Ananda and The Subtle Art of Listening to Yourself
Hey there beautiful people!
The craze of having to have what I call a ‘nanny coach’ for pretty much every activity you happen to show a passing interest in, has, in my opinion, reached an all time high! So it is pretty refreshing to see these rules being broken, especially by someone whose job spec is to tell you what/how/when to do or not to do…I’ll elaborate.
I went to a flow yoga class here in Brussels, (where we celebrate our sixth year of teaching NLP and sharing the magic of Momentum Method) and was greeted by a grounding, cool, California meets Tibet type of a teacher aptly named Ananda.
Ananda knows her shit. She is as bendy as the 80s plastic stripy straw, and as sturdy as an oak tree, yet, somewhere in between the bendy/sturdy appearance, lies a wise teacher who trusts that you, as a fully functioning adult, have, mastered the art of listening to yourself. After all, you managed to earn the money and afford to join the prestigious Yoga Room Brussels, you also managed to bring your bendy and LuluLemon clad ass to her class, so it is safe to assume that you know when asana is too ambitious and maybe not available to you…at least not today.
I loved the class…It was supposed to be a simple yoga class, where you breathe in and out and OM and chant and you do your best to turn into a graceful looking pretzel without collapsing midway and disturb others on their way to reaching the flow with Ananda.
But it was more than yoga. It was a skilfully choreographed and structured masterclass in learning the art of listening to yourself. Ananda stayed away from walking around and correcting us. Instead, she allowed the class to organically unfold, by quietly observing and encouraging us to flow into the next pose. She trusted our deeper wisdom to stop when it starts to be super unpleasant, in short, to not hustle hard. As what is the point of doing something once, and then spending five days in recovery?!
And I can hear some of you say that if not supervised one may fall and get injured and…Sure, I get it, and you are right…But I still believe that we need more experiences like this one. Injuries et all…It is after all what living a grown up life is all about…
Listening to yourself, knowing when to stop if it becomes too painful and not pleasant be it a relationship, job, friendship, or a yoga asana…Imagine having someone chaperoning you all the time and telling you what is good or what is bad for you…? Where is the freedom in that? It certainly isn’t a way to living a free and fulfilled life.
Not being able to rely on your inner voice, instinct, on the input from your Unconscious is why many people are finding themselves disconnected – disconnected from themselves and life in general.
If I am not mistaken, for many people, while under parents’ supervision, it was all about waiting to grow up so that we could stop listening to adults and do things our way, right?! So what happened to that?! How did things escalate so quickly?! How did we become adults afraid of our own shadows, while harbouring dreams of entrepreneurship, running our own shows and being our own bosses?
My dears, if you find yourself needing an approval, a nod, a correction by an ‘expert’, stop for a moment and look inside first…see if you can dig a little deeper and ask yourself what is it that you need and that you currently lack.
Stop giving your power away, before you gave yourself a chance to tap inside your treasure chest. Once you have identified the need(s), by all means go ahead and find an expert…But not someone who will confirm what you already know, but someone who knows how to help you get to where you want to go – In a hassle free, more elegant and a graceful way. Honouring your genius!
Accelerated growth happens when we approach an expert with a relatively clear mind, focus and intention. Fully present and into our body/mind. And for that to happen, it is essential to first master the gentle art of listening to yourself. This is how transformation happens. This is the theme of this year’s Momentum NLP trainings in Brussels!
Have a fabulous weekend and remember to #HustleGently
Lidija
