What Yoga Teaches us about our Past and the Path

Photo by Kimberly Lempart

I've written before that I dislike the saying, "Everything happens for a reason." Like most cliches, the phrase is overused and not always helpful. Especially when we are in the middle of something difficult, traumatic, or painful, "It happens for a reason" feels dismissive and minimizing.

Only when we look back on difficult situations we have overcome, do we gain the perspective of wisdom and understanding. Nothing feels fair or reasonable in moments of despair and confusion. But if we can trust ourselves, and trust that we are meant to grow, little by little, as we move through a challenging time, the faith that we will learn and change along the way will keep us going.

So wherever you are right now, everything that led up to this moment was necessary. Just like everything that arrives after this moment will also be part of your individual path, and your individual awakening.

Yoga teaches us that all experiences are felt and processed in the body. Resisting an experience is the same as refusing to let it go. Ignoring an emotion or situation does not make it disappear. The body holds on, whether the mind addresses it or not.

Your experience is happening - you must stay in it if you want it to move. Of course, we have choices. We do hold the power to change the course of our life. This can be a change in belief or behavior. If there is a pattern, a relationship, a job, or a situation that we don't like, we have the choice to shift. We only know our choices when we observe what is happening right now, not from a place of judgment, victimhood, or hopelessness, but from a place of absolute power and acceptance for what is.

While we are certainly affected by other people’s actions towards us, things done to us do not have to define who we are. They can be the catalyst for great change, necessary change. Likewise, we should admit how our own choices have affected our path and make changes as we see fit.

Any adjustment in course can only be good enough for right now. A year from today, you might want to make a different choice. Choices you made last year might be things you look back on and wonder why. We all only to the best we can with what we are given in any moment. Treat yourself with kindness and compassion and allow for mistakes. Yoga also teaches us that all things in life are temporary - not meaning things don't last forever, but meaning things change and grow, deepen and expand. Consider something you have been in long term - a romantic relationship, family, career... each has changed as you have changed.

All paths have led you here. You do not have to be tied to anything in your past, but you would not be here today if it weren't for all of your experiences. Move forward, knowing the path is infinite, and you are exactly where you are supposed to be.

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