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Read the podcast transcript
Hi this is Myra with Hale Puleʻs Everyday Ayurveda and Yoga podcast.
I imagine many of you are making changes right now and we are making some changes to the podcast. We have some new formats this year and look forward to sharing them with you. Happy New year. A time of transition and change.
With all this talk about change and improving our lives, I have been thinking of change as more about stepping into life.
This is what people are usually talking about when they say they want to make a change. Perhaps there is something that youʻve always wanted to do and never gotten to, or youʻve been thinking of a change in career or having a dinacharya, daily routine, to support you in your life.
What most people are also saying is that they want to live what they believe.
It feels so good to live what you believe. But many people struggle to really know what they believe. When we are moving fast and skimming the surface of life, we donʻt slow down enough to pay attention to what is happening with ourselves on the inside. Where the real deal is. The roots of our thinking, behavior and living.
Many people walk through life operating unconsciously from programmed beliefs day to day. This becomes apparent when it seems like we canʻt make any changes or just keep repeating the same unwanted patterns.
In order to build a life based on your truth, you have to go inward and examine what is influencing your decisions, your beliefs. This is important in understanding yourself.
Your truth is on the inside. It is your connection to eternal spirit, and it never changes. But the rest of it is all changeable, including our beliefs.
Think of beliefs as ideas that we have acquired in life and decisions we make about those ideas. Some acquired from our parents and home environment and some from our own life experience. Some might be positive and some might be detrimental, but no matter what, as you walk through life you can become aware of what is there so that you can choose to keep a belief or let it go completely. Often they are not yours and but just what you have been given that you didnʻt realize was there.
I have heard so many stories about people getting married and finding out they had a whole set of beliefs operating about marriage and relationship that they didnʻt know they had. In a new situation latent beliefs will pop out in day to day living. I had this experience myself. I found myself thinking, did I just say that? Or I canʻt believe I just said that! Where did that come from? These situations are a great opportunity to learn about your inner world and clean things up to have your insides and outsides match. Being aware of your beliefs gives you the opportunity to let them go or adjust them. Then they can represent your truth, which makes life much more fun. Inside and outside in alignment.
People often ask me, how do I change a belief? Well, itʻs a decision we make. For example your mother may be afraid of water and so you carry a belief that water is something to be feared. As you grow up you may realize that the water looks like fun and with some attention to it, you can let go of that belief and fear thatʻs not yours. Or sometimes we have beliefs that women only do certain things, or men always do some particular thing. This kind of thinking narrows the mind and affects our Relationships. Our ability to see another person as they are.
We can decide to be more positive and open minded and change will come, but it doesnʻt mean we will be perfect right away. It just means that we set the flow of our prana, our energy, toward the light rather than darkness. In Ayurveda and Yoga we call this utilizing our rajas, which is our activity, to move toward sattva, which is the balance, harmony and the light of life.
Embodiment of our truth, being aligned inside and out, is what allows us to heal and progress in life. This is the direction that the practices of Ayurveda and Yoga are pointing us. They are tools for living a good life.
To connect to your truth, go inward. Self honesty comes with listening to what’s happening inside to get an idea of what is actually going on in you.
This doesn’t happen when you are running around chasing life on the outside. It happens when you make space for silence and stillness.
Daily Meditation to become acquainted with your stillness.
Pranayama to keep vata dosha in balance to reduce fear and increase mental Clarity and calm, or a few minutes of asana to keep your body mobile and strong.
Even eating in silence will help you connect inwardly, focus on chewing thoroughly so that you digest and feel great afterwards.
These are all tools that allow us to take control of our life so that we can live and be who we want to be in life.
Not just operating like a robot, mechanically marching through life.
So what to do about these beliefs you didn’t know you had? Well, One way to increase your awareness is to embark on a day of mental observation. Every time there is a negative thought, become aware of it then turn away to a positive thought about anything. Each time there is a negative thought there is a belief that is driving it. Ask yourself in a quiet moment, what’s beneath that thought? Then you can make a decision to keep it, adjust it, or let it go completely. This is a big challenge so start with one day and then take on another when you are ready. Itʻs a process of discovery and takes courage. It is change that brings empowerment. and life will change.
One of the really common beliefs I hear these days is that change is a problem, or that change means trouble. The fear of change creates suffering, even if itʻs change that you desire.
Change is happening daily, seasonally, yearly. It is a primary component of this life. Persistent resistance or avoidance of change creates suffering and disease.
A student was convinced that she’d never be able to eat just fruit for breakfast. Her mind was conditioned to believe that she needed protein or that she would be starving to death by lunch. I told her that it’s just whatever her mind believes. It “clicked” in her and she had fruit for breakfast and felt great (and actually has fruit 1-2 times a week for breakfast). As a result, her agni is more balanced and she feels lighter and doesn’t want to snack.
We need to recognize that the fears are of the mind. Another common one related to food is the fear of gluten or dairy. In modern thinking we have come to blame the food when it is most often what is inside, the digestive tract is disturbed for many reasons we talk about in Ayurveda. This is something we have control over and can change for the positive. Then the apparent intolerances of good food clear up.
So what is the solution?
Stop engaging in things that take you in the wrong direction and donʻt serve you.
Own your space and not just match what the crowd is doing.
Go for long term joy rather than short term pleasure. The results are so beautiful. Including freedom in the mind!
So this is not just about pampering yourself but to do things that help you feel safe inside, to receive what life offers and let love in so that you can experience being love.
Go to bed 15 minutes earlier and spend five minutes in sitting meditation and the other 10 minutes eating breakfast with your family or eating in silence without distractions.
Notice when you are feeling rushed, take pause with 12 deep slow breaths and smile to yourself with the true knowing that all is well.
Moderation may be challenging but it will be most rewarding. Do less and be more in life.
And what to do about these beliefs you didn’t know you had? Well, One way to increase your awareness is to embark on a day of mental observation. Every time there is a negative thought, become aware of it then turn away to a positive thought about anything. Each time there is a negative thought there is a belief that is driving it. Ask yourself in a quiet moment, what’s beneath that thought? Then you can make a decision to keep it, adjust it, or let it go completely. This is a big challenge so start with one day and then when you are ready take on another. Life will surely change. Itʻs a process of discovery and Growth.
Hereʻs what we do at Hale Pule. Itʻs simple.
We are all learning to live in a holistic manner each day. Experiencing how everything is connected and adjusting our beliefs and thinking. Itʻs how we are meant to be when we feel better and better.
We recognize how food affects us and opt to keep that affect going in a positive direction. Letting go of old beliefs based on our direct experience.
Meditate daily so that our day begin with connection inward then we have more opportunity to behave from our truth in daily life, which increases our ability to move through difficulties and into solution. We let life unfold. Shifting and expanding each step of the way.
We have times of intensity and times of quiet. They are both needed.
We keep in mind the ultimate goal to move toward and stay in the light of life.
With Ayurveda and Yoga we can all come out of the shadows and step into life.
Let us know how you are doing, your challenges and questions. We love to hear from you.
Thatʻs all we have time for today. Until next time.
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Originally Published on https://www.halepule.com/blog
