This is the image from my favorite hike Kendall Katwalk; the other weekend, I decided to run the trail past the Katwalk to Gravel Lake and back, about 15 miles with 3500ft elevation. By the time I got back, I was in so much pain, I could hardly sleep from muscle aches, but I felt good. I was not ready for this trail run; I had been running only 5 miles daily, I knew I was over my head, but I also knew I could do it if I faced the challenge.
While running, I reflected on being a yoga teacher and studio owner; I smiled about the yoga industry that is filled with attractive youngsters in yoga poses on these pretty mountains with feel-good, wisdom quotes. Oh, yogis can sure put those pretty quotes out there, but I often found that floral feel-good language is often escapism from the brutal reality of life.
Character is formed when we show up when it is murky, when it is hard, when we don't know the outcome, when we may fail, when we may not be liked. Character is to show up with our truth, to hold our truth even if it is not nice.
Humans are selfish by definition, that is not a bad thing; we all want to survive and thrive; thus we often do self-serving things. Nothing is wrong with that as long as we are clairvoyant and honest and do our best to act without harming others. But often in the yoga world, we face the over-simplified myth that to be yogic is to be connected, to be selfless, to say nice things; this clashes with reality, and when it does, often folks feel embarrassed and run away from the tough challenge of facing our situation.
But yoga also teaches us to stick with adversity; explore how we feel while holding that yoga pose for a long time. Yoga teaches us to be honest, Satya and Ahimsa, truth and nonviolence, to be balanced. I believe in the absence of truth; there cannot be nonviolence. When the truth comes out, and we did not face it, it will always cause harm. All we can do is to deliver our truth in a way to bring understanding, to help others understand our needs, why we feel, why we act the way we do; when we do that clearly, it may be tough, it may land in a way that is not nice, but over time it will be good. Because it was the truth, and it could not have been any other way.
Of course, the first big question for all of us is to know OUR truth. That is the big and complex question, are you willing to face what you feel, what you want even if it does not match some of the feel-good quotes on your Instagram? To be honest with ourselves is where it all starts. Character, integrity, truth, it is a long-distance run, it is rocky, murky, and it may even hurt, but in the end, it feels good. And you may be surprised; people will hold your space when you stand in your truth.
Dora
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