Inward Toward Our Heart

Inner peace as always is free or so the saying goes.  The journey inward toward this goal, however, comes at a price. We cannot short cut, skip or cheat our way along our self-excavation journey. Whenever we strive to create a new way of being, we can't flip a switch or get it done in one practice, or 10 or 20. Instead we stand where we are and look ahead to a long and sometimes arduous road to our end goal. Our yoga practice offers a beautiful, affirming, and palpable re-connection to ourself, our soul, and God. By practicing yoga and engaging in our devotional practices we increase the connecting patterns between our spirit, our mind, and our body.

Sri T. Krishnamacharya described yoga as the process where the impossible becomes possible and the possible over a long period of time becomes easy. The place where many of us fall off the path is when we strive for easy straight from impossible. In other words, we want instant gratification, domination, and mastery. If we experience a pose or a bind and label it as 'impossible' and want it to be easy immediately, we soon become frustrated and let down with our practice.  Change does not happen quickly and certainly not immediately. We need to embrace what we have labeled impossible and allow its difficulty to teach us. We need to learn the discipline of staying in those ugly, difficult, impossible places and allow discovery and learning to happen. If we embrace this and choose to enter into it, soon the impossible will show us how it might be possible....one day. When we come to our mats in a surrendered state….a state open to allowing our yoga to teach us….to enlighten us…..to shine the light of awareness within us.....we can engage with a particularly challenging practice and face/begin to conquer our obstacles of doubt, fear, pain, hatred, boredom, frustration, grief, and every other obstacle/reactionary pattern that holds us back from being brilliant. Staying present in difficult states of mind and of body can evoke deeply ingrained reactionary patterns such as panic, denial and escapism. Yoga is an exquisite tool and in order to use it, we must be willing to unroll our mats and help ourselves.  We must be willing to stay present and go within. We must be willing to surrender to God, the intention He made us with, and accept the invitations He puts before us. He is always inviting us to join Him and He is already at work in and around us.

When we embark on the inner quest of yoga we must acknowledge the journey will never end. We must embrace our inward journey to our heart with a slow, steady perseverance. When we do this, we are able to face the unfaceable, conquer the unconquerable, and confront the absolutely terrifying places within us.  We can gain access to a place within ourselves where our soul dwells and it is here….in this place….where it is eternally peaceful, powerful and loving beyond all measure. Every asana, every movement and every breath we take redefines the very essence of our being. A journey into our heart will reveal the dwelling place of our soul. Once there,  we dare able to discern and follow the soft, loving, and guiding voice of God for He is with us every second, every breath……and when we connect into this.....we discover true inner peace and then..... nothing can stop us.

Onward and upward.
Namaste,
Trish