Remember they’re not your goal. They’re helping you get to your goal!

When we find something useful, something that is absolutely changing our lives for the good, it’s easy to become an adherent, a disciple, a believer because we know how helpful it is – we’re experiencing it’s awesome power right now!

That’s heady stuff.

And finding things that are useful is wonderful, especially if we can open up, make room for the new, let go of our old ideas and patterns and shape ourselves in healthier ways. That’s fabulous.

The problem comes when we lose perspective, when we start swallowing the new thing whole with out chewing on it at all… then we take it all in as if ALL of it is good for us. But we’re all different. Nothing that works 100% for someone can work 100% for anyone else. Everyone has different experiences, different goals, different fears, different bodies, different sensitivities, different perceptions, different biochemistry…

My general rule of thumb is that if I’m agreeing with something 100%, I’m ignoring some part of me. I’ve lost the perspective of my personal experience. I’m not honoring some part of me. That’s helpful, because it can help me see parts that I’ve disenfranchised, ignored, disowned. Or maybe that I’m hypnotizing myself, not being present to myself and my truth in the moment. Also good to notice.

When that starts happening, I take a step back and reflect on what my goal is with this teacher, practice, art or science. Why am I interacting with this and what do I want out of it? That helps me keep some perspective. I also start feeling into what parts of me am I ignoring? What parts of me am I not listening to, not allowing to have a voice here? That can take the form of a sitting practice, a simple reflection, journaling, a conversation with a trusted friend, etc..

Easy to get lost.
Easy to find myself again.
Just takes a bit of noticing.

Enjoy,
Elena