Every workshop or speaking engagement I've ever been involved with, I always ask people what their life's purpose is. It's a simple question with a very difficult answer. I wouldn't have to ask it if it was easy. Often times, I can tell by the faces that they may have an idea of their purpose but aren't necessarily sure. There's nothing wrong with not knowing. Many people need assistance in finding it. That's why the marketplace has been flooded with books, movies and television shows dedicated to just that. But when you look solely to someone else for the answer and trust that they will tell you, you'll rarely find it.
So how do you exactly find your life's purpose? Well, I'd be lying if I told you there was only one method to do so. For years, philosophers have told us that there are many paths to the exact same peak. Some are littered with obstacles and complications, while others are free of obstructions and troubles. Some are unquestionably long and arduous, while others are seemingly short and effortless. Even the same path can be completely different for each person who decides to take it. But they all have one thing in common - the peak.
One of the easiest ways to reach this peak is through the practice of yoga. And this isn't the metaphysical side I'm speaking of, but the actual corporeal process. As you move from posture to posture, your body must surrender to the pose. You shift your weight, move your legs, change your hands, bend your spine, turn your neck, and so on. If you fight the pose, resist where it wants to take you, you'll fall or pull a muscle. If you flow with it, breathe through the pose, you'll achieve it. It may look different from the person practicing next to you - no two people are alike - but you've still accomplished it.
As you continue to practice, you're willingness to surrender to the poses, as opposed to forcing yourself into them, will increase. It will teach you to accept your body as it, see the potential it holds, and understand there is a process to take you there - in due time. And much like life, it is within you to explore the limits and push past them. As you concentrate so intently on surrendering to the poses, you will begin to surrender to life. This surrender isn't a defeatist submission, but a relinquishing of sorts, an openness to all things that were not before present. As the body, mind and spirit become one, you begin to understand who you are, how life works, where you are in life, and so on.
If you fight against the postures, you will fail. If you surrender to them, you will most definitely succeed. This practice is almost the physical manifestation of your life. If you fight against it, you will go nowhere. If you surrender to it, the potential is endless. Once you discover the truth of the self, it is only natural that your purpose will soon follow. As I said before, there are many ways to discover your purpose in life. Yoga is probably the easiest as it relies on what is already within you. The potential is already there, you were actually born with it. It's simply tapping into that is the task at hand.
Copyrighted 2008, Marianne Wells LLC, All rights reserved
Marianne Wells, International Yoga Presenter
Specializing in the Yoga Alliance 200 Hour RYT Teacher Training
mariannewells.com mariannewells.com
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