Journey on and Release the Destination; There Is None. We Are Building!

Yesterday, in class, one of my fellow students asked the teacher, "What do you think about death?" Our classroom became suddenly silent. This statement had become very real to my teacher due to his wife's recent passing.  He simply said, "I don't know."  There was more discussion about different belief systems, and I listened very intuitively and quietly.

I have thought about the whole scenario all night and this morning.  I feel very peaceful about death.  In my personal spiritual walk, I believe that there is a passing into a better, more excellent place.  I call it Heaven.  I know that once I arrive, all of my questions will be answered, and I will know as I have never known before. This life is a journey with no destination in sight.  I feel content knowing that I am journeying towards the Light, and that when I pass on, I will be happier, more complete, and see the face of my Savior.

Difficult yoga postures, problems sitting still in meditation, issues with quieting the mind, and problems dealing with stress, family relationships, work situations, ... are part of that journey.  My personal view is that we often fall, but we rise again to travel on towards the goal.  If I did not fall occasionally, make mistakes, have a disagreement, struggle in some form or fashion, I would not be moving; I would be stagnant.

When you build an arm balance, an inversion, a standing balance, a pose requiring strength or flexibility, you often do not succeed.  However, that is not a failure; it is a journey.  You do the preparatory work, you lay the foundation, you get back up, and you try again.  Falling is a part of the journey.  

Before I could do Handstand, I had to develop the upper body strength, learn how to engage my core musculature, and overcome my fear of falling over.  It took time and practice.  I had to build my Planks, my Dolphin pose, my Downward Facing Dog, my Bridge, and my back strength.  It did not come overnight, and I am journeying on by doing it over and over and over again.

 Poses are built from the ground up!  Like a giant pyramid!  We begin with the easier poses and progress.  It takes some falling, some continual persistence, and a whole lot of never giving up.  Here was my first Astavakrasana back in the fall of 2012.

The next photo is the one I did this May of 2014.  Notice the difference.

No blocks, head up, elbows straight back, chest up, legs closer together, and head up.

Hopefully, next year, I will be able to transition from this Eight Angle Pose to Eka Pada Koundinyasana, or maybe my Handstands, Adho Mukha Vrksasana, will be easier for me to get into or perhaps out in the middle of the room.  But, there are always "harder" poses.  

My point is this, "There is no destination in sight."  We just keep on keeping on.  We build strength, balance, and flexibility through yoga's continual practice, over and over and over again.  We build the ability to meditate with sitting still cultivating quiet.  We build pranayama through breathing in and out using various techniques for lung strength and elasticity.  We build relationships through happy times and sad times, making mistakes and finding forgiveness.  We build our ability to release stress through practice of letting go of our ego attachments. 

We are building.  We are on a journey.  We are releasing our fears, our anxieties, our failures, our past one breath at a time.  Or we are stagnating.  The choice is really ours.  One day, one hour, one minute at a time.

Choose life.  “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life..."  Deuteronomy 30:19