"You're either in it, or you're IN THE WAY". This is a direct quote from one of my teachers that she chose to share this week in one of her weekly videos. She had heard this in a class that she took earlier from another yoga teacher and friend. This is one of the things I love about the practice of yoga. Usually the things we are hearing from our teachers are words and nuggets of wisdom that at one point in time they heard from someone else. What resonates with us, we transform into fuel for our own practice and teaching. But I digress, back to the quote which in a very big way this week, is what I needed to hear. Last week I skipped blogging. I didn't really mean to do it. There was a moment in time when I tried to tell myself that it was a totally purposeful and necessary act, but as I sit here now I can say in all honesty it was very much just because I was being lazy and in my own way. One of the reasons that I started this blog and teaching weekly online classes was so that I could create an opportunity for myself to regain some recognition of who I am outside of being a mama. I knew that if I commited to doing something that I loved and was passionate about on a weekly basis, my attitude in my daily exisistence would improve greatly. Basically I was seeking accountability outside of my immediate obligations to my family. Like anything new, the first few weeks were filled with excitement and easy inspiration driven by the "newness" of it all. Every Sunday morning has been such a positive experience for me, in that I walk away from each class ready to take on the day and the week ahead (which I hope is how you are all feeling as well btw!). Like anything new however, it reaches a point when its shiny brightness wears off and the reality sets in that that level of excitement, 100% of the time, is totally unsustainable. The reason that this quote hit so close to home this week is that the concept is so simple. Are you in it, meaning present for your life, your people and the goals you have set for yourself? Or are you in the way and finding ways to sabotage those goals and relationships with either yourself and others by making choices that contradict what it is you want? The simple truth for me is that I am in my way because I am not really doing the work. It has been an issue in my life for a while now. I tend to choose to do things that I am naturally good at, which is wonderful. Although something might come easily to me, I tend to "ride the easy" rather than digging deeper and working harder to make something that is good, great. I often lack consistency and therefore I am in the way of my own possibilities towards growth. The very tangible way that I see it playing out is in how I practice yoga each week. On Sunday I am ready to get on that mat, and because I am teaching while I practice I am extremely present for myself in that hour of time. As I move through the rest of the day on Sunday I feel alive and ready to bring on a new week. On Monday I am still riding that "high" and don't usually practice on that day since it the day our family gets to spend time together and Justin is off. No problems there. Tuesday-Thursday I either practice or I don't but I don't have a real commitment going one way or the other. Friday and Saturday are usually the days that I am in a mad scramble to come up with some dose of inspiration to prepare for my class and blog post on Sunday again...and so it goes, week after week. Rather than consistently doing the work that will not only benefit my teaching but my daily life, I continue to get in my own way by not committing to being accountable on a regular basis. It's like I'm constantly studying to ace the test, but not really studying to gain real knowledge. I am most certain that in everyone's life, when really examined, this kind of behavoir exists in some capacity. Whether its in your relationships, your work, or your personal growth, we all have something that we are standing in our own way of. I am also certain that just as maintaining a 100% level of excitement all the time is impossible, failure is inevitable. Failure is and will always be a part of any process. How often we continue to fail at the same things and whether or not we recognize why we are failing, however, are totally within our control. So in an effort to delve deeper and create an opportunity to be more consistently great, I am heaping more commitment and accountability onto my plate. I am thinking that perhaps the problem is also the solution. As I write this, it is Saturday December 3rd and on January 3rd I will turn 34 years old. In the last month of this current year in my life, I am committing to stepping on my mat every single day. Whether its for 15 minutes or 90 minutes it doesn't matter, but even as a mom of a young child, I am certain I can make it happen. I am writing this here, so that those of you are reading this can be my accountability factor. Feel free to check in and ask how it's going, either below in the comments, or on Facebook and Instagram. On the other hand, if there is something that YOU know you are currently standing in the way of in your life and would like to make a commitment to change, please comment below or message me directly and tell me what it is. We will be talking about this a lot in the One OM at a Time online group, so feel free to sign up here for some extra love and support! So today I ask you "What are you in the way of?" and "What are you going to do about it so that instead you can be IN IT?" Love you all always, Namaste and Happy Sunday!
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Sara Packardis a Mama, Wife, Yoga and Meditation Teacher, Coach, Writer and Activist. You can read more about her here. Archives
September 2021
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