Yoga and meditation have become such a part of my of daily diet because they lighten me.
They lighten my being, softening and diminishing those oppressive or heavy forces that literally weigh me down.
Incrementally, these practices of yoga and meditation enlighten my perspective and shift my being to be happier, more joyful, and calm and make me feel more and more alive. I become more generous of heart.
Now this is a diet I can really stick with!
Laughter and joy, you are the grease that dissolves so much stickiness in life.
You can even add lilt to an elephant’s footstep.
Your smile is a salve to our deepest sadness and pain.
Even anxiety and fear lose power in your presence.
Your source the light of the Self, you lighten us.
Like leavening to bread, humor can add a lift to our hearts and well-being.
Especially laughter at our own seriousness and ego pettiness and life’s very real problems can lighten us in very freeing ways.
Laughter is key to having a good attitude in life–a yoga pose or asana of the heart and mind, a gift of the inner smile.
So enlightening!
The practice of the inner smile and experiencing the joy of the Self will help shed habits of unhappiness like unfashionable or worn-out clothing.
Such sad clothing is no longer fitting!
They burn away in the fire or tapas of yoga.
Contented inner smile,
you find joy and peace
where seemingly there is none!
Your mining expertise is unparalleled….
You never fail to hit pay dirt!
Again and again practice this inner smile… when stressed, nervous, sad, even when hurt.
You’ll find it eases something that might even make you smile bigger and laugh.
Bring a sweet inner smile to your next yoga pose or thought/feeling in meditation. Shine even a slight smile inward, and see what arises.
Experiment! Practice!
See where this takes you….
Drop your entanglement with negativity that drags you down.
Conjure even the slightest smile at your strife. (This may at first seem very unnatural!)
It’s odd, but somehow the compassion for yourself that arises from even the slightest inward smile can dissipate the weightiness.
Make this practice of the inner smile a part of your yoga and meditation, and discover your compassionate joy.
It’s sure to make you (and those around you) smile!
Challenges and difficulties in varying degrees come and go in everyone’s lives.
Happiness and joy are often short-shrifted as lightweight, not angsty enough, as not serious, as treating life lightly.
True deep happiness and joy that offer limitless compassion is not easily earned. It takes discipline, determination, and strength as well as grace to arrive at and maintain this equanimity.
Yoga and meditation are practical paths to such happiness and joy. When practiced with earnest yearning and discipline, they can certainly lessen our suffering and increase our joy and improve the quality of our lives and those around us.
Deep joy and happiness are not for lightweights!
Joy trumps fear, nervousness, anxiety, sadness… even depression.
Open yourself to joyful moments no matter how brief. Dive into them and imbibe their elixir with an open heart and share it with others.
Lose yourself in this joy of meditation and yoga (and life!), and you will find yourself in That.*
May you feel yourself as That!
*The universal or Supreme Consciousness from which all life arises is often referred to and experienced in yoga and meditation as That.
Yoga and meditation practices plant seeds of joy in our hearts that with tending, patience, and practice can grow into deep happiness.
The natural reflex of this happy heart is compassion to those who suffer.
May all beings be happy.
May all being be free of suffering.
The Every Day Yogi 