“I believe much trouble and blood would be saved if we opened our hearts more.” – Chief Joseph
Theme: Ahimsa
Taking things personally can be a form of violence to ourselves, and reflectively to the other humans involved. Quite often, painful reactions cause harm to everyone involved whether creating emotional pain, feelings of guilt, shame, inadequacies, disrespect. Do we strive with every word and every thought to consider how this may effect others involved? If I ask your opinion on a situation, and you disagree with me, I have a choice – to either take it personally assuming you are intentionally disagreeing with me to upset me, or, I can recognize that you are speaking from a place of your own experiences. If I choose to take it personally, most likely my entire attitude, posture and tone will change, and likely not go unnoticed creating unnecessary discomfort on both sides. We do have a choice in how we feel, we just need to find the courage to own it.
All Classes: Padma Mudra
As we practice ahimsa – non-harming this week, find and share your inner-most essence of love and radiance through lotus gesture. Padma Mudra helps you to remember the very essence of your innermost Self is love, radiance, and bliss. Connected to the goddess Lakshmi, we are reminded that as Lakshmi was born over time from the churning of the ocean, the beauty of our soul merges slowly, with patience and practice. This glow is not born of harmful action towards ourselves or others – with practice we strive to become aware of when we are causing harm. When we love and appreciate ourselves, when we choose to treat ourselves kindly, it shines outwards from the soul and reflects in how we speak with others. How can we share ourselves with others in a loving nature?