4 Ways to Overcome the Obstacles to Bliss
Maybe you’ve heard that the state of yoga, connection to bliss, is your birthright.
In fact, we are born with it, and it never leaves us. The only thing that prevents us from feeling this natural state all the time are obstacles that exist in our own mind.
You see, first and foremost, yoga is a spiritual psychology, a path to enlivening our mind in order to enlighten our soul. In order to do this, we need some tools that help to loosen the grip our mind has on us, so that our inherent blissful connection is revealed.
When we do this, bliss becomes our new normal.
The trick isn’t feeling this bliss, we’ve all felt it: at the beach, in the presence of a newborn, or any moment that takes our breath away. The trick is making this bliss sustainable. Ideally, we feel it all the time!
Here are 4 easy practice that help you overcome the obstacles that prevent you from feeling bliss all the time:
- Eye-Gazing: Seeing Your Soul Shine. It is hard for us to witness our own light, but generally easier to see it in someone we love. Ask a partner to work with you for this practice. Set the timer for 3 minutes and look only into each other’s eyes, without any dialogue or looking away. During this time, notice that your breathing syncs up and boundaries between you fall away. In addition to deepening your relationship, you see that the light in them exists within you, too.
- Personality Inventory: Then versus Now. Our ego has a strong hold over us and we often say, “That’s just the way I am!” But, is it? Divide a piece of paper into quadrants and divide your age by four. Write qualities, challenges, and strengths you posessed in each quarter of your life in one of the four quadrants. Are they all the same? Have they changed? Witnessing your evolution shows you that your ego is not as fixed as it would have you believe, and its malleability means we are free to be our most authentic self.
- Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone: Eating with Friends. Few things trip us up and keep us small like trying to stay inside our comfort zone. This is a small box that makes life full of disappointments. The next time you eat out with friends, ask one of them to order for you. Alert them of any food allergies, but otherwise give them no direction and insist that they pick your meal. Their careful attention to picking something just for you means that when the food arrives, it comes with their love. Eat whatever is in front of you with joy and gratitude.
- The Power of Connection: Media Holiday. We suffer when we don’t connect. Many of us mistake social media and our cell phones for connection when it often detracts from genuine human connection. Take one full evening (or more!) per week where you commit to being with people and put your cell phone and other digital media devices away. Perhaps you have a basket at your front door that the phone goes in when you enter, and then you place your full attention on those around you. Though it may bring up some withdrawal issues, what you discover is the power of connecting thoroughly to the humans in front of you. You quickly realize that there is never any replacement for this kind of connection!
These practices are designed to allow us to revel in the nature of our true self, which is blissful connection. Remember, yoga doesn’t make your life better, it makes you better at your life. Use these practices to navigate your everyday life and remain connected to your source.
