This and That

I was teaching yoga the other day and a song on my playlist jumped out at me (or at least some of the words did). The words went something like this; embrace your anger, your lust and your greed, and then the words went on to explain that we can only release the things we accept that we have.  Listening to those lyrics, I felt in that moment, like time stood still.  I was reminded that the truth about yourself shall begin to set you free.

One of the things my spiritual director often says to me is that I really  know myself, the good and the ugly (I am not to keen on the word bad), because truly we are all a mixture of this and that. You can be a great person, doing amazing things but you still have defects of characters, or bits of darkness. We are human after all. When I call my spiritual director it’s to address how things like pride, or attachment or ambition are affecting my life, especially my relationships. I have to first admit that I have those character traits, and only then can start to let them go. 

Tonight I went to a ceremony for a man I have always judged for some past mistakes he made. But listening to people honor how much he has helped them and what kind of great friend he has been, made me realize, I had viewed him as one dimensional. When in fact, he too is a mixture of this and that. Driving home I said to my husband how ashamed I am of my judgmental thoughts towards this man and how I need to be careful of this kind of thinking. So by accepting that I can be judgmental ultimately sets me free to start to release this behavior. I am grateful for that insight about myself tonight and will make it a point to get to know this man better.

In every situation we come at the world with a mind clouded from our past, in Yoga we called these past impressions on our mind Samskaras,  which is a Hindu concept of imprints left on the subconscious mind by experience.  Samskaras prevent us from keeping an open mind. Yoga helps to release these subsocious imprints, much like deleting a hidden file from a hard drive and we can then experience new ways of thinking, release Karma, and be present not judging things based on outdated thinking and past experiences.

Maybe during my yoga practice today, I was able to release something that ultimately helped me see my judgment of this man. Whatever happened one more time I am grateful that I went to my mat with an open mind and have been able to feel better connected with another human being.

Does this mean I will never judge another person, sadly no, but at least, I have chipped away at some of my darkness and the rays of light can shine a little brighter.

With Love

Sheree xo