A couple of weeks ago I was
driving somewhere I'd never been and I was following my GPS app which took me
on a seemingly random detour. A friend who was in the car with me kept
saying "Are you sure you want to go that way?" And I kept insisting
that Waze must know a shortcut, or that there was traffic ahead. I was wrong. It was totally unnecessary.
When GPS devices first came
out there were all sorts of stories about people turning onto railroad tracks,
into lakes, the wrong way down one way streets, blindly following the
directions and letting go of common sense and reason. I was always so
critical of those folks, and yet here I was. And then realized that only
two weeks before that, on the same exact road on the way to a soccer game I had
followed exactly the same useless detour, blindly following! Well you
know the saying: fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
My blind following of my GPS
was the reminder that we need to be attuned to an inner compass. We are inundated with outside voices – advice
from family, friends, doctors, teachers, media, etc., and in some of that outside
listening we lose our connection to our own personal guidance
system. So how do we create an internal GPS? By listening to our
hearts, tuning into a malleable inner awareness, one that keeps the destination
in mind, but is willing to shift and adjust to get where it wants to go. By
taking the time to be quiet, still, bored, and open to what the Universe might
have to say. When we do that (for example, in yoga practice) we can begin to
sketch out the map of our heart.
It finally feels like summer
is upon us. The change of season is a
great time to look at goals, reevaluate your map (the spiritual path is simply
a map to a higher consciousness). Turn off the GPS awareness of outer
listening, and get in touch with your own true purpose. So take this
opportunity to begin to sketch out your map: it should have a point A (where
you are now) and a point B (where you want to go). What it doesn’t need
are all the things that might possibly stand in your path and delay you or
prevent you from getting there – leave those out of the picture! As you envision your map, reflect on how it
serves yourself and your needs, and how it intersects with the paths of those
around you and helps them to get where they are going as well.
I actually have a lot of
respect for my GPS (even though I am clearly too dependent on it). It
reminds me that there is not just one path to get us where we need to go – we
can choose to take highways or avoid them, to take the shortest route or the
most scenic. And the answers to those
questions really depend on what your personal trajectory looks like right now –
there’s no right or wrong way, there is simply this question: ”what is my goal
and what will get me there?” My
favorite feature is “recalculating” – made a wrong turn: “recalculating”, hit
some construction: “recalculating”, someone else’s car is blocking the road:
“recalculating” – it doesn’t get upset, doesn’t get frustrated that something
is in the way – it just knows where it needs to go, and figures out how to
adjust to get there. The destination is always there, the route can
meander.
I saw the movie Finding Dory
this past weekend, and the story is she is trying to find her family that she
lost years ago. Her motto is "just keep swimming". That's
spiritual practice: Listen deeply. Draw out your map. Just keep swimming.
Practice recalculating. Have faith. Enjoy the journey.
Practices:
Off the mat: Keep your destination in mind, but
turn off your GPS machine or app (remembering that sometimes we find the best
adventures when we are “lost”). Attune instead
to an inner voice, one that you have to get really quiet to hear, but one that
will guide you to where you need to be (which is not necessarily where you
thought you wanted to be, and might not get you there as fast as you wanted to
go). Be adventurous, but use common
sense. Take a different route than you
are used to.
On the Mat: Take time at the start of practice to really quiet yourself. To rid yourself of external distractions so
you can be attuned to your inner guidance system. In my classes this week we worked on arm
balances, which require the balance of effort (working really hard, doing the
prep, dedication to the practice) and surrender (letting go, releasing fear),
of steadfastness (keeping the destination always in the forefront) and faith
(which lets us meander on the path and find a different way of getting where we
want to go).
For the Anusara junkies:
Open to Grace: Open up to an inner voice of wisdom.
Open up to the wisdom of the
Universe
Ground (foundation) and ground
yourself in your own personal map.
Muscular Energy: dedication/steadfastness
Drawing into FP to connect to
inner voice/compass/map
Draw from fingers, toes up
arms legs into heart, all awareness settling there in the inner compass.
Pull (from fingers up arms to
HFP for arm balances) into the power of your heart map.
Draw into HFP (for arm
balances) and pull all your energy and awareness into your inner compass.
Engage muscles with total
confidence in your path.
Inner Spiral: Widen sitbones and open up to recalculating to get
where you want to go.
Outer Spiral: Sink tailbone into faith in your inner GPS
Organic Energy: faith
Radiate confidence in your
chosen path.
Fill your pose with faith in
your inner compass.
