If all is in the Mind, as The Kybalion points out, then why bother lifting even a single finger of the body?
My personal preferences tend to gravitate around creative mental activity and not so much the physical. Schedules quickly become limiting and restricting. Routine tasks are an absolute bore, and I am never short of reasonable arguments against this or that physical exercise.
But really, why bother? Isn’t it more efficient to jump straight to where the issues lie? To work them out in the mind, where they naturally linger?
Only, I am not making much progress with the mind, points out Spirit, ever vigilant and present. He humors me, you know, but is also happy to point out the flaws of my arguments.
If you don’t want to exercise, don’t do it, Spirit says, but don’t delude yourself. You are not going anywhere, not improving or growing, and definitely not getting out of this morass of illusions. Then, to elaborate on this point, He sends me a book by way of Amazon’s “recommended-for-you” algorithms.
“Asana is discipline; pranayama is discipline; kumbhaka, retention of breath, is self-control. Sit in padmasana, lotus posture, for fifteen minutes. That is self-discipline. Why do you fight with the mind first? You have no power to wrestle with the mind, yet you wrestle with it, thereby creating a pattern of animosity towards yourself. There are not two minds, there is one mind trying to split itself into two. One mind wants to break the discipline and the other mind wants to maintain the discipline.”
Hatha Yoga Pradipika
Ouch! I have been officially reprimanded! Point taken, reminders set, and plans made. Let’s see if I can stick for at least a week to a daily yoga practice while work, family, and life obligations call for attention. And to hold myself accountable, as any good life coach would do, I will follow up on this post in a week to report how good I have been. In the meantime, please send my way all your thoughts of cheer and perseverance that you can spare! 🙂
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Dear Mary, I was unfamiliar with IFS, but I found the video interesting and informative. So many personalities! 🙂 My own division usually goes this way: Right Mind and wrong mind. And within the wrong mindset, we have a multitude of productive or unproductive behaviors.
I guess that’s where growth happens- when our higher self can accept all our various personalities/parts and be master over them with curiosity, compassion and love rather than trying to subdue or eliminate them.
This made me think of IFS- here’s a short video of what it is if you’re not familiar with it. I would so love to see an exploration of how the self relates to the part in this type of discipline thing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LuXM6uWUHs&feature=youtu.be