A story about a minor inconvenience turned into life lessons.
Happy April!
I am getting reminded of springtime daily! My walks are now colorful, there’s rain showers quenching the soil, and birds naturally flying inwards to warm temperatures. Then there’s the changes I see within myself and the people around me; I see friends quitting their jobs to start a new journey back to themselves; I see excited new parents awaiting the arrival of their baby; I see people blooming from within as they step into a new version of themselves; people shedding off what no longer serves them as a whole; the shedding and blooming of relationships with others and one’s own mind, body, and soul.
I believe one of Spring’s teachings is the ability to detach ourselves from the stagnant energy that has impeded our growth, and help us reach our highest potential. Growth flourishes in Spring with the constant reminders from nature. I have seen myself throw away and donate all things ranging from clothes, make up and hair products I don’t use, and re-organizing my closet and bathroom necessities to make my life easier (minimalism). However, Spring cleaning isn’t just a once a year thing; In my opinion, seasonal cleaning should be done 4x a year, to help keep your space refreshed and to serve Aparigraha, one of the yamas, meaning to be free from hoarding or collecting. Though the deeper meaning of the yama represents trust in God, the Universe, that you have everything you need presently, and if you ever do need something, it is the trust that God will help provide that for you at its proper time. How beautiful is this teaching? “The Yogi makes his life as simple as possible and trains his mind to not feel the loss or the lack of anything” (Light on Yoga, p 35).
Apart from the spring cleaning, the month of April has already served me enough lessons with one story on April 2nd, 2022:
I am a full-time yoga teacher and Reiki practitioner; since I’m passionate, the energy I give out drains me quickly if I don’t take the time to properly re-energize. Saturdays are my days off, and though I look forward to resting, I still planned it out. I took a yoga class and stayed for the team meeting (as scheduled), however, I ran late with the meeting by talking, and was late to meet up with a friend. As I got ready, I left my new lipstick on top of my bed (it was supposed to go in my purse). I’m in a rush to leave the house so I also leave the bedroom door open, lipstick still on top of the bed. In the process of leaving JUST the parking lot, I have a thought: wait, did I leave my lipstick on top of the bed? Would Bali eat it? No, she doesn’t do things like that. Should I go back and check just in case? ..No, I’m late.
Lipstick evidence in the Paws
Pause. Can you go back to a time where you had a thought and doubted it would manifest?
We do this all of the time...
-When we ignore the courage to communicate how we feel
-When we knew we truly wouldn’t wake up early to get gas in the morning before work
-When we knew we should have bought the tickets before they were sold out
This is familiar territory: we ALL doubt ourselves and the universe’s powers to gives us many ‘should-have’ lessons! Not to say our thoughts and actions are regrets, but they are pivotal moments that could have had a different outcome, regardless of positive or negative, our doubts tend to drive our decisions.
But this isn’t a story of how I doubted myself, this is just one of the lessons.
I decide to take a pit stop home after spending time with my friend to change clothes and go to the Handstand Jam, considering I was already an hour late- I’ve been late all day.
This is where more lessons take place, and luckily I was able to bring awareness to them so I can better myself and quit old habits or continuous cycles that don’t serve my higher purpose. I must attune myself with the lesson in order to consistently practice raising my own vibration.
Do not rush.
Naturally, I get home and Bali greets me, as I head to the bedroom I see the evidence:
Bali decided to try on my new dark pink lipstick and left the evidence on top of my new comforter, her paws, nose, and of course, the rest is in her stomach. It doesn’t look like I’ll make it to the last hour of handstand jam after all.
We all do this, we rush and suffer the consequences afterwards. Sure, I can’t lie and say that rushing has never helped me, because it has, but there’s always a price to pay when it comes to shortcuts. This made me realize that where there is a lack of presence or patience, there are karmic repercussions on the way for you to give your time and consciousness to.
This goes for all of us who have ran out of the house with fresh coffee, late for work, and spilled it on our shirt either on the drive there or at the office. Sometimes the karma is immediate, sometimes it takes its sweet time because perhaps you have ignored that lesson too many times. Karma recycles itself. So where you rush to do things, new situations will require patience and making up that time.
If your routine works, don’t change it.
When inconveniences happen, do you ask yourself why or what could have been avoided? I start questioning why she acted naughty and out of character. For one, she’s in heat and moody as fuck. Two, her routine has been off all day and it started with me.
That morning I had taken her out, and she didn’t poop as quickly as she usually does. However, I didn’t want to be late for Yoga, so I just said I would take her out after the team meeting. As with the yoga practice, routine is discipline.
Practice Akrodha (freedom from anger).
I cannot be angry at her for something I could have avoided by sticking to the routine. It is a waste of energy to anger, especially since yogic philosophy teaches you to be stern with your faults, but gentle with others' faults. She is a dog, she comes with pure non-harming intentions and I cannot judge her for ruining my bed comforter. In Reiki, the practice holds the same standard, "just for today, I will not anger”. The best way to control my anger is to control my reaction to it. Yes, we can’t help that we are humans with emotions, but are you grudging onto your anger and using it throughout life? "This prevents the mind from seeing things in perspective and makes one's judgments defective". (Light On Yoga, p 33)
This lesson contributes to other aspects of my life, but it is one to consistently work through.
Do not doubt yourself and your ability to turn your manifested thoughts into reality.
Flashback to my decision to not turn around and keep my friend waiting any longer for me.
I truly could have taken 2 extra minutes to turn around, check if my thought was accurate, praise my intuition and put the lipstick back in its proper place. This would have prevented my day's inconvenience and demonstrated that my intuition is reliable and accurate. We all have "should-haves" that we beat ourselves over, knowing we knew the outcome of the story, but truthfully, it is okay because it was just meant to be another lesson. Life always gives gifts and lessons, this was just a karmic repercussion.
Nurture the lesson by accepting the consequence and being present with the inconvenience.
So I take the comforter, go on Youtube to create the best cleaning solution used for removing lipstick, and I get to work. As much as I wanted to hurry up the cleaning process to finish this task, I knew it would defeat the purpose of lesson number one.
I accept the lesson by smiling and scrubbing off the stain patiently. I take my time and then soak the comforter in hot water for 10 minutes before putting it in the wash. This time will not go wasted, nor will it be rushed. Instead I take Bali out, as I should have done in the first place and I start rewinding all of the should-haves from the day. I begin to play catch-up with my rushed morning and that makes me feel grateful for the opportunity not only to learn the lesson, but to have a second chance to practice it. It’s not always that second chances come to light, but do you understand how this works? This brings me to the final lesson-
The exchange of intentional and aware energy can undo your karmic consequence.
If you have ability to make up for where you lacked presence, please do so. Sure, this wasn’t a huge deal, but as humans we must remember things don’t always go as planned. We should not revolve our days around meeting our own expectations but by being present with the decisions we make for those expectations. If we expect to achieve something, we must use our energy with present intention, otherwise our journey will have karmic consequences by extending our trip and guiding us through obstacles. Of course, we always end up where we are meant to be, but was it from an unlearned lesson life threw at you or from a conscious decision?
Wholeness within the Lessons
In order to truly understand these concepts, I want you all to be aware that all of the lessons I write on here are not just meant for you to see black and white nor are they meant to be completely one-sided. How can we see these lessons in its wholeness?
Anger, for example, may seem to be negative, but for some it serves as a drive or a motive to satisfy our own ego by letting anger help us achieve our own set standards implemented by outside factors. In its wholeness it becomes an evolution from ego-driven reactions (perhaps even achievements) to acceptance and gentleness of ourselves within the journey.
I also see the love in routine, the ability to do everything the same simply because it works and fills your cup. However, where routine falls short is the lack to make space for new adventures and possibilities; to journey through new passions while keeping yourself associated with patterns that serve their purpose in daily life. Routine in its wholeness is joy in the ability to float with feet grounded; To be free, but disciplined.
I've said it already, but rushing sometimes can help you complete tasks quickly, saving you time in order to focus on something else. However, rushing ties in with your intentional awareness- in it's wholeness, there will be karmic repercussions for the time and energy you give to something in its present awareness. Think of it as tending to a flower- you cannot rush what needs patience.
Apologetic Face. Day of Lessons
Lastly, I hope you enjoyed my little story and I am grateful to have put this memory into words and detailed lessons. I would LOVE your feedback or to hear your own stories, opinions, comments, questions on these lessons. Please use the questions below to start a conversation either on this blog or to share with your tribe!
Interactive Questions:
Whether you think of an old memory, various situations, or a story you’ve heard before, I want you to ask yourself these questions:
1. Have I ever been in a rush? What was a negative outcome? What was a positive one?
2. List a habit, a routine, a daily task that you have. How does that make you feel? How would you feel if you didn’t perform that daily task, habit, routine? If you had to replace it or add something new to that routine afterwards, how would that make you feel?
3. Think of a time you were angry, or something you are still angry about. What does anger do for you? Is there a lesson to be learned from your anger?
4. Think of a time when you doubted yourself, it can be as simple as eating something you knew was spoiled! What outcome did the doubt have? Would the outcome be different if you would have listened to your intuition?
5. Which lesson resonates best with you?