Saturday morning dharma-piphany

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” - Rumi

Not just romantic love, all love... friends, family, fellow man. What barriers do you have within yourself against love? Are they restricted to certain people? 

Epiphany: Total unconditional love and acceptance = no expectations. 

I've seen this with multiple friendships. Do I totally unconditionally love people because I have no expectations or do I have no expectations because I totally unconditionally love them? It's like the old chicken vs egg question... in terms of total unconditional acceptance and non-expectation, I think they happen at the same time. The acceptance removes expectations and the lack of expectation invites acceptance.  

I have found an incredible amount of acceptance within the community at the studio I go to and I think it is because this particular studio draws people who can leave their egos at the door and just be raw and authentic in themselves. The feeling of coming home and being accepted by a community of people I don't necessarily know is incredibly liberating. Almost an addictive feeling. Which may be why some days I go for one class and then just hang out for a while. Just being in that energy is fantastic. They don't care if I can touch my toes in Standing Forward Bend or whether I can kick up to a Handstand. They don't care about my past. They are happy to be in the present and enjoy it as much as possible because the future is uncertain. It is a beautiful thing to be apart of . 

These realizations and feeling the truth in them down to my bones is starting to carry over from my yoga practice to other areas of my life. Feelings of authenticity and love and acceptance are not left on my mat... they follow me out of the studio. And my ego gets left somewhere in the past as a result. Things that no longer serve me fall into the abyss between my yoga practice and life. In times of distress, I return to my breath and realize how blessed I am. Faith is found in taking baby steps and giant leaps. It is found in the knowledge that in acceptance, answers can be revealed. Everything is far more connected than we realize. 

Namaste my loves. 

I found this while looking for a cool picture to show everything is connected. Everything is definitely connected in love.