03.19.17 Dharma Talk : Essential Life force

It is incredibly difficult to protect our life force in modern western society.  This is probably extra true for the US.  For myself, I can say that one of the reasons I teach yoga, is because I know that my commitment to doing that with any amount of integrity requires me to practice yoga and in doing so continually taking stock of my life force.

I am a wife, mother, daughter - I work full time and I am the primary provider of wealth in my family and quite frankly, there are no external queues in my life  encouraging me to evaluate and tend to my essential life force.  TBH, the people I love and serve are not the slightest bit concerned with it until it is visibly diminished.

I think the best we can do here in service to our Ojas, is to come to our mats and take stock of our breath.  Take stock of our quality of thought.  Take stock of our bodies.  Move with intent and continue to observe what we are like.

In the context of this class, I have great intention to serve everyone who has suffered from judgements directed at their bodies by either by themselves or from others.  The amount of energy it takes to avoid judgements, feelings of inadequacy, disappointment is not small and it takes a toll.  I can personally tell you that I have avoided my mat for months or years at a time in order to avoid feeling any of those feelings.

I would like to hold out the absolute truth that everything is perfect.  You need not do anything on your mat today but take a look at your perfection.  Take some time and move slowly in asana and develop gratitude for all that is good.  I promise that however your individual distresses manifest themselves, creating nourishment for what is just right in the world is the perfect contradiction to dissolve them.  fear and the like beget fear and the like.  love and nourishment beget love and nourishment.  It is easy. everything can be easy.  It is possible to give up hard forever.