TRUTH OR DARE? WHICH DO YOU CHOOSE?
"Attend the birthing of the radiant light within you" - Vijnana Bhairava Tantra
JANUARY 12, 2010: I was recently thinking of the game TRUTH OR DARE that we all played as kids. Wondering if you were someone who chose dare or truth more often? Me? Well I consistently chose Dare. I was more than a little afraid of the truth – I’d have to tell the 11th grade boy Ben I was in love with him or maybe admit I really wanted the lead role in the next musical or that it hurt my feelings when I only got 2nd chair in Symphony orchestra last week. You know the important stuff. The dare was a whole lot easier….I would rather take my chances and eat a bug than let everyone else know my truth, and reveal my heart.
Well what you choose now as an adult? Truth or Dare. And more importantly why.
Yoga helps to reveal the self to the self and we wake up to our own truth. As John Donohue writes, “Awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.” So really Yoga is asking us to DARE TO TELL THE TRUTH. First to ourselves then to be that real person out in the world.
Tapping into your own creative potential and full-filling the purpose for why you are here is what Yogis call “Sva-Dharma. This means self-duty.
I can’t think of a more DARING thing to do!
"Your own duty done imperfectly
is better than another man's done well."
-Bhagavad Gita 3:35
Yoga is Truth and Dare. And when we each are following our true paths we are at peace with ourselves (no more pretending, no more 10th grade self afraid to show others how you feel). And from daring to fulfill our duty we give permission to everyone else to be themselves and the world finds peace. This is not easy. So on the mat we try out new poses, we hold poses or we sustain a flowing sequence to experiment with daring ourselves to learn more about who we are. And the way we practice our yoga becomes the way we live our lives.
This year accept the Dare and stay connected to your intentions for meeting the destiny for which you’ve been called to in this life. Follow your svadharma and go beyond your fear and what you thought possible. Don’t hide behind work (that’s the adult equivalent of eating a bug because you don’t want to be honest) and get on with it! Be the peaceful warrior you are. Act as if your life depended on it….for it does. Let the lovefire burn bright! Silvia
"Look to your own duty;
do not tremble before it;
nothing is better for a warrior
than a battle of sacred duty." -Bhagavad Gita 2:31
DARE TO CARE
For our birthday, on the Ponte Vecchia in Florence, Italy (the Medieval bridge over the Arno River) as the bells from the famous Duomo (Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore) rang 11 times I made the following prayer: "Dear Goddess of Light, May the 11th year of Anusara be the most auspicious and magical yet. May each day be full of wondrous moments of good fortune and sparkling luck. May our ears always hear celestial music, our noses smell bouquets of the Beyond, our tongues taste the deliciousness of Delight, our eyes see the rainbows of Shri, and our skin feel the winds of Grace gently caressing us with Love".
Eleven is a master number in numerology and serves a magical channel between lower and higher frequencies, so look for this number showing up at times of synchronicity, creative flashes or good fortune. Try performing 11 Surya Namaskars or 11 backbends or saying a positive affirmation or blessing 11 times to invoke special magic.
Light the Sky in celebration of Anusara Yoga! --John”
You can tell how deeply he cares and his honesty in that it has not always been easy. All I wish for each of you is that from this practice you are inspired to CARE MORE about LIFE (your life, the life of the planet, and the lives of all people everywhere). This then stirs the desire to make positive changes for ourselves. And when we decide that it’s time for big changes in our lives, it is wise to ease into them by starting small. Small changes allow us to grow into a new habit and make it a permanent part of our lives, whereas sudden changes may cause a sense of failure that makes it difficult to go on, and we are more likely to revert to our old ways.
Shoulder loop can be one of those monumental, life altering small changes. With all my heart because I CARE A MILLION TIMES OVER, I hope to see you tonight. Love, Silvia