You may remember back to your childhood and having this same argument with siblings or friends. Brings back memories, doesn’t it? I remember my brother, sister and I would go round and round till dad finished it for us. Funny how a higher power had to step in and call it like it is from a place of maturity, truth and love.
Today I still go through this very same argument, only it looks a little different. I’m not always aware that it is happening, but as I was preparing my class on Ahimsa this morning I became aware of the argument clear as day. Right there on the mat, in front of my class, the two sides of me (ego & self) carrying on… Yes, you were a good sister… No, you were not! The ego doesn’t care when it unleashes itself and in the wake of losing my brother only 2 weeks ago, there we were for all the world to see, embarrassed but not ashamed, sharing our inner dialog.
Teaching on Ahimsa (non-violence/non-harming), the lesson was about loving yourself and being compassionate to yourself. As I talked on, I realized the depth of the lesson and was overwhelmed at how great this lesson was for me. Tears and teaching — not the best combination — but growing as a human is messy on the inside and yoga helps clean us up.
When our bodies are broken, although we want to keep muscling our way through things, sometimes we have to gently yield our physical self to receive healing. But when our hearts are broken, we tend to bandage it up, seal it off from the world and ignore that there is a problem saying we are “fine” when we really need a transfusion of love for the emotional self to receive healing.
Ahimsa is the delicate balance of truth with love and compassion for self as well as others. Whether it is mental, physical, chemical, emotional, or spiritual, I encourage you to observe in what ways to you currently practice ahimsa and how can you expand that practice, on or off your mat.
Namaste,
Jenny
