We all strive for perfection- in our looks, in our partners, in our work, in our children…but at what cost? Acceptance for things as they are is one of the key components to our inner peace. When we are honest with ourselves, we can focus on our strengths and comfortably ask for help when we need it. Without acceptance, we are consumed with hiding our flaws. We try to pretend to be something we’re not, and feel that we have to mask our faults, we live in a constant fear of having our imperfections ‘exposed’.
Yoga for Meditation that Helps Us to Accept Things in Reality
Before we can improve we must first accept things for what they are so that we can proactively act to change for the better. Driving towards perfection in oneself or others without compassion or understanding brings upon great insecurities and a discomfort yourself. Love yourself, accept your faults, learn from mistakes, only then can you love others without judgment. Perfectionists tend to be more judgmental of their own faults and that of others, inhibiting their ability to be forgiving and understanding. Instead of being harsh with others and ourselves, we should cultivate the virtue of humility as an attitude which is essentially focused on honesty when considering the full picture.
Our obsession with the image we have to project of ourselves is so strong that we have stopped questioning the validity of appearances and endlessly seek better ways to appear. We fuel ourselves on illusions that come into continuous conflict with reality. Inevitable despair results when we realize that we cannot live up to our own expectations and face a feeling of inner emptiness. 15% of Americans report experiencing an intense feeling of loneliness once a week. As we become consumed with our own image and achievements we build barriers around ourselves barring real connections with others. We cut ourselves out and transact with the world based on selfish motives, trapping ourselves in a bubble powered by the ego. Most workaholics try to busy themselves so much to the point of numbing out this feeling of loneliness. With all the distractions available to us and in an age where access to information is at a saturation point, we corner ourselves into a state of zero contemplation as to what really matters in life, perpetually stuck in this rat race of titles and status.
Echoing the wisdom of Tibetan Sages, La Rochefoucauld Wrote ‘The best teacher is that which unmasks our hidden faults.’ Journeying deeper into you yoga practice, you will find that some poses, such as forward bends, stimulate a sense of introspection and contemplation. Our practice is aimed to slow down the flow of thoughts in our mind to bring some peace to counteract the hustle and bustle of daily life. We put so much pressure on ourselves in life at the workplace, socially and within the family, yoga is intended to bring relaxation and a step back. Yoga cultivates a mind frame of acceptance, whether in a strengthening or stretching pose, we need to accept how our body feels and find comfort in the position, if we resist or force ourselves in a yoga posture the practice becomes much more difficult and can even be damaging.
Meditation helps us clearly examine what counts most in life for ourselves then establish priorities among the essential things and other activities that intrude on our time. We should examine our motivations to abandon futile entertainments to free up more time and space in our lives for activities that have real value in our lives, this will allow us to enjoy inner freedom and prevent us from being monopolized by regret, envy and loneliness. A lucid awareness of the nature of things inspires us to live each passing day to the full. Our biggest lesson from Yoga is to learn to remain in the present moment. Mindfulness allows us to remain alert to the passage of time.
