Myth Magic
I wanna talk about something I call “Myth Magic”… and share a little about how we can SHIFT our way into living in greater ease.
There’s a myth that if you’re tired and sweaty at the end of a workout then you’re making progress towards your fitness goals. There’s another that says working long hours is how you achieve success. Another convinced me that busy was somehow proof of my value. (It isn’t, btw for me or for you!) These myths are ONLY true if your goal is:
☑️ Get tired and sweaty (and cranky!)
These myths, and others like them, drive tons of people to do a lot more work and conditioning than they probably need. Conditioning – done right – doesn’t have to be sweaty and … it shouldn’t cause harm. Work – done right – shouldn’t leave us burnt out and desperate. Life done well cultivates happiness and joy. I’m gonna say that again…
Life done well cultivates happiness and joy.
This is Yoga Living.
What do I mean by “right”? Well this is a sticky one. I don’t mean there is only one right way. By “right”, I mean IN ALIGNMENT or in agreement with truth and experience and reflective of my best self. Sure that leaves a lot of room for interpretation, and with interpretation we, as humans, often fall prey to our myths and fears. Therefore, we practice. AND this is why we practice together.
We practice to prepare for and embrace the shift.
If you are not cultivating happiness and joy in your daily living, let’s talk. Something in your “practice” needs to shift and I can help!
Learning to navigate the balance of effort (sthira) and ease (sukkha) in practice and in life is deeply rooted in the yoga practice and it’s a great way to improve mobility and agility on the mat and in all that life is offering. Do you ever have those days where you want to have done the thing, but don’t really want to do it? I have! I call those my “I just don’t wanna” days.
- Learning to do new things.
- Learning to do old things differently.
- Learning to do hard things better.
All of these require practice, but before the practice begins, there is a pre-condition. Do you know what that pre-requisite is?
A willingness to show up.
That’s it. Everything else will come with practice. We don’t even have to know where and when to show up or what we are going to do upon arrival. That will sort itself out in time. 😊 Nothing happens if we don’t show up!
I expect I will have more of those “I just don’t wanna” days and moments in the years to come. As I practice they are becoming less frequent and less powerful. I show up! And then you know what happens, sometimes (not all the time, but more often than if I didn’t show up!) I actually want to be there by the time the experience is done. AND the rest of my day goes better too!
I love a morning yoga practice. For me it includes gratitude journaling and a simple Breathe. Move. Rest. sequence adapted to my energy in the moment. I developed this personal practice over many years with the intention of developing a consistent, adaptable, daily ritual to help me live well in accordance with yoga principles. I teach this daily practice in my Yoga Living program.
Many of us expect inspiration to be the impetus for action. We seek motivation. We hunt for a muse. We wait for the perfect timing BEFORE starting the project, which often results in never starting the project, joining the team or asking for what we need. Can you relate?
I have learned that action is the impetus to inspiration. We have to ACT first. The action is showing up! Show up consistently and inspiration will find you. In other words, the magic of overcoming the myths is in the shift of just allowing yourself to show up.
The magic rests in the shift! Are you ready to shift?
I want to encourage you to craft a daily practice of intentional self-care. Do it every day and see what happens. This is Yoga Living. Some days it will be amazing, other days it will be flat or even suck! But even in the suck the practice will help you find gratitude and joy to sustain and encourage you. If I can be of support, that’s what I love to do!
As seasons shift, I find my sense of energy increasing and my enthusiasm for shift waking up! It’s been a long (couple of) year(s) and I’ve been hanging on to “normal” with a death grip. To feel this shift in energy is long over due and so very welcomed. I love the feeling of being open to shift. But I’m not always so open to shift.
Being open to shift is not about being in control of what’s changing, but rather being in awareness to my preferences and my attachments around that change so I can mindfully choose how to be with it, even if it’s not the change I want. The difference is about agency, or locus of control. I can’t control the world around me. I can (learn to) control the world within me. Mindfulness practice is the strategy for learning the difference between agency of control and cultivating the skill of mind, body and energy control. Being in control of that which I can actually control, my mind and my attitude, is a practice. We are all capable of learning to control or regulate our energy and how we apply it in actions, words, and thoughts. Capability, mind you, is not the same as having the skill or even the desire. This requires practice ;P
Shift happens. Whether we like it or not. In fact, shift is already happening. Another way to phrase it: this too shall pass. What’s your receptivity to change? I like it when it’s what I want, otherwise, I don’t. Yeah, me too 😊 That adage, this too shall pass, feels a little different when we think about those things we prefer versus those things we endure. Yoga teaches that we don’t have to like it to embrace it, to accept it and to learn to be with it. For me, this is WAY harder to do than it is to say. Can you relate?
So what does this mindfulness practice look like? Well it’s about cultivating what I call the FOUR Cs:
A mindfulness practice for living an inspired life is about cultivating Clarity, Confidence and Competence on a bed of Compassion.
