Embracing Change

I really don’t have to talk to any of you about embracing change because I believe that we have all been doing a pretty good job at it in the last year. But what I can probably talk to you about is embracing bigger changes.

The last few months have trained us on accepting and embracing change in our daily lives. But there are some changes that are harder to accept and embrace, especially those that impact the grander scheme of our lives: education, jobs, relationships, and long term health.

Without going into specifics, I believe that changes are not random. Change happens for a reason, even if it is not our personal reason at the time. We are naturally and inevitably moved towards our dharma or purpose with or without our knowledge. Energy spent on resisting change is energy wasted.

Conscious change through personal work (“tapas”) is one of the three important components of our yoga practice that can bring us closer to fuller self-realization. This is accompanied by self-study, which means learning from our experience and putting it into action, creating wisdom. But aside from wisdom and work, the last important component of our yoga practice is faith and surrender. 

For change that we cannot accept or embrace just yet, we just have to surrender.

- Teacher Ben