Quote of the day:
“It is very easy to conform to what your society or your parents and teachers tell you. That is a safe and easy way of existing; but that is not living. To live is to find out for yourself what is true.”
–Jiddu Krishnamurti
One of the causes of suffering is always comparing. Comparing, comparing, comparing. To the Joneses. To the person next to you in traffic. To the person on the mat next to you. To yourself, yesterday.
When I teach yoga I say don’t look at other people’s mats. This is a metaphor for life.
It’s important to be in this moment with yourself, and to not compare yourself to who you were in the past with judgment.
I see this a lot with my friends and their bodies. They say, “Oh, I used to look like this,” or “I used to fit into that,” or “This used to be looser on me.”
Here’s an idea: Throw away all your clothes and begin again! Buy all new clothes, so there’s no comparison.
Of course, the funny thing is, if we did this (the minimalist in me digs the idea because I’d buy even less than I have now, but the non-shopper in me is horrified at the thought of shopping, for anything), it would last for about a day. And then we’d be comparing again, to yesterday.
So what’s the answer?
Begin again”¦every day”¦on your mat. And drop all the judgment and the suffering as ya do.
This is the answer for me, anyway. Maybe it’ll work for you, and if it don’t, let’s find you something that does. Together!
Because it’s all about connection and love and joy and letting go””of the past. Beginning again, in this moment.
Have the best day ever!
Namaste!
Taylor Wells, M.A., M.Ed., RYT, owns Prana Power Yoga, Inc., super-mom.com and Prana Super-mom Consulting. She is also a Boston Herald columnist and blogger, United Nations Yoga Peace Ambassador, activist, and happy Super-mom of 5 kids.
Taylor plus 5