Here’s a thought I’d like to share…
What I create, I can take down – or maybe I am free right now. ~Danna Faulds
All of our defenses, all of the things that hold us back, all the walls we hide behind – they are all of our own making! At some point, whether consciously or unconsciously, we create these things. At the very least, we have taken on as true some of the things we were told or modeled. Nonetheless, on the most basic level, we create these barriers through our own thoughts…and actually, that’s good news! Because what we create, we can take down.
Taking down barriers, defenses and protections isn’t necessarily easy or intuitive, but it is freeing! Imagine the difference between living in a one room house with no windows and living in a house with a wide open floor plan and tons of windows. The former might, at first, feel protective, but could soon feel restrictive – perhaps giving rise to fears and anxiety because of the feelings of confinement. The latter would give you room to move, breathing would be easier, and creativity might be sparked. That’s what I imagine the difference would be like if we could truly sense the confinement we create by holding back, walling off, and needing to be right. With this in mind, we can then start to deconstruct these ramparts and put in some windows. Let the light in. Let our own light shine out.
We get stuck in the notion that we are stuck. What if, as Danna Faulds says, we are free right now? What if we could become aware that we created our barriers and that by our own choosing we can take them down? Of course this is easier said than done. I know that far better than I wish I did. But, if we’re willing to look at it, allow ourselves to deeply understand our own truths, get help if we need it, and do the work of dismantling the wall brick by brick, we really can be free. After all, we built it; we are the only ones that can take it down. Perhaps just understanding and wholeheartedly believing this would be enough to sense the freedom we already have.
In yoga, as in life, when we decide how things “should be” or “will be” prior to experiencing them, we create a virtual “box” inside which we then operate. We create our box, believe it to be real, and then, operate as if somehow we were placed in the box verses having jumped in there of our own accord.
On our mats, we often decide we cannot do certain things, back-bending poses for example, and then we operate under that self-constructed premise – limiting ourselves and our experiences to the confines of the familiar. Or we decide that we should strive to have our poses look like those we see in magazines or in class and then cease to listen to the wisdom of our bodies while working toward a preconceived ideal – often leaving ourselves injured or deflated. The box we are operating in is one we created! It is “virtual” …implied…not real! If we can simply tell ourselves it is not real, perhaps we can find it possible to not act as if it is. (It’s sure as heck more possible than if we keep on believing we are stuck, it’s someone else’s fault and it’s beyond our control!) …Just sayin’
Wishing you freedom from your boxes, barriers and brick walls,
Namasté Augusta