There are so many questions about what constitute a yoga practice, and what we should really focus on while we are doing it. Students always ask “What should my practice be?” For many, it consists of doing as many sun salutations and yoga push-ups as possible. Others try to sit in stillness every morning. And then another group say their yoga is to lives their life offering acts of kindness to every person they meet.
My practice is trying to follow the wisdom of the great sage Swami Rama who has been quoted several times saying that there are three instructions given to us by the Himalayan Masters – and the first instruction is very clear. Overcome all your fears. Live your life fearlessly.
Talking about this is one thing, but actually doing it is quite another. Every single time we confront our fear, we have to use every skill we have acquired through yoga, and confront our true nature.
Living at Blue Osa in Costa Rica year round, we get to see some amazing weather. One day last September some enormous waves came crashing onto our beach at high tide. As I headed out to the ocean for my daily ½ mile swim, I was confronted by these 12 feet waves and my fear was overwhelming. I turned around to walk away. As my practice is to stay aware of my fears as much as possible, I immediately turned back around and charged into the ocean putting all my yoga practice into play.
I firmly believe that 99% of my decisions are based upon my fears, and all fear is false evidence appearing to be real. How often do we make important decisions in our life that revolve around our fears? Fears that have no basis in reality.
The first step to overcoming our fears is to be practical. Use your higher intelligence and talk to yourself about your fears. So many of us make decisions based on losing something in our life, but through the practice of yoga, you come to realize the truth that you have absolutely nothing to lose and you are truly liberated from your fears.
Yogi Aaron, author of “Autobiography of a Naked Yogi”, brings passion and adventure to his teaching. Inspired, he guides students to secret and far-flung locales, empowers them to realize their own limitless potential, and makes yoga relevant and accessible for the modern world. Since 2002 he has been traveling and leading retreats worldwide and currently serves as the yoga director at Blue Osa Yoga Retreat + Spa in Costa Rica. Follow Yogi Aaron on Facebook.
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