Many of us live our lives filled with stress, grief, fears, insecurities, doubt and other negativity. We constantly try to control things around us – people, circumstances and other events. We see life as an ongoing challenge because we’re often disappointed. When we do this, we’re resisting rather than accepting life as it is.
We can resist anything and there are many forms of resistance. Although we can resist happiness, relationships, money and love, we may even resist acceptance of our bodies and who we truly are. These views keep us very narrow because we’re not living with the flow of life. We’re going against the current rather than living from our ultimate self, from a place of wisdom and knowing. When we live in the flow, we accept life as it is. Rather than seeing things as disappointments, we begin to see them as lessons instead. The right people begin to come into our lives as well. They might not be the people you think you need at the time, but we have faith that these people will teach us a bigger lesson. We trust that the universe is looking after us and everything is flowing just right.
The next time someone cuts you off in traffic or cuts in front of you at the grocery store, use this as a chance to learn more about yourself. These are all just little things in the whole scheme of life and when we react aggressively, it only creates further imbalances within ourselves. When you feel frustrated, take a deep breath and let it all go. Become more observant of your habitual thoughts – the ones that recycle over and over in your mind. When you notice these thoughts taking control of you, come back to a place of acceptance. Deep breaths keep you present and help you drop your “story”.
Our stories are our autobiographies inside our minds. They are a collection of our habitual thoughts, and we believe them to be true. Some examples are: I’m just not the kind of person who travels, I don’t like trying new foods, I’m like this, and that’s how I’ll always be, I’ve never been able to save money…and so on.
Trust that the universe has a plan for you. All of the people and things around us and our lives are here to deepen our understanding of ourselves. When you resist things, you are stopping the flow of energy. Energetic patterns hold our universe together so we start to become more attuned to this form of energy. We can sometimes feel stuck in our lives and this is usually because we’re resisting something. Living from a place of resistance will affect your life deeply in many ways. It can even affect your health and your physical well-being.
As a quick exercise, start becoming more aware of yourself. As you increase your awareness, notice what you’re resisting right away while you’re reading this. It becomes easier to understand once you shine a light on this area. Detecting this resistance is the first step. When you start to flow with life, you become more in touch with your intuition. Life will guide you rather than push you.
If you would like to explore this a little deeper, take this exercise outside. Go to a quiet area in a park or even your backyard. Close your eyes and sit down. Start to breathe deeply and tune your attention inwards. Now begin to listen to the wind, the trees, the birds and any other noises. Listen to the stillness around. Listen to the flow of nature. Notice that nothing is forced or controlled. Ask yourself a few questions:
- How would it feel to live in peace more often?
- Is it an option for you to let go a little?
- Is your necessity to control life stemming from somewhere?
- What could you achieve if your mind was free of fear, worry, regret or resentment?
Starting today, allow everything to just flow – your breath, your feelings, your sensations, your movement and your experiences. Feel the flow of life streaming through you more optimally and more abundantly. Enjoy the process…
By Sarah Hunt
Yoga Instructor at The Dan Roberts Group
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