I’ve just returned from my Leap of Faith-themed yoga retreat at Casa Barranca, still feeling vibrations in my soul from kicking and screaming the whole way home. I look at my retreat notebook and think, “Was the person having those enlightened thoughts really me? I must have been so relaxed and awakened.” Although I’ve been catapulted back into the battlefield of life, the revelations I had in majestic Ojai have carried me through this week in the little ways that count – I feel more focused, more connected to those around me, and infinitely more centered.
As my ever-wise yoga instructor, Chaz, said, “By taking a weekend away, we send a message to ourselves that we are worthy of love, peace, friendship, respect, letting go, and taking a leap of faith.” With the retreat theme in mind, four life lessons I learned on our yoga retreat have really stuck with me:
LESSON 1: SHOW YOUR HAPPINESS SOME RESPECT
“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.” –Dale Carnegie
What I found during my retreat meditations and yoga practices is that I am truly, deeply happy. However, as an insanely busy human who rarely takes a break, I didn’t realize how caught up I was in in questioning (as opposed to feeling) my happiness. Our society causes us to judge our joy, and critique it until we question whether it is real or not. Many of us wring it out until it begins to feel less like happiness and more like stress.
What happens when we allow ourselves to truly feel happiness? To be happiness? We discover a necessary ingredient for living a more present life. The first step to embracing joy is to be as grateful for the feeling of happiness as you are for the cause of your happiness.
LESSON 2: DISCOVER YOUR LIGHT, AND LET IT SHINE.
“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.” –Herman Melville
Have you ever heard of a “laugh pile”? Essentially, to create a laugh pile, you form of chain of humans by laying your head on your neighbor’s stomach. As your neighbor lets out a series of big “HA, HA's,” your head bounces up and down. This is a sure way to ignite a laugh attack. It feels as strange as it sounds, but the laughter chain took me right back to my second-grade self. I felt reconnected with my childhood perspective on the importance of doling out happiness to everyone I meet, with nothing expected in return.
The giggle pile also reminded me that it is possible to feel connected with others through a simple smile (even when you happen to have a stranger's head on your belly). In our culture, it can be uncomfortable to make eye contact with others, to connect over a short conversation in a coffee shop, or to give a hug to someone who looks like they are having a rough day. However, it is this type of interaction with others that helps us to serve our purpose. The truth is, our gift in life is the light in our soul. Happiness comes from being it, feeling it, and sharing it with others… for free.
LESSON 3: YOU GET WHAT YOU WANT WHEN YOU VOICE WHAT YOU WANT.
“Such a simple concept, yet so true: that which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves.” – Garth Stein
Achieving your goals starts with setting intentions. It has been a habit of mine to set inward intentions, but I found that I rarely give them a voice. When we start expressing our wants, needs, hopes, and dreams to others, we manifest our intentions.
Learning to trust your instincts can be the key to figuring out what your intentions should be. Cultivate the way you feel toward each life experience, then do more of the things that make you feel good. Interact more with the people who enhance your life. Communicate about more of the things that make you feel fulfilled. Be more direct with people, and you’ll be surprised when life throws an abundance of opportunities at you that happen to fall in line with your passions.
LESSON 4: IF YOU’RE GOING TO DANCE WITH LIFE, THEN TAKE THE LEAD.
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” – Alan Watts
One of my favorite things about Chaz’s teaching style is that dance is integrated into our Vinyasa practice. During a beautiful, connected flow practice, Beyoncé’s End of Time suddenly blasted through the speakers. To my surprise, every retreat participant (young or old, introverted or extraverted) took the opportunity to sing along and seriously shake it. We broke our molds. We felt life.
To me, the epic yoga class dance party was a reflection of the power we have to break free. We have the choice to practice self-expression, to have confidence, to release judgment of ourselves and others, and to let go of the labels of life.
Choose your friendships. Choose to love yourself. Choose to learn. Choose to grow. Choose to give and receive love. You can be the leader in your dance with life.
©Emily Hudson, WorldLifestyle
As my ever-wise yoga instructor, Chaz, said, “By taking a weekend away, we send a message to ourselves that we are worthy of love, peace, friendship, respect, letting go, and taking a leap of faith.” With the retreat theme in mind, four life lessons I learned on our yoga retreat have really stuck with me:
LESSON 1: SHOW YOUR HAPPINESS SOME RESPECT
“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.” –Dale Carnegie
What I found during my retreat meditations and yoga practices is that I am truly, deeply happy. However, as an insanely busy human who rarely takes a break, I didn’t realize how caught up I was in in questioning (as opposed to feeling) my happiness. Our society causes us to judge our joy, and critique it until we question whether it is real or not. Many of us wring it out until it begins to feel less like happiness and more like stress.
What happens when we allow ourselves to truly feel happiness? To be happiness? We discover a necessary ingredient for living a more present life. The first step to embracing joy is to be as grateful for the feeling of happiness as you are for the cause of your happiness.
LESSON 2: DISCOVER YOUR LIGHT, AND LET IT SHINE.
“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.” –Herman Melville
Have you ever heard of a “laugh pile”? Essentially, to create a laugh pile, you form of chain of humans by laying your head on your neighbor’s stomach. As your neighbor lets out a series of big “HA, HA's,” your head bounces up and down. This is a sure way to ignite a laugh attack. It feels as strange as it sounds, but the laughter chain took me right back to my second-grade self. I felt reconnected with my childhood perspective on the importance of doling out happiness to everyone I meet, with nothing expected in return.
The giggle pile also reminded me that it is possible to feel connected with others through a simple smile (even when you happen to have a stranger's head on your belly). In our culture, it can be uncomfortable to make eye contact with others, to connect over a short conversation in a coffee shop, or to give a hug to someone who looks like they are having a rough day. However, it is this type of interaction with others that helps us to serve our purpose. The truth is, our gift in life is the light in our soul. Happiness comes from being it, feeling it, and sharing it with others… for free.
LESSON 3: YOU GET WHAT YOU WANT WHEN YOU VOICE WHAT YOU WANT.
“Such a simple concept, yet so true: that which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves.” – Garth Stein
Achieving your goals starts with setting intentions. It has been a habit of mine to set inward intentions, but I found that I rarely give them a voice. When we start expressing our wants, needs, hopes, and dreams to others, we manifest our intentions.
Learning to trust your instincts can be the key to figuring out what your intentions should be. Cultivate the way you feel toward each life experience, then do more of the things that make you feel good. Interact more with the people who enhance your life. Communicate about more of the things that make you feel fulfilled. Be more direct with people, and you’ll be surprised when life throws an abundance of opportunities at you that happen to fall in line with your passions.
LESSON 4: IF YOU’RE GOING TO DANCE WITH LIFE, THEN TAKE THE LEAD.
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” – Alan Watts
One of my favorite things about Chaz’s teaching style is that dance is integrated into our Vinyasa practice. During a beautiful, connected flow practice, Beyoncé’s End of Time suddenly blasted through the speakers. To my surprise, every retreat participant (young or old, introverted or extraverted) took the opportunity to sing along and seriously shake it. We broke our molds. We felt life.
To me, the epic yoga class dance party was a reflection of the power we have to break free. We have the choice to practice self-expression, to have confidence, to release judgment of ourselves and others, and to let go of the labels of life.
Choose your friendships. Choose to love yourself. Choose to learn. Choose to grow. Choose to give and receive love. You can be the leader in your dance with life.
©Emily Hudson, WorldLifestyle