AFRAID OF BEING AFRAID
SEPTEMBER 12, 2010. Some years back I as talking about how yoga helps us to face our fears (remember that first time doing crow pose or kicking up into a handstand or feeling the sensation of pigeon or even just standing still in mountain pose). After class a student came up and told me I should never talk about fear and if I do she will never come back to class. Guess how that made me feel? Yup, I was totally afraid of her. I was afraid of what she'd say or do or tell people and I was afraid of what if one day I forget and she was in class and I said the word what would she do. I resolved not to talk about Fear at that point because I WAS AFRAID OF BEING AFRAID. That went on for over a year. Then the more spiritual reading I did and the more Anusara Yoga became part of my life I realized there was something inauthentic about denying fear. Anusara teaches us to embrace the full spectrum of who we are, even when we are afraid.
Mariann Williamson says, "Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts." So first thing we do when we come to class is as Baron Baptiste says, "drop everything you know." From there we heed the sage advice of Yoda in Star Wars, "YOU MUST UNLEARN WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED."
Interesting enough this works hand in hand with what positive psychologist (and favorite Harvard professor) Tal Ben-Shahar's lectures talk about that drills down into this: "to be a happier person give yourself permission to be HUMAN." Otherwise when we suppress what we feel it creates more problems. This is what "he refers to as ironic processing, which promises that suppressing an emotion will only ensure its clear announcement later." Yoga is the science of happiness and encourages us to practice unconditional love for ourselves and what we practice on our own lives we know how to share with others. You can't teach what you don't know. You can't live what you don't know. In great part the reason I teach is to be that spark to explain how yoga works so you too don't stay stuck in non-life affirming qualities of your humanness and realize that once you accept who you are, you can unlearn what you know and expand into your happiest life ever. I want that for me, and I really want that for you. Love yourself, love your day, lover your life! Silvia