by Angela Clark
I was listening to my teacher guide me through a meditation practice when she gave an instruction that was so profound it shifted everything for me. I was like, “wow – that’s amazing, I have forever been changed.” Nevermind it was something she had told me over and over again, for about a year, but that’s beside the point.
We’ve all been there, whether it had been in a yoga class, at school or work or even just talking with a friend. We are listening to our teacher or friend and all of a sudden they give an instruction or idea or advice that is so profound and clear that it shifts what we’re doing entirely.
Then we stop and wonder, “why didn’t anyone ever tell me this before!?”
Hahaha.
Chances are it is not the first time is has been said to us. We may have heard it once, twice maybe six, seven, a hundred and eight times before but we didn’t actually hear it. It may be as simple as we weren’t really listening to the teacher, we were thinking about other things – how we needed to pay the bills, why we couldn’t kick up into handstand, or why our thoughts just won’t quiet down.
Or maybe we weren’t ready for the instruction that was given, perhaps we had to make five other connections before we could make the newest one. Perhaps it was the phrasing of the instructions. Maybe we just weren’t ready to do the work.
Whatever the case is, once we hear it, once we’ve had that profound shift, we have to remember that things will shift again. There is the possibility we will forget the wise words that inspired us. Maybe we will rediscover them again six months down the road, or maybe we will hear something new that will have an equally profound effect now that we have made new connections from the previous words.
As we continue to step into the practice we will see the constants shifts that happen whether we are paying attention to them or not. Lessons are learned, lost, re-learned, and sometimes, even outgrown. We must remember that we are exactly where we need to be. To learn the lessons we are supposed to learn. And hear the things we are supposed to hear.
Lovely post, Angela! Very true.