It’s really common to think that if we want to slow down, if we want to live with more purpose and awareness, then we have to start by making changes to our external world. We might consider moving out of a busy city, giving up a corporate job, leaving a relationship or vowing to never go back on social media.
Although these changes might be helpful on our journey, they aren’t necessarily going to help us find the the pace, or the peace, that we are looking for.
The teachings of yoga and mindfulness are trying to help us to understand that our external world is simply just a reflection of our internal world. So whatever we are experiencing is really coming from within. If we are feeling the constant pressure and expectation to keep doing, keep going, keep achieving, it’s not necessarily coming from something or someone else. It’s probably coming from our own minds.
This can be one of the hardest things to learn, both in our practice and in our life. To develop the courage, and the bravery, to really look at ourselves. To get honest about our thoughts, habits and tendencies, and to take responsibility for what is happening in our mind, and in our life.
If the mind is busy, life is busy. If the mind is tense, life is tense. If the mind is stressed, life is stressed. If we want something different, we have to stop looking around and start looking within. It’s not just about changing our life, its about changing our mind.
So if we truly want our life to slow down, we have to start with ourselves — and this is really what we are trying to do when we practice mindfulness. We’re not trying to acheive or accumulate anything, we’re trying to unwind, to let go. To release the habits, and tendencies, of trying to do more, to rush and simply learn how to be — with the body, with the breath, with the moment, and to cultivate a deep sense calm and ease from within.
So the next time you find yourself stressed out and tense, instead of trying to change something around you — pause, take a deep breath, and see if there is something you can change in your mind.
