Sitting down to write a blog post this week has been challenging and I kept getting stuck. I’ve started, stopped, edited and finally thrown out what I was working on because it wasn’t resonating with me. I’d just as soon get up and walk away. But I have made a commitment to myself to post one blog a week. It’s as much of a practice on focus and discipline for myself as it is about sharing Yoga for the Mind content to those of you who enjoy it. It can be hard to get unstuck!

JUDGMENT OR ACCEPTANCE

I could get upset and analyze why I’m at this juncture to begin with, but that would be wasted energy. 

Judging reactions keeps you stuck.

The fact is, being in a challenging situation won’t change no matter how many opinions, excuses, expectations we may throw at it. So, why not look it in the eye and just take some action to see what happens.

Accepting reactions allows movement forward.

It’s been one of those days, where my mind just wants to distract from and avoid the tasks at hand. I’ve been having a conversation with it to get unstuck and move forward:

My Mind: “Argh! This is so hard. I was stuck here about twice before! It’s no wonder I’m at where I’m at. I need a break.”

Me: “Yes, it’s interesting we are here again. Totally fine to take a break from this and do something else. What would help us right now?”

My Mind: “I really want to zone out to a rerun of Gilmore Girls.”

Me: “Would that help us move through this dilemma once and for all? I wonder what are some of the options we have that could help…?”

Accepting my mind’s state validated how I was feeling and reminded myself there were actions that might help rather than stay stuck. In the end, I took two helpful actions that were in line with moving through instead of staying stuck. I found the answer I had been looking for to resolve the challenge I faced because I accepted the fact of the problem. This allowed me to come at the problem from a different angle and move forward.

ASAT AND SAT

This ‘dialogue’ I had with my mind reminded me of other scenarios: the Child vs the Parent, the Student vs the Teacher, Asat vs Sat. Asat (uh suht) is a Sanskrit word that means ‘unreal.’ This ‘unreal’ is everything that changes and is impermanent, thus can not be the ‘Truth’ which never changes. The truth or what is real is Sat (suht). My mind represents Asat and my discerning Self represents Sat.

In order to work towards a more calm mind state, discerning what is ‘real’ and what is ‘unreal’ is important. Being stuck is usually the mind narrowly focused, missing a broader view. That broader view can open up options and help get unstuck. In my example, if I had taken my mind’s version of the story of blame and excuses as true, I would have ended up on the couch, avoiding the ‘pain’ I was feeling in my work at that moment. It would have been totally fine if I did that too…of course, then I’d be dealing with the consequences of still needing to move through the challenge and possibly be upset with myself for wasting time.

Instead, the ‘real’ information was that I indeed had tried avoiding the dilemma twice before and I was back at it a third time. My discerning mind decided I was going to get through the challenge now and move forward so I had to do something different. That clarity helped to ‘coach’ my mind towards actions that would help move through the situation instead of staying stuck.

And it gave me a topic to blog about.😊 It helped me get unstuck twice today!

REFLECTION

How will you explore these two concepts in your life this week – Judging the reaction keeps you stuck; Accepting the reaction allows movement forward?

Namaste.

PS. Stuck in emotional reactions that you just can’t seem to escape? I’ve been helping women for 20 years to face emotions that are negatively impacting their lives in ways they can no longer avoid. At the ‘last straw’ and ready to use emotions instead of allowing them to use you…let’s talk! Book a free, 60-minute Clarity Call with me.