12.08.2012

Commitment



Establishing stability in your practice creates more freedom in your life -
Christina Sell


To find inner peace often requires a practice, a commitment.
It is not a gift given to the special or lucky ones, but a choice you make.
To find inner peace, you must practice peace in every aspect of your life.

Just hearing the word “commitment” can sometimes make even the most confident person nervous, anxious to find an exit strategy.
The truth is that most relationships require continuous commitment to take root and grow.

I will say that my yoga practice is an ongoing relationship and it is not always sweet.

In the beginning it was just a flirt, weird and a high at the same time.
I wanted to practice every day, try new things and it was just so easy.
Like in the very beginning of a relationship. Maybe just a crush.
Or you continue to date more frequently.
You meet someone you really like and want to spend all your time with that person.
Like a carousel.
After the first year or so it started to be more challenging.
I didn`t like all the different qualities and especially not all the feelings it brought up.
I committed to my very first yogamat and continued to join public classes.
It turned out to be a very long relationship.
A relationship I was ready to work for.
Passionate.
Open for everything.

Stage 2 ( or 3 or 4 or 5) are when you think this is really bad for you.
Or maybe want to quit.
You're asking yourself: maybe another practice/ workout/ style may be better for me?
I feel so angry, sad, insecure or depressed on my mat.Not good enough.
Or maybe you feel everything at the same time. Messy.
Stage 2 repeats itself a hundred times. Or more. And it is always a breakthrough.
Hopefully you decide to commit.
To work even more with the relationship. To grow. Expand.
You are a couple. A team. With ups and downs.
Inseparable & uniqe.
And you have to choose each other again and again and again.
After a few years it is like a marriage.
A marriage you have to take care of. Nourish.
Discover over and over again.
Give love to.

We can turn anything we do into a practice by committing to do it with reverence.
Our commitments then become promises we make to ourselves.
Intentions we set instead of simply tasks we perform or rules we follow without much thought or contact with our essence.
Once we find stability within, we are free to listen to the wisdom and longing of our hearts.

More about committment in the Yoga Sutra:

Yoga Sutras 1.19-1.22: Efforts and Commitment


Virya is the positive energy of ego that is the support for the faith of going in the right direction. This energy of virya puts the power behind your sense of knowing what to do. When you are strongly acting on what you know to be your correct path, that is virya. When you feel weak or uncertain, and are taking little action, that is from lack of virya. Virya is that conviction that says, "I can do it! I will do it! I have to do it"


commitment