A New You is Always Emerging

My Ayurveda teacher posed an interesting question “Do you think of yourself as a noun or a verb?” A noun is an object that at least from immediate appearance seems static and unchanging. Like a book or a chair or a yoga mat. A verb is an action word. It implies movement or motion. To be human is to be dynamic and pulsating  - moving subtly in one direction or another. The yogis call this Spanda, which literally means, “to move a little,” and refers to the subtle, creative pulsation of the universe which manifests in living form, including in you and me. Everything pulses, or it stagnates.

Ayurveda tells us that who we are from day to day is determined by our habits. And we know from yoga philosophy that we are not just a physical body having a physical experience. We also have an energy body, mental body, emotional body and even of body of bliss/happiness -- all of which are interconnected. Because both yoga and Ayurveda are practical sciences, how these bodies are interconnected is totally observable.  For instance if we eat too late at night, we wake up feeling groggy and have a hard time getting to the yoga mat. Then our energy may be off for the morning, making our mind less sharp and work less productive or inspiring, and we feel less vibrant than we could. Our daily routine, the time we awake, what we do when we wake up, how we feed our bodies and under what conditions, who we hang out with, and how we nurture our minds and spirits can make our daily experience dynamic and pulsating or kind of humdrum and dull…

The good news is we control our choices! If we don’t wake up feeling alert, bright, peppy and ready to take on the day, we can look at what we did the night before that brought us out of alignment.. What time was last nights dinner? When was bedtime? Have you dialed in an evening wind-down routine to ease into sleep? Were phones and computers turned off by 9pm or were you working, looking at social media or getting caught up on your favorite show until after 11pm? When we get that how we feel in the morning is based on what we do the night before and how we feel during the day is set up what choices we made when we first wake up, we begin to design a new normal for more energy, pulsation and bliss. Architect your choices so tomorrow you are fully awake.