Monday, 27 September 2010
-
Accepting Yourself Just As You Are: That's Yoga
Sometimes it's not so easy to accept what is. Maybe we are having difficulty with our finances or health. I know I have suffered one heck of a roller coaster ride, one that lasted a few years, not really understanding the gift I was receiving. It took the universe to stop me dead in my tracks to get me to understand the gift she so generously wanted me to have... Santosa, contentment. Sometimes we just don't listen. We are not living in the moment. And so everything stops. The money, the career, the body and everything else that I was hiding behind."Life as it is, in the moment, is a gift from the Divine - the present."
Chrstina Sells, in her book, "Yoga From The Inside Out," says it perfectly. "How many times do we often refuse the gift by complaining, avoiding, or compulsively attempting to bend reality to our whim rather than simply surrendering to the way that things are? We think nothing of exchanging something we have been given for something we perceive as better. When our body doesn't meet our expectations we criticize it, hide it and try to manipulate our appearance through diets and exercise. We even custom order body parts from plastic surgeons rather than face our feelings of inferiority and insecurity with how we are in the moment."
I get this! I am a woman who did just that. Am I going back to the doctor to give it back? Noooooo. But practicing yoga and meditation has brought me to a place that is so much more secure, a place for me to love myself just as I am.
When I look in the mirror now, it isn't to adore the good doctor's work, but rather the work of the Divine. You see I've gained a little around the middle, along with some wrinkles, love handles, and whatever else comes with it all. But that isn't the focal point. I can look into my own eyes now and say "I love you!" and mean it. Now it seems the roller coaster has calmed down and for the most part, because I love myself deeply, I feed my body nourishing foods. I tell myself everything is going to be okay. I don't need to look anywhere else to know, deep down, I am okay.
That's yoga.
What is yoga to you?
RecommendRelated Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to healthkicker's Healthkicker Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in healthkicker's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
About the Author
-
- From: dmarguglio
- Name: Donna
Stats: This Week All Time Posts: 0 7 Views: 0 3700 Comments: 0 43 View all posts by dmarguglio
Comments (6)
One of the reasons why I do yoga is to learn to accept myself as I am, to clear my mind, and to accept the feeling of simply being.
Just as you put it. Yoga for me is living in the present moment. Just Being. Acceptance of what is and non resistance to what happens. Only if you resist what happens are you at the mercy of what happens and the world then determines your happiness and unhappiness.
yoga is for relaxation for me, my mind is constantly running but when i go to yoga classes i just stop and focus on how my body feels in every position. it's the oddest sensation to just be, and i've become addicted to that feeling.
haha, I do bikram yoga and I just like how it's really hard for me to injure myself accidentally :P also, it's great stretching and my lower back is screwed up >_<!!!
i want to try yoga sometime