the new year comes around. Of course, many set resolutions; in protest, others adamantly don’t. Whether we make resolutions for ourselves or not, the expectation is that we will do things to become better humans when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.
But, feeling stuck is a normal experience. Stagnation can feel heavy and worrisome because we are told at an early age to strive on, improve everyday, push through obstacles, just do it. What if I told you it was okay to be stagnant for a while?
Think about the seed. A seed hibernates, or is dormant, in the winter, laying still and seemingly doing nothing. But it is very busy with its inner work, getting ready for its growth. While on the outside, it looks like the seed is slacking, it is actually germinating, preparing for its natural time to awaken and flourish. Laying aside the fact that seeds don’t have awareness, they trust their own nature to know when it is time to self-activate.
I am a firm believer in trusting ourselves to know when it is time to self-activate. Listening to our inner voices, our intuition, our gut feeling, God, what have you, will give us the answers. Stillness and self-reflection provide this clarity if we are willing to go through the discomfort of non-doing.
Growth is painful. Those who have a yoga practice know that the poses we dislike the most are the ones on which we should focus. It is our body telling us there is an imbalance, a place in need of attention. Trusting that we are right where we are supposed to be, in our yoga practice and in our life, frees so much up for us. It is the ego that tells us that we are not good enough, not where we should be, not as successful as other people, not as far along in our practice as that lady across the room who can nail a head stand. Being aware when the ego is telling us half-baked, untrue stories is three-fourths of the battle. The other one-third is letting that shit go.
Part of a Mindfulness practice entails the idea of non-striving, which is counterintuitive to the value our society places on goal setting, working, doing, pushing, trying. In reality, all we can do is make our best effort on any given day, trusting that we did what we were able to do and that the universe has our backs. Growth comes in its own time, no matter how much we “do” to make it happen sooner.
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