I was in yoga class recently and that day the teacher started off by stating the focus of our practice. She said three words: Attention, Acceptance, Appreciation.
It might appear that the main objectives of yoga are mastering each pose, achieving perfect balance, demonstrating Incredible Hulk-like strength, and rocking out olympian-style endurance, however, the point of yoga has very little to do with WHAT YOU DO, but rather, WHO YOU ARE. Are you focused on the present moment? Are you choosing to embrace and enjoy the effort? Are you being easy on yourself?
Maintaining a peaceful mindset throughout the challenges of the practice is the point of yoga.
And I believe, the point of life.
How does one manage to be peaceful in the face of challenges? Attention. Acceptance. Appreciation.
Attention. Bring your attention to the present moment. This requires major awareness as we humans tend to review the past and fret about the unknown future. Catch yourself in the act and choose to BE HERE NOW. Beyond being in the moment, attention is about paying close attention to how you view and think about the events, situations, and people that enter your life. It is our perceptions and thoughts that create our experiences. See if you can catch yourself in the act when attaching to expectations (how things/people SHOULD be), making the past into a dramatic story that could be turned into a made-for-TV-movie, making grand predictions of the future (and it ain’t pretty y’all!), judging yourself or others, and any other mind-chatter that gets in the way of shining your bright light.
Get all up in your business constantly. Question everything you think or say. Make sure it’s kind, loving, or at the very least, TRUE.
Acceptance. How much of your suffering comes from arguing with reality? Accepting everything is much, much easier said than done, right? So you may need a bit more than noble intentions. Accepting things and people for precisely what they are stems from your BELIEFS. What do you believe about this human experience? Do you believe that we are spiritual beings down here on earth with the sole purpose of evolving? Do you believe that all events, situations, and people come with great purpose to edge you along in your evolution? Do you believe that everything and everyone that comes your way is just one more opportunity from the universe to be kind and to shine that bright light of yours?
Answers to those questions often determines one’s ability to accept (and be peaceful) when big changes happen at work, a relationship comes to an end, or when the cursor on your computer screen simply refuses to move no matter how much play with your mouse. Ommmmmmmmmm…shanti.
Appreciation. Even I cringe a bit on stage when I say to my audiences, “choose an attitude of gratitude“. Did you or did you not just gag a little when you read that phrase? But choose an attitude of gratitude, damn it. Love to hate it but do it. Why? Because suffering cannot exist where there is gratitude. Take stock of what you got, baby. Nothing brings one down quite like a mental review of what’s missing, what’s wrong, and how many things suck. It’s amazing how spirits lift and vibrations rise when you choose to focus on how good you’ve got it, how much you do have, and how many things truly are going well. Now, the most powerful gratitude list includes the stuff that challenged you the most…caused you pain, made you crazy, and took you to the proverbial edge because I BELIEVE those experiences are the ones that have awakened you the most.
Because every thought has a chemical equivalent, these 3 A’s can change your health.
Because your mindset directly influences your performance and success (and not the other way around), these 3 A’s can change the work that you do.
Because your true nature is JOY, these 3 A’s can help you remember and reclaim it. Rock it out no matter what.
Because yoga is all about WHO YOU ARE in the face of challenges, these 3 A’s will make you a master no matter how many times you fall over.
Namaste,
susan