Constant Clearing
By Laura Mills
Twice a year I try to wash my windows, at least the ones most spotted with water marks, dirt, cat nose prints or anything else. And afterwards, I am always amazed at the difference a newly-cleaned window makes to my view.
I've heard several teachers mention it, but I agree that cleaning is a powerful metaphor for yoga as well as many other positive methods we employ to release inner build-up. We accumulate grime all the time: emotions, stress, attachments, and other residues of life. And in order to restore our optimal views, we require elbow grease in the form of a physical practice that focuses our minds. We practice asana on a yoga mat, compose words on a page, play music on an instrument, run miles on a trail, or any of a million combinations of those and many other pursuits. And our ultimate goal in pursuing any of them, I believe, is clarity.
But like windows, we accumulate grime again and again. It's humanly normal, and it calls us back to our practices over and over yogis to their mats, writers to the page, artists to the easel, and so on. The scenery changes with the seasons, of course, but any time we see clearly the view is spectacular and definitely worth the effort.
RELEASE, REMEMBER, RECYCLE
MAY 6th, 2009: We are experts at Resistance. We are actually well trained in resistance, in fight or flight response. The thing is when feeling resistance to life due to fear or anxiety or stress we are not able to either release or remember. We just stay in this state of fighting and doing battle with everyone and everything. We make war with what we think we're supposed to be doing with our lives and from there resentment towards others builds even more strongly. We even get mad/angry at ourselves for making other people's opinions (or societies perceived opinions) more important than how we know we feel. For prolonged periods of time this will make us either dumb down, lose hope, flame out or give up. This is toxic. And no one need live like this.
This practice of yoga psychology can help us to put aside the old habit of Resistance and begin the focus on Releasing, Remembering and Recycling.
With this or any spiritual practice we can not do multiple things at the same time. Often energies are mutually exclusive, they play together but as counterparts not occupying the same space at the same time. It is just like the fact that constructive, healthy dialogue between adults means we can’t all TALK at the same time. Healthy conversation means one person talks at a time and the other person listens, with both people breathing. Once we put aside our resistance and fear monsters then we can begin to RELEASE and let go of those things that no longer serve our lives. Ask yourself right now what do you want to let go of that is not helping your life evolve? Can you use even the most challenging pose or moment or person in your life to release some of the crap that holds you back?
REMEMBER: Once we do Release the negative then we create clarity of mind and heart to remember those qualities of ourselves that have made our lives better. Think back on your 5 year old self – remember that ease of not having any burdens, think of your 10 year old self – remember the endurance you had to play for 8 hours in a row, think of your 13 year old self – remember that thirst for adventure, think of your 23 year old self – remember that desire for new experience. So take what qualities you remember from your life that you want to bring with you into the next chapter of your life.
Essentially what do you want to RECYCLE as part of a healthy life?
Bottom line is if we don’t stop RESISTING and continue to make war with life then we will Fall Apart. If there is no Release of pain or frustration we will remain Angry, if we remain angry we cannot have the clarity of mind to REMEMBER to choose love.
This and all spiritual seeking is not about seeking love and happiness but about seeking to REDISCOVER that happiness and peace exist within us already. We are seeking to remember to remember. Once you remember you can than decide the qualities you want to recycle into your next moment and keep making each and every consecutive moment more delicious, more amazing, more loving! I wish you all the courage to stop fighting (out of duty, out of fear, out of anger) and just start loving yourself more and life more, Silvia