March 2022 week 5

Aham Prema, I am Divine Love has been our meditation mantra this month and has served me well to feel more calm and centered in unsettling moments. The 1st Yama, Ahimsa - non harming has also been helpful to me and I hope it has to you as well. Like all parts of life, what we put into anything determines how much we get out of it. Are you giving yourself the time to read the dharma blogs, do the meditations and the yoga classes? And if not, why not? Let me know if there is anything I could do to make this all more user friendly!

Before we close out the month of these spiritual tools, I want to highlight yet another way Deborah Adele discusses Ahimsa in her book.
She writes: “Thinking we know better for others becomes a subtle way we do violence. When we take it upon ourselves to help the other we whittle away at their sense of autonomy. Nonviolence asks us to trust the other’s ability to find the answer they are seeking. It asks us to have faith in the other, not feel sorry for them. Nonviolence asks us to trust the other’s journey and love and support others to their highest image of themselves, not our highest image of them. Handling challenges gives each of us a sense of skill, self-esteem, and accomplishment. When we try to fix or save someone else, we are keeping them from getting the learning the situation has for them.” Woah, easier said than done right???? Especially for us parents who have “been there, done that”..made that mistake! This is a clever way to look at non harming for sure and offers all of us boat loads of personal freedom! Think of all that wasted energy we could conserve in our body, minds and souls!!! Remember our body knows everything our minds are thinking!
Ok now just when you thought that was it, Adele goes further: “Worry is another way violence gets masked as caring. Worry is a lack of faith in the other and cannot exist simultaneously with love. Either we have faith in the other person to do their best, or we don’t. Worry says I don’t trust you to do your life right. Worry comes from a place of arrogance that I know better what should be happening in your life. Worry says I don’t trust your journey, or your answers, or your timing. Worry is fear that hasn’t grown up yet; it is misuse of our imagination. We both devalue and insult others when we worry about them.” Well this makes perfect sense but it is not at all my thought process when I worry about someone or something. Again, worry is wasted energy!!!! Do we go to our children, our friends, our spouses, our family, ourselves with love or with worry? Which has more space, more breath, more efficient use of our energy? Can we let go of this form of non harming in small increments? I think it is worth the effort! Again what you get out of this practice is dependent on what you put into it!! Together we can do this thing called life with more grace and ease, promise.