Practicing yoga means being picky. You’ve got to start using your ability to say “yes” and “no.” It requires guts, and that’s what we are strengthening. We are strengthening your will power, your self-awareness, your resolve.
I ask you to chant “om” out loud in the beginning and ending of class. I do this to make you more powerful in your own life. It is to make you comfortable with hearing your own voice as you speak. It is to make you more comfortable with being truly heard.
Why are we strengthening our ability to speak up? So that we can start using our “yes” and “no”. They are NO GOOD if you are not using them. Your rights are no good if you aren’t using them. How good is your freedom if you are gonna keep yourself chained to your fears?
I want you to use your voice. I want you to use it for yourself first. That should be our priority: using our voices for ourselves. But, we use our voices to just imitate others. There’s no originality there. For you to begin speaking for yourself, you’ll need guts. You’ll need to step out of your fears of being heard. And that is why we are chanting “om.”
If you have a problem with “om,” switch it up. Chant “I AM!”
Life is no good if you aren’t gonna live it. Food is no good if you aren’t gonna taste it. Voice is no good if you aren’t gonna use it for yourself. First, speak for yourself. Worry about speaking for others later.
With every “om!” I ask you to welcome yourself. Imagine…looking into your own eyes. Look at your smiling face. Smile back! Invite yourself. Bring yourself into the picture of your life.
Why do we need to start speaking for ourselves? Why do we need to step out of our fear and start using our “yes” and “no”?Because we must start living our “true expressions” rather than living our trends. And, for that to happen, we must start being picky. We must strengthen our nerves to be picky. It takes guts to be who we truly are because our true expression is as unique as our fingerprints. For this, our nervous system must be strong. We must be resilient. We must not be afraid to stand out and make mistakes.
Not everything is worthy of our bodies. Whatever goes in must come out. Meaning…it must be “digestible”. What you eat, watch, breath, wear, and listen to…must be digestible. I want you to become picky about these things.
Be picky about the company you keep. NOT judgy…picky. Most importantly, be picky about the kind of company you are to others. Are you joining others in their misery or are you bringing something worthy to the table?
Be picky about the words you choose to speak. Be picky about the food you choose to eat. Be picky about the fabrics you put on your skin. Be picky about the music you listen to. Be picky about what you watch.
Someone said to me that she doesn’t have a choice. Look at how many choices I’ve just listed out. We are picking and choosing all day long. But, are we actively picking? Are we consciously picking? Many of us aren’t. We “think” that we don’t have a choice. Examine all the choices you are making in a day and you will realize how much power you have.
This is why I say that we need to start using our voices, first and foremost, to speak to ourselves. We must start listening to our own voice. Get comfortable with being heard. Then start picking “yes” or “no”.
It all starts with our “om”. It all starts in our “home.” It all starts in our “own”. Turn to yourself, greet yourself, love yourself first. It will teach you how to love others. It will teach you everything you need to know about another.
But, if you can’t be you first then what is the point? You want to be a fish. You want to fit in. You want to be lost in the crowd of other fish. You want to look and talk the same. You don’t want to risk being you. Why should that even be risky if you are free? Be free. Be you.
Chant, “I AM!” because you ARE! You are ALIVE!!!
Beyond the Anxious Mind 