Believing the Truth
In February, I’m focusing on self-love. A foundation spiritual principle of yoga is non-violence, ahimsa, and if I am being honest, some of the harshest violence is directed toward myself. I find self-love challenging at times, AND it is necessary to love others well and to live up to my value to practice non-violence as a foundational principle. Judgment of myself comes easily, often, and harshly and honestly, the more I judge myself, the more likely I am to judge others. The cycle continues. Ugh. I know I’m not alone in this struggle and self-compassion and self-love give me hope. Compassion is sticky in the same way, the more I engage in self-compassion, the more I can extend compassion and (non-violence) towards others.
This quote by Macrina Wiederker, “Help us to believe the truth about ourselves, no matter how beautiful it is.” has guided my practices this week. What attribute (physical, emotional, relational) do you just love about yourself? Can you believe that beautiful truth and let gratitude wash over you?
For me, I chose “I build community”. Wherever, I go, I think I have a gift for finding the harmonious chords between people and building little communities for myself and for others. I love when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I love the shared laughter or tears, and how it’s somehow always better together, even if it’s not good. People are infinitely interesting to me and our shared humanity and building connections between people is something I truly enjoy. It’s a beautiful truth about me. I’d love to hear a beautiful truth about you.
What beautiful truth do you believe about yourself?
