Peace-filled yoga advice
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As I lay on my mat last week, I heard my yoga instructor say those words. “Let it be ok.” Whatever it was that was happening in my world — inner or outer — just that. Let it be ok.
I pondered the stretch in my left hip. It was a bit uncomfortable and I breathed into the space. But I stopped fighting the feeling. I stopped resisting the sensation. I allowed the discomfort to wash over me. I didn’t change position. I didn’t fidget. I didn’t shorten my breath. I let the feeling I felt exist. I let it be ok.
Then I began to notice my thoughts. My various concerns — real and imaginary — floated through my mind. Each one was uncomfortable and fraught with anxiety. So I breathed into my heart space. I stopped fighting the feelings. I stopped resisting the sensation. I allowed the discomfort to wash over me. I didn’t change position. I didn’t fidget. I didn’t shorten my breath. I let the feelings I felt exist. I let it be ok.
Eventually, my mind and my hip relaxed into the void. The asana no longer felt uncomfortable. I no longer felt like I was struggling with inner or outer discomfort. It really was all ok.
It’s extremely difficult to not react when we feel discomfort. We absorb the tension of All. The. Things. and allow them to rent space in our physical and mental being. And to be clear, I’m not talking about chronic pain a body deals with for years or decades. I’m talking about the discomfort that is endemic to life on Gaia. The day-to-day stuff that comes into our worlds.
All of us, everywhere are uncomfortable at some point in our lives. Whether that discomfort comes from pushing our bodies a bit, expanding our minds a bit, or having our beliefs challenged a bit. If we take the advice of my yoga teacher — notice the discomfort. But then, let it be ok.
Don’t intervene. Don’t distract yourself. Simply notice it. Sit with it. Allow it to be ok. And amazingly enough, eventually, it becomes just that.
Namaste.
Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.– Eckhart Tolle
