Thursday, September 3, 2020 (Part I),
Feelings.....emotions, etc. The modern world of 2020 puts an enormous emphasis on the importance of feelings and emotions.
You might find it strange that a website dedicated to yoga provides a conflicting theory on the importance, and unimportance, of feelings and emotions.
I've learned this; feelings change with the wind. One can "feel" good one moment, and "feel" less good within a few seconds. What can cause this wild fluctuation in mood and demeanor?....a myriad of things that should be paid absolutely no attention, and viewed as the transitory, temporary, inconsequential factors that they are (you read something.....you saw something....you recalled something....you ate something.....you slept poorly....you don't look the way you want to...you had 3 WhiteClaws last night because they keep coming out with creative and tantalizing new flavors that you're incapable of resisting....etc.).
If feelings and emotions can be so heavily influenced by temporary factors, then it's wise to always remind oneself that feelings and emotions are not real. No, I don't mean that they're not present, or that one imagines them. However, I do mean that, if something can be created/destroyed/changed so easily, then it isn't something that can, or should, have great influence over you. There are many gifts to a yoga practice, but one of the primary benefits is learning to discern what is real from what is fake; this ability comes from learning to control your mind, and control your emotions.
Enough chit-chat....time to begin...
Thursday, September 3, 2020 (Part II),
As always, I write Part I pre-practice, and Part II still on my mat, having just come out of Savasana.
Part I sounds sort of harsh and blunt (don't pay attention to your feelings?!?!?....what sort of a yoga blog is this!?!?). I'll temper Part I by saying that I, like anyone, struggle to control my feelings and emotions at times. I do try to practice what I preach, however, and challenge myself to focus on something else when I catch myself spiraling. Sometimes it works...sometimes it doesn't.....sometimes is sorta works....
Like a medical professional or attorney, it's called a "practice" because, unless it's dusted off, groomed, and maintained on a daily basis, it will atrophy and reduce. This means that, when you hit your yoga mat every day, you'll see more benefit than when you hit the mat once a month.
Today's practice was excellent, and should be one of the final times I go through an abbreviated sequence in my "rebuild" since my injury earlier this Summer.
Time to shower up and enter the world.
Namaste
Comments
Post a Comment