Only a couple hours into my birthday and I am feeling the love. You all should know by now that my birthday is my favorite holiday. Besides the selfish reasons why I love this day, I love it for the ability to reflect back on a year of life-examine the lessons and blessings- and figure out what is going to come forward with me into this new year and what is going to be left behind.
My 30th year of life was nothing short of awesome! I can't really pinpoint one particular thing that made it this way, I can just say that it was an accumulation of things coming together at the right time. Now that I can officially say that I am in my 30s (31 to be exact), I look forward to more awesome, more lessons, and more blessings that this new year will bring.
One particular lesson has really resonated with me this past year and I am quite certain that it will be a trend that comes into this new year. As many of you know, I spent the last 9 or so months working towards my yoga teacher certification (woot woot! Passed my written exam). I can't begin to describe how amazing this experience has been, how much I have grown, and how much this will allow me to continue to grow. I can't really go into great detail of my experience because you will be reading for hours and honestly, if you haven't been through it, I don't think you will fully comprehend the level of commitment, the amount of taking a part and putting back together you do, and the physical, emotional, and mental challenges and triumphs you experience. My training was THOROUGH and although I still feel very much a student, I can confidently say I have a strong foundation to move forward from.
In yoga, there is an Eight Limbed Path that is the foundation for creating a yoga practice. The eight limbs are: Yama (Universal Mortality), Niyama (Personal Observances), Asanas (Body Postures), Pranayama (Breathing Exercises), Pratyhara (Sensory Control), Dharana (Concentration), Dhyana (Meditation), Samadhi (liberation or union with the divine). The Yamas and Niyamas, can be seen as an ethical guide to living life, are further broken down into 5 principles each (homework-look them up yourself..LOL). One of these principles- Asteya or non-stealing- is the one that I have really focused on and made an effort to be mindful of (not stating that it is more important, just more aligned with the lesson I need to learn at this time).
So back to Asteya...When we think of stealing, we think of taking a physical object that belongs to someone else without their consent. As explained to me by my trainer, mentor, and friend (check her out-danasmithcoaching.com) stealing can occur with our time. Whether we take time away from ourselves (think about procrastination), or take time from others (think about being late, committing to something and canceling last minute, etc) or we allow others to take time from us; when we allow any of these to occur, we are not practicing asteya thus impacting the rest of our yoga practice (and just to clarify- yoga is not just stretching). So in learning this, I became more mindful of not stealing time from myself or from others and not allowing others to steal time from me. Now this can be a bit tricky seeing as we can't control everything, you're right, we can't. But we can control our actions and our thoughts and by doing so we are able to remain as true to ourselves as possible. This whole concept has made me shift my view of relationships (personal, romantic, professional) and how I allow people to occupy my mental, emotional, and physical space. It has also allowed me to become mindful of how I want to spend my time. At this point, if the desire is not there, I don't do it. As a result, I have shifted relationships with others to ensure that I am able to apply this principle. And let me be honest, although it is difficult restructuring the way you interact with others ( sometimes those you have known a long while), you'll be much happier living life on your accord rather than someone elses. I no longer feel obligated to spend time with anyone that I feel "steals" from me, and I no longer feel obligated to do things that that I do not desire doing.
So as I enter into a new year, I look forward to all the moments that will bring me joy, all the challenges that will bring me growth, and all the people that will enhance my life with their presence and love. Year 31- I am ready for you!
My 30th year of life was nothing short of awesome! I can't really pinpoint one particular thing that made it this way, I can just say that it was an accumulation of things coming together at the right time. Now that I can officially say that I am in my 30s (31 to be exact), I look forward to more awesome, more lessons, and more blessings that this new year will bring.
One particular lesson has really resonated with me this past year and I am quite certain that it will be a trend that comes into this new year. As many of you know, I spent the last 9 or so months working towards my yoga teacher certification (woot woot! Passed my written exam). I can't begin to describe how amazing this experience has been, how much I have grown, and how much this will allow me to continue to grow. I can't really go into great detail of my experience because you will be reading for hours and honestly, if you haven't been through it, I don't think you will fully comprehend the level of commitment, the amount of taking a part and putting back together you do, and the physical, emotional, and mental challenges and triumphs you experience. My training was THOROUGH and although I still feel very much a student, I can confidently say I have a strong foundation to move forward from.
In yoga, there is an Eight Limbed Path that is the foundation for creating a yoga practice. The eight limbs are: Yama (Universal Mortality), Niyama (Personal Observances), Asanas (Body Postures), Pranayama (Breathing Exercises), Pratyhara (Sensory Control), Dharana (Concentration), Dhyana (Meditation), Samadhi (liberation or union with the divine). The Yamas and Niyamas, can be seen as an ethical guide to living life, are further broken down into 5 principles each (homework-look them up yourself..LOL). One of these principles- Asteya or non-stealing- is the one that I have really focused on and made an effort to be mindful of (not stating that it is more important, just more aligned with the lesson I need to learn at this time).
So back to Asteya...When we think of stealing, we think of taking a physical object that belongs to someone else without their consent. As explained to me by my trainer, mentor, and friend (check her out-danasmithcoaching.com) stealing can occur with our time. Whether we take time away from ourselves (think about procrastination), or take time from others (think about being late, committing to something and canceling last minute, etc) or we allow others to take time from us; when we allow any of these to occur, we are not practicing asteya thus impacting the rest of our yoga practice (and just to clarify- yoga is not just stretching). So in learning this, I became more mindful of not stealing time from myself or from others and not allowing others to steal time from me. Now this can be a bit tricky seeing as we can't control everything, you're right, we can't. But we can control our actions and our thoughts and by doing so we are able to remain as true to ourselves as possible. This whole concept has made me shift my view of relationships (personal, romantic, professional) and how I allow people to occupy my mental, emotional, and physical space. It has also allowed me to become mindful of how I want to spend my time. At this point, if the desire is not there, I don't do it. As a result, I have shifted relationships with others to ensure that I am able to apply this principle. And let me be honest, although it is difficult restructuring the way you interact with others ( sometimes those you have known a long while), you'll be much happier living life on your accord rather than someone elses. I no longer feel obligated to spend time with anyone that I feel "steals" from me, and I no longer feel obligated to do things that that I do not desire doing.
So as I enter into a new year, I look forward to all the moments that will bring me joy, all the challenges that will bring me growth, and all the people that will enhance my life with their presence and love. Year 31- I am ready for you!
