"You have to be able to trust in the possibility of something new" was a quote my teacher said the other day in class. I don't know if she had gotten this quote from somewhere else or if she made it up herself, but really it wouldn't have matter either way. A dog could have said these words, and the wisdom would have been just as great. This quote's brilliance lies in what it advises, in what it supposes, and its cue for a successful practice (for life and for yoga). So lets break it down shall we.
First: Trust. Its what you have to do, according to this quote. So whats trust?
TRUST
[truhst] Show IPA
noun
1.
reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.
2.
confident expectation of something; hope.
3.
confidence in the certainty of future payment for property or goods received; credit: to sell merchandise on trust.
5.
the condition of one to whom something has been entrusted.
And thats called copy and pasting from Dictionary.com. Bam.
To trust means that you have to be able to have confidence in the weight of your belief. So, to make this concept something we can all relate to, have you ever felt that you trusted someone? Something? Somewhere? Some belief? And how exactly does that trust feel? Sometimes scary, sometimes reassuring....but almost always heavy in credence. Heavy in faith. Heavy in "know how"... almost to the point of predictability. This is a very good thing to have in your life. This is also something we can expand into many different aspects of our lives...just takes a little bit of mindfulness. Trust that your practice will grow, that you will feel things that you've never felt before. Trust that you can return to your breath and trust that your breath enhances your life force and consequently enhances a fuller awareness of yourself. This can be intense, but many things in life can be intense. The scintillating thing about practicing yoga is that we learn how to choose to respond to life's intensity vs letting it take over our everything (mind, action, perspective). TRUST: Let the magnitude of the word set in, and once it does apply it to things you know about and to things you don't. Consider the range of this word too; conversely you can trust that you don't trust some or something a great deal. But know what you trust and have a strong constitution to back up the way you feel. Finally, take a moment to appreciate that by simply thinking about the things you trust, you've just practiced mind expansion, creativity, and confidence. Good JOB!
So lets relate how trust is inwoven into the Yoga Sutras. (just for nerding out sake). We can start with the fifth niyama, Ishvarapranidhana. (yamas and niyamas being the ethical codes in Ashtanga Yoga). In English, ishvarapranidhana means self surrender, or devotion a higher power. Do you agree there is a higher power? When you see natural changes in weather, seasons, and disasters...would you not agree that it is not you controlling these things but another power? If not, comment below and we'll talk. But I'll go ahead and assume we're all on the same page that there is a larger spirit that plays a huge role in our lives. Try to accept the fact that a higher power presents us with new opportunities, new thoughts, new inspirations..etc. When faced with the "newness of life," see if you can trust that these new things will serve us. Maybe we receive a positive opinion about this new thing, maybe its negative..but ultimately its mental growth. Trust that the higher power is not working against you, but with you. To make you more whole. The more you trust in that belief, the more you'll be able to recognize the influence of the higher power in your life.
Ok...we got the niyama down, so I think we can start working on the "something new" part of the quote. Can we agree that change is inevitable? Yes, good that was easy. How do you feel about embracing the changes of life verses fighting them? For me, I naturally fight changes. I fight, I coerce, I adapt, and I settle just to avoid change. When change comes knocking on the door, fear is usually not too far behind. We don't know what change can bring; you roll the dice and sometimes you hit sevens and sometimes your roll snake eyes. Either way the dice are going to get thrown. So why not be aware of this? Accepting everyday that change could very well be right around the corner will actually emancipate us from fear and we can grow to learn so many fun new things when fear isn't in the way! So what I took from this quote, is that change is inevitable so don't be surprised or thrown off when its finally does come. Instead accept the situation for what it is and do your best to do whats right for you.
Lastly, I'd like to expand on the first part of the quote, :"you need to." For the longest time I have hated this statement. How you gonna tell me what "I need to?" (insert ghetto head whip and finger snap). But over time, with a lot of practice with patience, I have come to understand that yes sometimes we do "need to" do things. It kinda falls in line with the whole Higher Power, Smaller Power calculation. Me and my ego being the smaller power. So I've decided that I'm going to just up and do what I'm told. Sometimes that's the right thing to do. (sometimes)
So there you have it, a little piece of inspiration that I found to be valuable and I hope you do too. "you need to trust in the possibility of something new." Let go of the anxiety of the unknown future, and instead replace with your confidence of your stable presence. Trust in yourself and your years of experience to prevail over any obstacle that may come your way, or to appreciate any gift you may receive.
Peace
Roxy
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