One of the Pillars of Mindfulness is “Acceptance” due to the fact that this will help us pay attention to our daily and move through life’s obstacles with more ease and less dis-ease. There are practices in Yoga of The Subtle Body that can also help us when it comes to “Acceptance” which can sometimes feel illusive, or frustrating especially when faced with challenging emotions about a situation. Finding Acceptance without giving in to hopelessness calls on both wisdom, discipline all of which can be found within the seat of true Will Power. So what is “Will Power” really? Many may think it is to ‘push’ through , to have the drive to thrive (to use some of the modern lingo in the market place today – not that there is anything wrong with that. But there can sometimes be a fine line between sustainable ongoing energy (despite the outcome) and the crash and burn from all the ‘drive to thrive’
This is something we reflect on in our Yoga of The Subtle Body Trainings and something that comes up in The Mindful Mentoring Programs I offer . Personally I’ve come to sense Will Power as more of a ‘Subtle’ energy that is driven by certain experiences in life, that birth an understanding of what it’s like to suffer , be scared & vulnerable. Yet these same experiences can also reveal & call on something bigger (and longer lasting in my experience so far) . It’s very much connected to the heart, and a desire to want to help others to be relieved of suffering. A deep interest and curiosity to want to learn, understand and to be of service because of what you have experienced in your own life. Something that you long for regardless of the outcome.
The yogis call this seed energy ~ Sankalpa. It’s a long lasting vow that if you keep remembering it, coming back to it, it will reveal the path for you. It is what helps you endure the hard knocks, ride the waves of the ups & downs without giving in to hopelessness.
There’s many aspects to Sankalpa as there are to Yoga Mindfulness Mudras & Meditation.
By learning more about how to manage our energy, by learning about the bodies own map , we can navigate all that we feel in our heart. We can restore our body, mind and heart back to optimal functioning. Obviously this feels better than feeling dis-ease.
We can also practice ways to stay motivated without burning out. To be of service & still have fun in the process. To have moments of seriousness about what we may go through & humour about the mind & the ride it can take us on.
But most of all realise the mystery of life is too precious to ever lose hope. It’s too precious to not live, love and play with your whole heart.
There’s always a way to find or to offer a ‘helping hand’ to turn any obstacle into a path. The helping hand I refer to a lot is “Mudras” and ways to use them in Yoga Practice & Meditation to bring a deeper intention to what it is we are wanting to strengthen & develop. Or to what we wish to overcome.
Your own unique experiences in life will also show you how to do that, but sometimes we need a path to learn how to listen to our own life. To learn to pay Mindful Attention to it so we can grow. This is one way to describe Yoga and in particular Yoga of the Subtle Body.
This is what I continue to work on and I enjoy helping others too. Simply because of what we all go through as human beings.
If you are interested in both the physical benefits of releasing tension, getting flexible , strong but at the same time working on your internal resources – feel free to reach out.
0439418571 or send me an email tammy@yoga-nrg.com
