The Warrior Inside All of Us

"Sometimes I get so caught up in my head I forget to live."  Unknown

Breathe.  Take a big, full, rich, complete breath from your belly to your collarbones and sigh it out through your mouth.

There.  That's better.  For now at least, right?

Our bodies have this amazing response to stress, fear, anxiety and worry - it's called our sympathetic nervous system.  This system boots up our adrenals to supply us with hormones, our muscles fire up, and our "hind" brain jumps in and starts making executive decisions that will keep us alive.

But, this system has a few responses to fear - fight, flight or freeze.

Fight is when we realize we need to act quickly and jump into the fray to save ourselves, our loved ones, our community.  Flight is when we decide (sometimes mistakenly) we are no match for the cause of our fear and we must run away to save ourselves.  And freeze is when we are immobilized by fear and cannot act/move/decide. 

"The success of yoga does not lie in the ability to perform postures but in how it positively changes the way we live our life and our relationships."  T.K.V. Desikachar

During the past few weeks, many have experienced immobilizing fear.  We feel frozen, unable to act, move, get up in the morning.  We want to hide, run away.

Stop.  Breathe again.  Remember who you are.

YOU - you are a warrior.  You are a divine being with the skills, knowledge, abilities and more to overcome this fear.  You have been working all of this time on the yoga mat, on the meditation cushion - becoming mindful, connected, prepared.  This is what you have been training for.  There is fear still, but you are able to use it to skillfully move forward.

You are ready.  You have everything you need inside of yourself to protect, preserve and uplift yourself, your loved ones, your community.  But, you need to remember who you are and you need to take command of your energy.

Take a breath.  Feel that breath move through your body.  Listen to the beat of your heart.  Connect to your inner strength.  YOU ARE A WARRIOR.  Be in this moment, tell yourself you are ready, feel the clearing energy of mindfulness freeing you.  Allow your inner warrior to guide you in reacting appropriately to the threats in your present life.  If it is time to stand down, then it is time to stand down.  If it is time to act, then act.  The warrior in you knows.  You know. 

Remember WHO YOU ARE.
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All my love to you my friends...
Peace, Aprille