Saturday, December 29, 2012

risk and pain

risk and pain? gosh! who wants to talk about or think about that! we spent so much time seeking comfort and safety in this complicated world, we sometime forget that pain and risk are the elements that create that comfort. without pain and risk there would be no olympic champions to marvel over and respect, there would be no nobel peace prize winners, and yet we tend resist risk and pain in out own personal lives.

i attended a kundalini yoga class yesterday, for the first time in a long time and learned a great deal. firstly, i learned that i am a lot more out of shape that i thought i was (but that is about to change) and secondly, that yoga is painful! it hurts to hold a pose for a long time, and breathe and focus. it is difficult. no getting around that. but that is part of the point: yoga can be painful, just as life can be painful. it is how we deal with that pain that is important.

yoga is a "practice". the definition of practice is a repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency. one practices, dealing with or managing pain so that when painful situations arise in daily living one is better prepared at handling it. 

yoga is also sometime referred to as a "discipline". i'm interested in this word too as it applies to the process of life and personal development. wikipedia has this to say about discipline: 
Discipline is the assertion of willpower over more base desires, and is usually understood to be synonymous with self control. Self-discipline is to some extent a substitute for motivation, when one uses reason to determine the best course of action that opposes one's desires.
risk, pain, practice, discipline. these are heady concepts, but all part of the game when it comes to finding the path to better health in body, mind and spirit. take a deep breathe and plunge into the most rewarding time of you life: blossom!

2 comments:

  1. Yes Timo, I'm still out here reading. You challenge me to get back to Yoga. When I first moved to San Diego I needed something that took me out if my home, and out of my head. I found that the discipline that yoga presented was exactly what I needed. It became a daily practice, both at home and with a community of men. For several reasons I dropped out, and have yet to find my way back. I hope to get back there soon. Thanks for sharing this. I hope that others will find your words equally as inspiring. Peace.

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  2. thanks for following this blog, and this evolving process. knowing that you have motivated others through your blog has been an inspiration for me.
    i hope i can do the same for others, and that together we can share ideas and make positive changes to improve our collective journey.

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