Ok, but what's the real issue...
Weekly Thought Offering:
On the surface there is what you're doing/saying/choosing/experiencing and then underneath there is the WHY. The quality of and connection to the WHY determines the experience of the surface.
Hello Yogis!
Happy Week 3 of Downward Dog Back to School month!
This week is a DOOOOOOUUSEY! I am going to ask you to be radically honest with yourself. To do that you must feel safe with your Self. So before we begin I just want to review what radical self love means.
It means that no matter what you see when you open your eyes and look inward, you promise to first and foremost show love and understanding. There are no bad people only bad choices and if you feel even a hint that you are going to be judged or shamed you will throw a huge wall up and not get to the root of the thing that keeps bringing you pain and you will be stuck in the cycle of pain and most importantly missing out on a life of magic and joy.
I offer this mantra as we begin-
I love all of myself and I know that whatever I have done, at the time I felt it necessary for my survival.
I open my life and my heart to evolution that my past fearfully based choices may not be necessary in the present or in my joy-filled future.
Ok! Let's do this!
In the body this week we are looking at the shoulders in downward dog and how they are, or are not, contributing to the length of your spine and therefore the inherent benefits of the pose to your body.
If you recall we spent the last two weeks looking at the spine and trying to find a neutral lumbar curve. This week we are going to look at the shoulders because there's a decent chance you have done, what many of us do, and just moved the valve rather than gotten rid of it... When we are lacking range of motion in one joint we often go to the next closest joint and take it from there (until we learn not to and we learn to stand in the truth of what is and love it anyways that we may move forward authentically). AKA you are missing range of motion in the hips and so you were taking it from the lumbar spine. You wised up over the last two weeks and learned to keep those knees as bent as needed to lift the tail but now we need to make sure we are not stealing range of motion from the shoulders instead.
And that is what we are checking in with this week ON AND OFF the Mat.
What happens when we don't address the real issue but continue to try to get by dancing around it?
And here comes the radical self love requiring inquiry...
(Remember-
I love all of myself and I know that whatever I have done, at the time I felt it necessary for my survival.
I open my life and my heart to evolution that my past fearfully based choices may not be necessary in the present or in my joy-filled future.)
What behavior(s) do you choose that make you feel badly?
Why then do you choose them?
Is there a feeling you are hiding from? (side note: it's not just "bad" feelings that we avoid feeling, sometimes we avoid feeling "good" ones too because we don't think we deserve to feel them)
Is there a joy you think you don't deserve?
For example: On the surface I may have stopped exercising because I say I don't have the time but really, if I do a little digging I might realize that I don't think I deserve to take care of myself.
Many of the negative things we do, when viewed in the light of day are easily reprogrammed. In the above example I might realize that I hold that belief and then say "Of course I deserve to take care of myself!". From now on every time I go to skip my workout I will think instead "I deserve to take care of myself" and will begin to show up for my Self and get to experience the joy that comes along with that.
Uncovering the why behind the choices we are making that are not bringing us joy is the first step to freeing them and moving forward into a more joyful life!
I can't wait to talk more with you about this in our ON AND OFF the Mat Q&A sessions later this week.
With great respect and love,
Nicole
We will also apply this to our experiences with others but the ability to self study is a foundation of the practice.
