UNTAMED
I may be the last person in the world to start reading Untamed, by Glennon Doyle.
I’m now three chapters in. This book is a masterpiece. Now I understand the hype.
She talks about the ‘inner knowing’. She describes her own journey of diving down to the bottom of the ocean of SELF and staying long enough to hear the ‘nudge’.
YES YES & YES!
I’ve been using this same ocean analogy a lot recently.
It goes something like this.
Imagine yourself as the ocean. Imagine your mind as the surface, and your consciousness, awareness or ‘essence nature’ as the bottom of the ocean. Some days you look out at the ocean and all is calm. Some days (literally today in Broulee) the waves are wild. It’s the same with our mind. Some days the thoughts are quietER, some days the thoughts/emotions are wild.
Trying to stop thinking or control your mind is like trying to grab onto the waves. It’s impossible and a momentous waste of energy.
Instead, all you need to do is relax into your being. Let yourself sink to the bottom, to your deepest essence, to that place within you that is always still.
There, and only there can any insight or creativity arise.
Some people call this ‘voice’ intuition. Some people call it Spirit. Some people call it God.
The single most profound shift that has come from all my years of practicing and studying yoga has been to find God.
SAY WHAT???
I honestly never thought I’d write these words but it’s true! Before you throw your phone away in horror, let me explain.
My definition of GOD = The infinite, changeless energy or awareness that is there when I realise, I am not my thoughts, I am not my body, I am not my emotions. So what am I? I am that. I am consciousness. GOD is consciousness. God is you. God is me. What a trip!
For my whole life I struggled with this GOD word. I thought GOD had something to do with religion (to me they are not related).
I thought the idea of God was some disapproving, interventionist OLD WHITE MAN in the sky, judging us, taking the fun away from everything and hating on whole groups of people for their personal choices. I never believed in this god. I always had a severe aversion to it. It just didn’t seem right AT ALL. If God is meant to be loving, why is he telling people what to do. Control is the OPPOSITE of love.
For most of my life I avoided this word like the plague. When I did my first yoga teacher training and people started talking about God I wanted to run out the door. I’d pick up a book that everyone had recommended, love it, agree with all the teachings, then the G word would be mentioned again and I’d dismiss the whole thing.
It took me a long time to make peace with this word. It took me a long time to make peace with myself. because……. They are the SAME THING!
If that word is difficult for you, you can replace it with Inner Knowing, Intuition, Consciousness, Great Mystery, Shakti, Life, Energy, whatever you like.
Instead of focusing so much energy on the name, let’s focus on how we access this knowing within. Luckily we don’t have to figure that out ourselves.
Rewind several thousands of years ago. The Indus Valley dwellers in the jungles of India created ‘brahmavidya’ the ‘supreme science’, basically a systematic exploration of their own consciousness. Where other sciences studied the external world, ‘brahmavidya’ sought knowledge of an underlying reality which would inform all other studies and actives.
The findings of these ‘rishis’ (seers) can be summarised in three sentences which Aldous Huxley calls ‘The Perennial Philosophy’ because they appear in every age and civilisation.
There is an infinite changeless reality beneath the world of change
This same reality lies at the core of every human personality
The purpose of life is to discover this reality experientially; that is to realise God whilst here on Earth.
These principles and the inner experiments for realising them were taught in forest academies called ashrams, a tradition which remains unbroken after some four thousand years’. This is YOGA.
What have I gained from this relationship with God?
I no longer believe its up to me to figure everything out
I know that if something doesn’t work out the way I want it to, it wasn’t the right thing anyway
I know that my most powerful guide is myself
I know that this book, this training course, this teacher, whatever the next thing is, isn’t going to ‘save’ me or answer all my problems. Only I can do that.
I’ve learnt to give thanks every day. I call this prayer. I give thanks through lighting candles & incense, singing, creating beautiful altars in my home and out in nature. These simple rituals have added such a depth to my life.
I never feel lonely because I am never alone. I am deeply connected to everything and everyone.
I know, whatever happens there is never, ever, ever, ever anything to worry about. Only things to be considered.
I trust myself because I know myself.
Life feels way easier now that I know nothing is under control, we’re free falling through space, but the good news is, there is no ground to land on! YAY!
I’ll leave you with another stroke of genius from Glennon:
“Rebellion is as much of a cage as obedience is. They both mean living in reaction to someone else’s way instead of forging your own. Freedom is not being for or against an ideal, but creating your own existence from scratch.”
I mean. This is EVERYTHING. I’ve definitely been in that ‘rebellion’ place. It doesn’t work, it doesn’t help anything.
Now I’m focusing on ‘forging my own way’. Literally creating the world I want to live in from the bottom up. This is how I run my business. This is how I create the sacred space of the studio. This is how I want to live my life. Not fighting someone else’s way. Gosh what a massive waste of energy!
I’m committed to creating spaces where people can connect to their own essence nature. I’m committed to creating a world with no hierarchy. I’m committed to living from my heart, always choosing actions, thoughts and words based in love rather than fear. I’m committed to not taking the easy way out.
I can’t wait to see you all soon.