A couple of days ago I was working with one of the most influential people in todays music industry. I sat down next to him, discussing meditation and yoga philosophy to a group of philanthropists. Interesting questions came up and it made me realize how strong the longing is inside people for the healing effects of yoga and meditation. In my experience the powerful influence and healing potential of these tools are immeasurable. It's undeniably necessary for every person wanting to free themselves from their shadowy past.
The practice of yoga is the ability to focus the mind on something active, so it can eventually quiet down by surrendering control to its higher self. It's meditation in motion. A moving into stillness. By quieting the mind you gets to merge deeper with your authentic, untainted self. Recycling the illusions back to where they came from. Illusions or unconscious emotions that control our perception and take it hostage, controlling our existence, and resulting in us living in fear. Allowing for borrowed stories from the past to consume our reality of today, painting life with confusion. So much fear and confusion, we can't handle it, so we step out of our bodies, and spiraling upward, ungrounded and far away from the present moment.
For so many of us, we tend to live in the past, and so we bring the past pains with us, projecting those into the future, creating anxiety and fear. What if we will create the scary stuff from the past again in our future!
I came to realize in this sitting, whom this powerful person next to me was in an earlier stage of his life. He came from a past filled with deeply ingrained addictions, empty pursuits, and obsessions that ran him unconsciously. He needed help. He pursued yoga and meditation to heal. We all have work to do in this lifetime, otherwise we won't be here. The sooner we can wake up to the things we are meant to learn, the sooner those painful experiences move on. They will stop repeating themselves once you learn what you are meant to learn from them.
If we stay in a space of being unconscious, and numb, those painful experiencing linger, and they keep coming back again and again to wake us up. It's always so refreshing listening to someone in power speak about the imperfections of his life. The mistakes, the longings, and the waking-up-moments. It gives hope to people who are stuck, or feeling helpless.
As teachers we are responsible to share our story, our wisdom and the teachings.
Where would the world be without art? It paints the world with color. It creates music, play, dance, and stories for people to get lost in, escaping from the hardships of life. Stepping into another persons body, while watching a heartfelt movie, allows for suppressed emotions inside yourself to move. Giving ourselves permission to cry for someone else's painful experience on a screen can be a lot easier than, allowing ourselves to cry for our own painful experiences.
It gives our feelings a voice. It allows our hearts to feel through another persons experience. And so we heal, as these artists heal by expressing their deepest longings, pains, and joys. A world filled with fantasy, and make belief, yet filled with realness in each make belief moment. The beauty of creativity is priceless.
My teacher finally got through to me, after four years of working with him. He said, as an artists we simply must create. It's not always something we want to do. It is something we have to do, to move the energy from the past that still walks alongside us, our shadow. Sometimes overshadowing the reality of the day, seeing life as it's not truly. And other times it's barely noticeable.
Especially on the days consumed with our shadow, we must create. It's then when we feel most stuck, and have the least desire to create. If we choose to stay in that place, we stay in the uncomfortable emotions. We get so used to our own intensity that we forget life can be sweet and easy. Unconsciously we choose to sit in our emotions longer than what is necessary. Until we wake up and learn we don't have too. Until the day we wake up and push through the resistance and rebellion we so like to hide under. This all through the practice of yoga, art and meditation.
And so each artist that brings their life story, and share it through creativity, not only heal themselves, but heal each person who resonates with their story, their song or their dance. They bring life, color, and sound to the world. Imagine a world without art? Where would we be? No poetry and no philosophy. It will be a life lived from our minds and our senses would die an awful death.
Can we bow down to each artist, for enduring the challenges in their lives, and having the courage to express through the pain, liberating themselves from their own suffering. An industry so starved and undervalued. So many artists don't have the courage to share their work. Brilliance collecting dust on the shelves. Never to be admired and enjoyed. Some do face the fear of death, and express through it, sharing themselves in their most vulnerable states. Through the fear of rejection and abandonment. Artists are their own worse critics, as they can't see through the veil of their own illusions. Fogging up what's true and create false vision. And lets not forget a lack in seeing their own worth.
And so when you walk in this world, and happens to stand in front of a powerful and influential person, don't envy or judge them. Admire them. They've earned the energy they embody and radiate. The strong convictions and commitments towards themselves are honorable. It's not an easy road, but it comes with immense gifts and rewards. Artists sometimes wake up at four am, filled with inspiration, when the mind is most settled, and they create. They open to a deeper dimension and allow the energy from a higher place to guide them. Steer them into the beauty of their hearts. Where they feel most at home.
And so sitting next to this friend today, listening to a brief description of his life, where he came from, how he used yoga, meditation and music to build himself up from the inside, walking himself back whole again, was magnificent. Does it mean he is perfect and healed? No. It means he is a teacher, filled with life experience that can give courage, and hope to those who are in need.
Each time we endure a tough time in our lives, we receive an energy that brings power, wisdom, love and prosperity. And the more we have to walk through these experiences, the more we get gifted these magical energies. We keep standing a little taller, speaking a little louder, expanding more and more of our own healing energy, and so we become a magnet for those who needs a little encouragement. Does it mean we know everything? Does it mean I can heal you or take your pain away? No.
It gives me an opportunity to tell my story. And as I tell my story, and you have a similar story, your heart feels mine. And it opens. And we heal together.
Powerful people earn the energy they embody. Wise people earn the wisdom they share. Influential people earn the ability to influence others. When you are in the presence of a powerful, heartfelt person, remember, they have worked hard for where they are at.
And so I am deeply grateful to meet people all around that influence me, that inspire me, that makes me feel I am on the right path. I am where I am meant to be. Broken, unbalanced, or sometimes even a little crazy. And that's all ok. We are all walking ourselves whole. We might as well give each person their own personal space to do so, at their own time. And not get involved. Staying true to the road under you. Sharing life with many others, on a similar road, with a similar goal, all heading in the same direction. Here is celebrating YOU and your hard work till now. Your commitment to your own evolution, to speaking your truth, to living with an open heart, and saying yes to life.
Show up for it. All of it. It has a lot to offer and teach you. Just like this man I shared space with today. Thank you for reminding me that it's OK for me to be all of me.
Not just parts of me. ALL OF ME.