Go Deeper

You just clicked or tapped the “Journal Prompt” field expecting to see something … is there a question you’re dreading? Is there an area you really don’t want to explore? Is there some part of you that gets annoyed when you think of what I’m going to “make” you write about this week?

Well … that’s the treasure, my friend.

1. Get into the weeds. In this course, we’ve been very concerned with our physical experience of this work, so when you spend even a few moments with something difficult, how does it make you feel physically? Does it go to a place in your body? Does your stomach hurt? Does your jaw clench? Get into it!One of my yoga teachers says, “we do difficult things on the mat so that we can prepare for difficult things off of it.” So this week, we put difficult things on the page.
2. The First Noble Truth of Buddhism is “dukkha,” which we usually translate as “suffering.” But it doesn’t mean “life’s a b*tch, then you die” in the way I think some folks interpret it. Instead, consider this: if we refuse to acknowledge that there is suffering (in our own lives or others’), then we inevitably wind up wallowing in it or, worse, pushing it down and living lives of false cheeriness. But if we are able to acknowledge the difficulty, we can do something about it. If we can release our attachment to the suffering, if we can stop identifying with the suffering, we have some hope for improving things.Is there a part of your life or someone else’s that feels unjust to you? That makes the little kid down deep scream “that’s not fair”? You’re right: it’s not fair. Use your journaling time to write through the unfairness. Let it move you and affect you and see how much of the anger and suffering you can leave on the page. Does that empower you to make a change?

IF YOU BEGIN FEELING DEPRESSED OR ISOLATED: Set the timer for 7 minutes. At that point, stop writing, and ask yourself, “What is the complete opposite of this feeling?” In your last three minutes, go as far in the opposite direction as possible and conclude with the statement: “Only in the darkness can I find the light.” (Or any variation that feels more authentic to you.)

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
—The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

If this all feels a little too real, you have my permission to skim the surface and spend more of your time focused on the things that you’ve found to help bring you out of your despair. Look back to week eight for hints.

If you have completed the journal prompts above, then simply let yourself write for ten minutes without any rules or restrictions. Consider the prompts, your previous journal entries this week, and just let your pen go!

You’ll notice this video is a bit longer – don’t stress out. That’s because there are modification options for Crow Pose (Kakasana) at the end (skip to 10:30), after my “namaste.”

In fact, I think there’s some good stuff there at the end, even if Crow is already a part of your yoga practice (if I do say so, myself).

Many thanks to The Mercedes Club, Hell’s Kitchen, NY, for letting me record these yoga flows in their gorgeous yoga studio.

If you prefer to meditate on your own, unguided: When your mind wanders, do you beat yourself up? Do you chastise yourself ("bad meditator!"). What if there were no wrong way to show up? Because there's not.