“Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.”
― Eckhart Tolle
The beauty to surrendering is so dear and close to my heart. This is a practice that is continuous for me, and I can say that without embarrassment, for recognition and practice are what changes things in our life we don't like, that contribute to decreased health and wellness and that make it difficult for us to function in our daily moments.
To surrender is to free ourselves from resistance, from stress and from anxiousness or guilt. Guilt and shame are two emotions that are intensely overwhelming and paralyzing in our breath. We become so used to these emotions, that we are often attached to feelings of guilt and shame, like we are "supposed" to feel that way. Well ladies and gentlemen, that is one of the silliest societal beliefs. No one needs to live a life of guilt and shame over things that happened and things we cannot change.
One thing we cannot change is our body structure and where our body/mind allows us to move and exist. In your yoga practice this translates to surrendering to tight hips instead of resisting them to push yourself beyond your ability into a pose that your advanced neighbor is practicing. That is where our ego gets in the way, yes you ego "get outta here!" When you surrender and accept your tight hips you work with them in poses in order to help loosen them and create fluid, by working WITH them and where you are in that moment. This doesn't mean that you don't have to work on loosening them, it means you must allow them to be where they are in the moment and move where you can move so they are free to open without injury. Injury will just continue a cycle of tight hips and soreness it won't "heal your tightness".
In our daily life, surrendering can translate to existing in the moment and accepting what it is without fighting the flow. Sometimes things just don't go as planned, and dang the more we try to resist the flow of the moment or day the more stress we build, emotions we harbor and more "venting" to others that we need. If you surrender to your plans not working out, your deadline that just passed, the traffic you are experiencing and recognize that you just cannot change it right in the moment, I can guarantee you will feel more free and relaxed.
Two days ago, I woke up to intense rainfall, a severely misplaced rain coat as Im heading out the door to jump on my bike to go to work, a late subway due to "police activity" and two clients that cancelled before I even stepped foot in the door. At first, I wanted to crawl in a ball and go to sleep, I even fought back small tears in my office with my wet shoes and wet spot on the back of my jeans...and then I remembered the theme of the week for yoga which was to surrender and I seriously took the loudest inhale/exhalation and let go to it. Closed my eyes and envisioned the rest of my day going better and took the extra time I had to catch up on documentation and dry my jeans at the same time!
I felt free from my thoughts and emotions and I just had to write a blog about this incredible word "surrender".
It isn't always easy, which is why its always a practice.
I spent a month living in a Buddhist ashram a few years ago and after two weeks of day long meditation and service I had a terrible reaction to losing something important to me in my own bedroom. After I had such a meltdown, I was so mad at myself for reacting that way and thought about how I could have reacted better. I explained this to one of my buddhist monk "gurus" and he told me the important element wasn't "how" I reacted, it was that I RECOGNIZED my reaction so that I could make a memory to work on avoiding that in the future. "The RECOGNITION" he said "is a part of your practice, your journey and if you didn't recognize it, then I would be concerned" It was a beautiful moment to realize how powerful it is to be always practicing to make our existence on this planet meaningful, of service, full of love and compassion.
So now I must surrender to my morning duties and then prepare for a great yoga class finishing our theme of surrendering for the week, but NEVER leaving it behind just settling into newly learned ideas and strategies to take along our LIFE PRACTICE. Yes, this life is practice.
Bless your practice in all your moments today.
― Eckhart Tolle
The beauty to surrendering is so dear and close to my heart. This is a practice that is continuous for me, and I can say that without embarrassment, for recognition and practice are what changes things in our life we don't like, that contribute to decreased health and wellness and that make it difficult for us to function in our daily moments.
To surrender is to free ourselves from resistance, from stress and from anxiousness or guilt. Guilt and shame are two emotions that are intensely overwhelming and paralyzing in our breath. We become so used to these emotions, that we are often attached to feelings of guilt and shame, like we are "supposed" to feel that way. Well ladies and gentlemen, that is one of the silliest societal beliefs. No one needs to live a life of guilt and shame over things that happened and things we cannot change.
One thing we cannot change is our body structure and where our body/mind allows us to move and exist. In your yoga practice this translates to surrendering to tight hips instead of resisting them to push yourself beyond your ability into a pose that your advanced neighbor is practicing. That is where our ego gets in the way, yes you ego "get outta here!" When you surrender and accept your tight hips you work with them in poses in order to help loosen them and create fluid, by working WITH them and where you are in that moment. This doesn't mean that you don't have to work on loosening them, it means you must allow them to be where they are in the moment and move where you can move so they are free to open without injury. Injury will just continue a cycle of tight hips and soreness it won't "heal your tightness".
In our daily life, surrendering can translate to existing in the moment and accepting what it is without fighting the flow. Sometimes things just don't go as planned, and dang the more we try to resist the flow of the moment or day the more stress we build, emotions we harbor and more "venting" to others that we need. If you surrender to your plans not working out, your deadline that just passed, the traffic you are experiencing and recognize that you just cannot change it right in the moment, I can guarantee you will feel more free and relaxed.
Two days ago, I woke up to intense rainfall, a severely misplaced rain coat as Im heading out the door to jump on my bike to go to work, a late subway due to "police activity" and two clients that cancelled before I even stepped foot in the door. At first, I wanted to crawl in a ball and go to sleep, I even fought back small tears in my office with my wet shoes and wet spot on the back of my jeans...and then I remembered the theme of the week for yoga which was to surrender and I seriously took the loudest inhale/exhalation and let go to it. Closed my eyes and envisioned the rest of my day going better and took the extra time I had to catch up on documentation and dry my jeans at the same time!
I felt free from my thoughts and emotions and I just had to write a blog about this incredible word "surrender".
It isn't always easy, which is why its always a practice.
I spent a month living in a Buddhist ashram a few years ago and after two weeks of day long meditation and service I had a terrible reaction to losing something important to me in my own bedroom. After I had such a meltdown, I was so mad at myself for reacting that way and thought about how I could have reacted better. I explained this to one of my buddhist monk "gurus" and he told me the important element wasn't "how" I reacted, it was that I RECOGNIZED my reaction so that I could make a memory to work on avoiding that in the future. "The RECOGNITION" he said "is a part of your practice, your journey and if you didn't recognize it, then I would be concerned" It was a beautiful moment to realize how powerful it is to be always practicing to make our existence on this planet meaningful, of service, full of love and compassion.
So now I must surrender to my morning duties and then prepare for a great yoga class finishing our theme of surrendering for the week, but NEVER leaving it behind just settling into newly learned ideas and strategies to take along our LIFE PRACTICE. Yes, this life is practice.
Bless your practice in all your moments today.