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In my experience it takes courage to have a regular yoga practice. I am not referring to the guts that are needed when your teacher is gently nudging you to turn your whole world upside down in a hand stand, although that certainly demands courage for many of us. No, I am referring to the courage it takes to put everything else aside and be present with ourselves. Our bodies, our breath, and last, but far from least, our thinking minds.
Many of us grew up learning that if something is painful or uncomfortable, we should immediately try to remove those feelings. Sometimes by removing the source, and often by covering it over. Like taking aspirin for a head ache. We learned that pain and discomfort are a disturbance to what life "should" be like, enjoyable and pleasant. So by removing the pain or the discomfort we can get back to living actual life.
Now, this might be healthy when you have stepped on a thorn, but if this is how we approach life in general, we have a real problem. After all, many events in life are not pleasurable, and in fact, some are so painful they take our breath away. Or even our ability to stand up. But if we want to be truly alive, we need to find a different attitude to the painful parts. We need to see that the really challenging parts are not interruptions to life, they are life as much as anything else. And if we constantly try to move away from what makes us uncomfortable, we are closing our selves down. We can not be the whole beings we desire to be. And there can not be yoga, union.
By coming onto our mats or cushions, we are challenged to be with whatever is taking place within us at that moment. Sometimes what we then see is anything but pretty or easy. It can be painful and very uncomfortable. And this is when we need to have the courage to stay with it. To relax into ourselves and see what is. If we dare to see and acknowledge, then, there can be change. And that, that is what I call fearlessness....
"Don't push away all that is uncomfortable
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and cling to all that is pleasurable.
This is ego.
Instead, breathe deeply & relax into the present moment.
This nervous feeling in your heart?
Breathe in, breathe out.
Stay for one moment.
This is fearlessness."
Waylon Lewis
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