Practicing Yoga, more than anything, keeps me in the zone of conscious change. 

Voluntarily, I stepped into the pitch darkness, trusting the sign that told me to “Use your left hand on the wall.” The wall was smooth as my hand gently glided along it while I took small steps forward. My hand rounded a curve that felt like a gentle urging forward…to what I didn’t know. 

My eyes were no longer a resource. Breathing slowly to stay calm and trust my hands and feet. Movement slower, no rush.

I was in the labyrinth beneath Daishoin Temple near Hiroshima, Japan.

Trust moved me forward until one corner rounded into a soft light of beautiful pictures that gave me a sense of reassurance and calm. More darkness and then out into the light.

I laughed with giddy delight.

How many times in my life have I fought ‘darkness’, only to come out on the other side just fine?

WHAT IS CONSCIOUS CHANGE?

Conscious change doesn’t mean trying to control the change or make things happen a certain way to find a certain outcome. It means having an intention to guide actions, do things differently, and trust the process.

Change is inevitable. Period. End of story.

But part of being human is having a nervous system and mind that REMEMBERS pain and discomfort. This system is wired to protect. And change can be painful, even though it is necessary and inevitable.

I enjoy watching birds. Their typically quick movements, trying to take necessary actions and keep an eye out for danger. This process is visible in their movement. I recently saw a number of different birds this past month that had slower and calmer movements. They were used to humans and no longer felt threatened by them, so they were able to relax more around me. 

Four pigeons playing in the leaves as I walked by. A crow resting a foot from my shoulder.

I could feel MY nervous system and mind taking in this information, wondering if I could trust what I was seeing.

DISCERN WHAT IS REALLY A THREAT TO YOU

Even though our inherent biology wires us to keep watch for danger, more so if we’ve lived through dangerous situations, we have the capacity to change this ‘default setting.’ We can consciously discern what to put our energy towards and what to let go. Decide what is truly worth focusing on or not.

The South Korean government has been in the news the past month and a half, magnifying an aspect of life over here. Friends and family see this in the US National news and keep wondering if I’m safe. I reassure them that besides it being ‘newsworthy’, the actions of those politicians have had very little effect on my daily life. Considering everything, South Korea is still a significantly more safe place than most of the US.

SPIRITUALITY, DISCERNMENT, AND CONSCIOUS CHANGE

Various paths in Traditional Yoga, and many other spiritually-centered traditions, have found systems to learn how to override the fear-based system of survival to move into calm and peace habits. It’s up to us to find one that resonates. Then, put trust in it and simply practice each day.

That is conscious change:

• Having an intention, in this case cultivating more calm and peace, 
• And doing daily actions that move toward the intention. 

When I was walking through that labyrinth blind to sight, I could feel my mind flutter with some fear. So, I did what I could in that moment. I did what I know has helped to calm my mind and connect to trust in the past: Slow down my breath, slow down my movement, and enjoy the sensation of following my hand. Trust that those who created this labyrinth had a higher purpose for the experience. 

There are many experiences EVERY DAY that allow you to practice an intention. I love this! I don’t have to plan something different to make practice happen. All I have to do is live that day and use what the day brings. So beautiful! 

That dark labyrinth experience allowed me to walk in a different way. It was novel, which helped my brain to access new neural pathways and strengthen the experience of trust in my mind. Novelty does this.

DO SOMETHING DIFFERENTLY, CONSCIOUSLY

In this new year – what would happen if you took action regularly to do the normal, mundane actions of each day a little differently?

• Put your shirt on differently
• Close your eyes while doing a task
• Take a different route
• Run or skip instead of walk
• Park at the back of the parking lot
• Let your child cook a meal (depending on their age)
• Tell someone ‘no’ when you usually say ‘yes’
• Reach out to someone, instead of listening to the excuses why you ‘shouldn’t’
• Pause to listen to the quieter wisdom within

The possibilities of doing one small thing differently each day are infinite. 

You might just discover a YOU that you weren’t aware of or didn’t think was possible…

Shanti.

 

P.S. Is this the year that you listen to that inner voice and ask for help to face emotional reactions so they no longer keep you stuck, limited, and keeping you from fully enjoying life? If so, I may be able to help! Let’s chat…feel free to set up a Connection Call with me here. I’d enjoy talking with you!