Part I
January is the season so many of us identify as the season of change. The start of the year is an opportunity for a fresh start, habit-shifts, a new beginning, a new narrative. At this time of the year, many of us make intentions and “resolutions,” of change for ourselves. We might hope for growth, to do better, to be better, or to be brave and explore something new. How can we move through these intentional changes with ease and grace, with confidence and lack of fear?
Change, according to the yogis, is constant. As the yogi’s say, “The only thing in the world that is constant is change.” As the seasons change, so do we, and some yogis express how the season changes help support us in times of change, anything from what type of foods we consume to our daily routines.
Often we are confronted with change, change like the last few years, abruptly placed upon us. Life gets shaken up yet we can allow ourselves to feel a bit lighter, know that change is inevitable, accept it and go forward, greeting change with courage and honor. Through this understanding, when we are the ones who make the choice to change, we can look at two ways we can navigate intentional change: from a yogic perspective as well as from narrative work.
First, we can work through the yamas and the niyamas from the Yogic Eight-Fold Path. These yamas an niyamas work on the relationship we have with ourselves and others. Once we have worked on our inner selves, we are then able to work on those relationships with others. Through a simple act of compassion and kindness to ourselves, we can experience a mind shift to be gentle, nurturing, supportive, and even our own inner cheerleader to ourselves during these changes, these habit shifts. We can then set a more achievable goal for ourselves because we respect and honor what we know of ourselves and our situation to keep going with the goals we set.
Next month we will focus on our narrative work for change.
J.T. Quon
