Meet Youself

A healthy meditation or yoga practice will shift and change over time to meet the particular circumstance of your life. When we stay present with mindfulness and compassion, the other beautiful states of mind (such as gratitude, generosity, love, etc) grow naturally like a well tended plant in a spring garden.

 In our culture you may have come across the belief (and you might have this belief too!) that meditation and yoga are always good for you and good for everyone. While in general that may be somewhat true, there is more nuance to be understood about spiritual practice (and not just spiritual practice, but life too). Practice can aggravate anxiety and other mental health issues. Sometimes, if the intensity in your life is very high, meditation or yoga may not be the best "medicine". Don't get me wrong, I love meditation and yoga and can attest first hand to the myriad of benefits both personally and for students. However, we must use discernment and compassion with ourselves and our practice.

 You may also carry the belief that silent, self-led meditation is better than a guided practice. Or perhaps you have the belief that seated meditation is the real deal and a reclining or walking practice is somehow lesser. However, there are no grades in spiritual practice. We are developing love, compassion, clarity, and wisdom through the practice of staying present. Meditation is not another activity that you can fail at or are not good enough at doing. With our practice we step out of that particular way of framing ourselves and our accomplishments.

 Please let go of the idea that meditation, or any spiritual practice, should look or be a certain way. Instead we meet ourselves day in and day out over the years with all of the "tools'' (practices) that we know.

 The beauty of yoga and meditation is that we can come back and start again at any time. There is no prerequisite to be a certain way. Instead we can start right where we are, with what ever mess is happening.