Welcoming the New & Unfamiliar
It’s human nature to resist experiencing new things big or small. After all, we could become uncomfortable, feel out of control, fail, hate it, have regrets, fear embarrassment, or not know what to do.
This is why most people stay stuck in the status quo and complain for years about how much they hate their job or are in a suffocating relationship, but never do anything about it.
However, it is through new experiences that we grow as a human being but also as a spiritual being. It widens our perspective on life and gives us the opportunity to practice the yogic qualities of humbleness, compassion, kindness, and non-attachment with both ourself and others.
Sometimes we can even get a good laugh from new experiences.
I spontaneously took a pole dancing class… yes, I decided I needed to feel sexier that day. Um, turns out I was not so sexy at all.
I joined the circus in college because I needed a PE credit and refused to partake in the standard gym class. I never hurt so much in so many places in my life.
I worked in a Native Yupik village in Alaska for 2 years, in the frozen tundra, where no one in their right mind goes. There were A LOT (did I say a lot?) of challenges, but a lot of good laughs from the shit you just can’t make up.
I thought because I was an “intermediate” snow skier I could easily snowboard as well. I found myself wrapped around the trunk of a tree in the first hour. Um, skiing and snowboarding, not the same thing!
And most recently, while staying in a Chicago hotel room, every time I flushed the toilet is sounded like someone rang a doorbell. Well, not a huge thing, but was certainly something new for me! Sometimes the “new” just adds a little spice to life.
Choosing to welcome the new and unfamiliar can also be one of the most difficult decisions or experiences in your life. I left a marriage of 17 years (and a house) because I wanted more. He was a good man, but we were on different paths. I struggled for a long time to let go and not allow guilt to consume me. We both came out happier in the end, and I learned that I had more courage and strength than I thought. But it was extremely scary and heartbreaking.
The one thing that has remained my constant, and that I attribute my willingness to take the leap into new and unfamiliar territories, is my yoga practice.
This is where the whole “yoga is more than just asana and exercise” comes in. Yoga teaches us how to use the breath, body, and mind to operate from our higher Self, not our little fearful, egoic self. Even if we are scared. Even if we are facing the unknown. Even if we feel the resistance.
It provides us a daily routine of movement, mantras, and/or pranayama that we can always come back to, to feel safe, grounded, and focused.
It connects us to our purpose which helps to guide our life decisions.
It provides us with a philosophy, the guidelines necessary for overall happiness and to set healthy boundaries with self and others.
It’s a total system. And it can support you in embracing the new and unfamiliar, regardless of how scary, so that you create a fulfilling, joyful, and purposeful life.