Dear Yogis,
I heard a story illustrating the journey to mastery really well that I wanted to share with you.
The heroine of the story was feeling insecure as she just completed her first book. She felt why even try when I feel so inadequate after all of this effort? The grandfather hands her an unremarkable rock and shines a flashlight through it. She looks closer and deep within the cracks are beautiful hidden emeralds.
The grandfather explains it takes very much effort to break open the rock to discover the gems inside. Once extracted, although beautiful, they aren’t worth much until they are cut and polished. It takes a lot of effort and time to arrive at that finished product.
This story got me thinking about the pursuit of the creation of anything. We are constantly in the act of creating as humans. Even just coming to a yoga class we’re attempting to create a new body right? Every seven years all the atoms and cells are completely different according to what we put in. So we create this entirely new body through the yoga practice. One that’s stronger, healthier and more capable of relaxation.
That process requires a lot of effort and dedication. Even when we make huge strides to get that raw first version there is so much more to break through before we arrive at the polishing and refining stage. I’m reminding you of this to empower you.
Growing towards what we are becoming, what we are creating is circular. We rise then we fall. Then we rise even more and we fall again. The falling may feel massive when we don’t understand that it too is a part of the path to mastery. We shouldn’t compare ourselves to those who are on the polishing stage. They had to fall many times before getting to their mastered or polished result.
You’ll start to notice advanced asana practitioners who focus on the most minute details in alignment, placement and breath that at the first phase, while they were just creating something new, raw and exposed, wouldn’t have even had the capacity for such refined attention.
Then yoga brings us to this place of creating a new mind. Right? Whatever the mind is made up of is what it’s conditioned to be and yogic philosophy starts to condition it in a new direction. I’ve watched thousands of people transform their minds through this practice and that first shift is always the same; it’s raw and emotional.
With time they see how beautiful this new thing they are creating is and they polish it and refine it further and further. We try to improve little behaviors, patterns and idiosyncrasies that we never even noticed before. We get into polishing.
In the story once the first copy of the book is complete the girl bursts into tears. It takes a while to compose herself and that process of creation is always the same. That first big shift digs out everything buried deep inside all the gems and all the rocks. All the big fears and feelings tucked away around those gems.
So while on the surface it may not seem so wonderful to be so suddenly emotional, deep down it is because it’s giving us the opportunity to reveal all that we are capable of creating.
The baby is born you get that first big cry.
So be gentle with yourself and realize this is all a part of the process for whatever you are endeavoring to create in your life. We have to break ourselves open to uncover the gems inside. Once revealed we can do the work of polishing them.
Whatever is breaking you open is a blessing (sometimes in disguise).
So set the intention of deep compassion on your journey for whatever step you are currently at. As those steps change have faith that the outcome will be beautiful with time. Allow yourself a deep trust in the process as you do the work to create, however long it may take to get to that “mastered version”.
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In love,
Amanda and the good folks at Revolution Yoga
Originally shared in our April 2021 newsletter.