“You are already naked. There is no
reason not to follow your heart.”
This is Steve Jobs, of course, in his now-famous 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University.
During meditation, if we’re
fortunate, we experience a kind of life-altering nakedness that
permanently affects our perspective about what we are and what we are
not.
What it feels like to me is the
dissolving of my body. By the end of morning practice, my
understanding is that I’m a body of energy that happens to be
passing through this less significant physical body.
It’s a feeling that stays through the day. On a good day, I see everyone around me as the same kind of
energy, and we feel like family.
One of the best consequences of
this shift in perspective is that it makes me brave. When I know myself to be
light passing through this day, I lose my fear of failure (light
can’t fail), of humiliation, and of rejection. I lose my
small-minded need for security.
I follow my heart more easily.
I don’t know whether Steve Jobs
meditated. This is important, because meditation itself is not the
point, any more than my physical practice of yoga is the point.
Freedom is the point. Waking up and
discovering who we are is the point. Recognizing that we’re part
of all that is, is the point. Living bravely from that perspective is
the point.
It just happens that meditation and
practice on the mat are excellent signposts saying, “Hey! You beautiful smacking whack of radiant light, you! Look this way! Here you are!”
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks to Steve Jobs for the reminder
that we are light passing through. Thanks to yoga for exactly the
same thing.
Thanks to you, always, for the
conversation,
kristin
Dr.
Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (About All
Things Wonderful) in North Bay, Ontario. Join her on the web,
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