- How do you talk to yourself?
- How often do you talk to yourself, like: "I'm an idiot, I'm so stupid, I'm such a klutz", or something similar?
- Do you also praise yourself? Or does the blame predominate?
These questions led me on a path to make peace with myself. These tiny, seemingly subtle self-talks were so warlike. They had me literally engaged in whole battles against myself (doubts, fears, feeling worthless, wrong).
When I started paying attention to my self-talk, I recognised patterns I was creating that kept sucking me into a judgmental spiral. I was creating my reality at the time. For example, I believed that if I judged myself, my peers would not, were lenient with their judgement of me. Oh, how wrong I was. Today I know I only made things worse. But I do not condemn it. I am grateful, I learned from it and it has made me the woman I am today.
"Your thoughts create your reality!"
In the Yoga Sutra, the path from realisation to liberation, verse 1.12 describes a force that helped me keep at it.
YS verse 1.12: Through abhyasa (persistent practice) and vairagya (equanimity), the dynamic stillness of citta (the meaning self) can be achieved.
Through persistent practice, always noticing how you are with yourself, you create an awareness in your mind that you reach the goal without distraction. To find peace within yourself.
The verse reminds me of the saying "Constant dripping wears away the stone".
May we realise with patience, perseverance, persistence that we are peace.
Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti Om.
Om Shanti Om is the mantra of peace.
OM is a sacred word. Shanti is the Sanskrit word for peace.
Christina
www.christinayoga.ch
