Remembering the Victories

In light of our recent discussion about doing the "work" in our lives and on our selves from a place of love, I think it is important to remember the victories. It's helpful to remember our successes and use them as evidence for why we should keep climbing our mountains in life.

I was climbing the Middle Teton in Grand Teton National park with Marc. Every mountain I have climbed has taught me about my strengths and weaknesses. (Note: I have learned a lot about my weaknesses!) Mountains remind me of my humanity. My fears. How big the mountain is versus how small I am. For me it’s often a case of “I think I can, I think I can.” Only, I actually don’t think I can but I am hoping that if I say it enough I will start to believe it!

This trip to the Tetons was different. I knew I could. I was feeling strong and having fun. I was working hard but I felt powerful and unstoppable. I will never forget that feeling. It was a feeling I had been chasing. Many mountains have received tears of my frustration and pain. This mountain received tears of my joy and empowerment.

"The Rock Warrior's Way" by Arno Ilgner is one of my favorite books about both how to climb better and how to lives our lives better. The book essentially talks about mental training and the power of our mind to make us better at climbing or whatever it is we are trying to be better at. One of my many favorite concepts from the book is, "All the training in the world will have minimal benefit to you if you don't give yourself room to believe."

When I am teaching a power or vigorous yoga class and we are doing something hard or new, I always ask the students to first imagine it. Can we do the pose in our imaginations? I find that for some people it is hard to even just imagine it. If we can't see ourselves doing it in our minds when we don't actually have to do anything, how are we to ever actually do it?

A Sanskrit saying comes to mind. "Mana eva manushyanam karanam bandha mokshayoho." As the mind, so the man; bondage or liberation are in your own mind.

That is why it is important to me to remember the victories. If I have successes to remind myself of then I can believe in my ability to reach the summit, to kiss the summit marker, and to shed that tear of victory!

A Labor of Love

I have no excuse for not sharing. I have been writing, just not sharing.

Rather than dwell on that, I figured I could just jump right in to what's been going on for me lately and how yoga ideas help. (Speaking of yoga, I will be teaching new classes with Visalia Park and Rec so stay tuned!)

I talk about this idea of Dharma Peak as the mountain we are climbing in our yoga practice. I talk about the climb, the work, and the effort we put in while trying to get where we are going. Here's a secret, I think that I talk about these concepts because they are easier for me than some of the others! It's easier for me to think about what I can do than try to figure out this idea of non-attachment. Easier than even just sitting still. I'm always trying to do something.

Which is fine. But... This "doing" could be done as a labor of love. 

I’ve been working, searching, and studying. I have come back around to this yoga idea of pain or hard work (tapahs) as a means to purification. What I have realized it this. Accepting the hard work is one challenge. Understanding and awareness of the reason that we accept it is another.

The hard work, the struggles, the challenges we put ourselves through in the pursuit of something better would be more beneficial to us if our intention was to do so out of love of ourselves.  If we think that we are not good enough and that is our motivation, we are only setting ourselves up for more disappointment. "All grief comes from expectations." – Amma

"Doing" because we are not good enough goes against this other yoga idea of underneath everything we are perfect and whole exactly as we are. "Doing" because we love ourselves, now that's another angle. A slightly new one for me. I get love. And I get work/effort. I just haven't always put them together. How can work come from love? 

I am not talking about work as in what we do as an occupation, although that is a good place to start. If you think about work that you do because you have to versus work that you do because you love it, do you see a difference? The work in either case is not the variable, our ability to come from a place of love is what is changing.