“Wings are freedom only when they are wide open in flight. On one’s back they are a heavy weight.” Marina Tsvetaeva
My greatest gift is to challenge the status quo. To disrupt the label boxes of RIGHT and WRONG. To provoke to dialogue. To choose creative and free ideas. To encourage you to look at the same thing from a thousand angles. And then look one more time.
The greatest gift I posses is not to strive for absolute labels and answers. No dogma. But always be willing to learn something new. To break my own and your own mind patterns. And be willing to reinvent who we are.
I encourage you, dear reader, to adopt this free attitude and embark upon a journey of adventure, freedom and a lifetime of research. To explore who you are beyond your own story and the critical voice inside your head.
What if we decide to do that?
Could that make a difference?
My gift is to turn your world upside down. To take your mind by surprise. To encourage you to be curious and begin your own research. So that you can see – nothing is really permanent, not even what might look permanent. What can become permanent is that little thought inside your head telling you “it’s impossible”.
Our brain is wired for negativity. But our ability to change is a fact.
The question is “Do you want to change?”
Do you want to get out of the passive role in your life and be proactive instead?
Our thoughts are subject to change. And we should embrace change as a natural organic part of life. Change is dynamic. It brings fresh perspectives and growth to our life.
We should be willing to continue to research and to grow because that’s the only way for a fulfilling life where we don’t take the passenger’s seat, but we decide to be the drivers instead.
At times I have upset and will probably continue to upset some people because of my gift to ask uncomfortable questions and provoke people to give a second thought to their own opinions. We people don’t like that. We like to hold onto our opinions and perception as they are the absolute truth. Change is uncomfortable for our mind so the easiest thing to do is to AVOID IT.
But life happens outside our comfort zone. And that sense of fulfillment,gratitude and pure honest love also happens outside our comfort zone.
Why do you think this way? Is this a well shaped, beneficial opinion? Or can you change something? What can you do better? Does this help you be a better person and a useful person to this world?
The way I teach yoga and mentor my students is for them to be brave enough to walk their own path. I want my students to take and learn whatever they can possibly learn from me and find their own way. Eventually life is about that. Parenting is also teaching. We raise our kinds to grow their wings and eventually we need to let them FLY. Otherwise our wings are kind of useless. We have wings to fly not to let them rest on our back…
We learn from each other. Inspire each other. And then our ultimate job is to bring to the world our unique perspective and gift.
I don’t teach co-dependence and encourage victims, but I empower you to be brave and strong. I used to be a victim myself, so believe me that I do understand how that is. How hard it is to make the transitions. To believe to choose in the power of love and infinite possibilities. To have faith into the unknown. To fight with the harmful inner dialogue inside our head. I know how that is!
I am there to hold your hand while we walk through fire together. This is a team work. A journey of taking your power back.
I want you to want to walk your own path, not somebody else’s. And I know that you’re are strong and you’re are brave to do it.
The question is: Do you want to walk your path?
Yoga practice is not milk and honey. It’s not about fancy mala beads, green juices and yoga pants. Yoga practice is a journey of self-discovery. It’s about discovering how strong your heart truly is. It’s a wonderful tool to dig into your inner world and find out who you really are. Beyond the fluctuations of your mind. Beyond your cultural background. Beyond your upbringing. Your education. Your profession. Your personality.
It starts with learning how to relax your body and mind and control your breath. Then it goes to observing your thoughts and emotions. Learning how to observe while staying calm and not reacting to every little impulse your get. And for those that are willing to live the most true authentic expression of themselves, they start to understand how their mind patterns work and learn to master themselves for a better living.
Self-mastery skills are essential skills to teach our kids. More aware parents raise more aware kids. It should be mandatory at home and in school to teach our children awareness techniques, emotional management, meditation and get their mind to work for them and not against them. Wouldn’t the world be better with more aware people?
Nassim Nicholas Taleb has a very good article on the topic “intellectual yet ignorant”. The rise of technology, the internet, the “google it” thing has brought so much positive change to our world. However by finding almost everything at one click away, we have also learned not to take proactive decisions for our life. We have learned to be comfortable. And we lost the spark. The interest for research in some way. To discover it ourselves. And that might be just a cause for our disappointment and depression sometimes…
Formal education is also good. But formal education has limitations. Education is a lifelong project.
A couple of years ago, when sharing with someone a beautiful idea someone presented in a video I watched, I got this reply that totally shocked me: “Honey, I finished school a long time ago.”
Wow! That I did not expect…
I made a promise to myself to never end up in that state of mind. If that happens…
To decide to embark upon your own journey and not somebody else’s is an act of war.
Yoga practice is the journey of the fairytale hero that must be tested before becoming ready to embrace his mission.
The yoga practice is a hero journey. The hero is not a mythical character. The hero is in you and me, in every living being. It’s that wish, that inner wisdom. The clarity. The strength. The willpower to do better, be better and bring what our heart wants into this world. And make it a better place.
Unfold Your Mat is the expression of the inner warrior’s journey. I’m not a fan of encouraging victims.
I will stay by your side and walk through fire together.
The question is: “Do you want to do it?”
We all have a victim inside us. Most times we are not truly aware of it. The mind is very sneaky and it takes time and continuous life long awareness practice to understand how to make it work for us and not against us. How to rise above the negative stories we tell ourselves into an accomplished living.
I wish you to be strong enough to believe in yourself and THE IMPOSSIBLE. And make it POSSIBLE. There is no other way of living than to be brave, my darling. Do you want to live YOUR life?
From my heart to yours,
Lavinia
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© Unfold Your Mat 2019
Göteborg, Sweden