Internal defeat is a mindset, where you begin to believe that most new ideas will fail. You might think -”After all, what I tried in last week’s Yoga class, failed.”
You will always learn from mistakes. When you see them clearly as a test, examine the results, and study them closely for the reason why they went wrong.
Whether it is a lesson plan, trying mantras, Hot Yoga, Gentle Yoga, a pro shop, or trying anything new, it is better to make mistakes than do nothing at all.
Some of the most successful Yoga teachers, I know, deal with mistakes as part of the learning curve. They turn all of their defeats into learning experiences. This is extremely powerful when you consider the cost of learning anything of value.
After all, what did you spend on your education, so far? Did you think you would stop learning at a certain point in life? Did you learn from your past mistakes? Of course you did, and now you are stronger due to the corrective adjustments, you have made.
When a child learns to ride a bicycle, there are plenty of falls along the way, and then the falling stops. However, even skilled adults fall off bicycles, sometimes.
So, don’t take past failures personally. Put them behind you and learn from each one.
Henry Ford and the Wright Brothers had failures, but nobody seems to remember that. Just like them, you are not a failure, but you may have failed in the past, just like they did. When you get down on yourself, look back at what you have accomplished.
When you take on your next project, do the research first, assemble a team, make a full commitment to succeed, and never mentally quit before you start.
Lastly, whenever it is possible, learn from the mistakes of others. This is why Yoga businesses approach me for consulting services: To save money by avoiding known mistakes, pitfalls, and traps.
Paul Jerard, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher.
www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
The circle is a very special symbol. It’s a symbol that has no beginning and no end. It’s a completion symbol. So what’s happening, as you’re doing this practice, as you’re gazing at the circle, is that the fragmented thought patterns that are in you are beginning to find a sense of completion. Everybody would probably agree with us that if I had a whole lot of anger inside of me, if I’m really mad, my world around me kind of mirrors that anger. We’ve talked about this in The Everyday Sanyasin as you’re driving down the road and you get mad at somebody, it seems like from that point on, boy, every driver is making you even more angry.
What we’ve really done is to look at this and say, “Okay, when I’m angry I have an image of myself as angry.” I’m actually if we think in terms of a caricature I’m the Angry Man. So I’m playing the role of being the Angry Man. As I’m doing that, the thoughts that come to mind, the emotions that come to mind, are filled with that anger. As you say, you begin to project it on other people and think they’re angry with you. Especially if it’s a lover, she may turn to you and say, “I’m not angry with you. Why are you upset with me?”
So in a sense, if we think of anger as a drawing, or when you’re taking a lie detector test, most all of us have seen a dramatization of lie detector tests in movies and television shows; of course, when you’re angry, there’s all these spikes.
Basically, that’s what we’re experiencing. In terms of tone within, an inner tone, and in terms of an inner visual image, we’re seeing all these edges We’re not looking at a circle. We’re looking at something with no beginning and no end and a wholeness. We’re looking at causation. This thing made this happen, and this made this happen. We’re seeing there’s a difference, and what I’m pointing out is, even as we get angry, even as we’re walking around and we’re angry, we’re actually fixated on an image within ourselves. We could say, it’s more than an image, it’s also a harmony of a tonality. I would say that after you did it for a while, there would be a calming sense that would come over you as you’re doing it.
Many individuals take gemstones literally at nominal value, such as gemstone bead jewellery; that is, jewellery to put on just for aesthetical purposes. But stones are also considered to have numerous remedial powers, such as (depending on the gemstone) the power to encourage confidence, concentration, relieve headaches and stress, promote a calm mind, and encourage positivity.
This article will cast an eye on a small selection of stones and their supposed medicinal powers. A disclaimer before you read any further : The details of this article are grounded on common beliefs, so there can be no guarantee as to the efficacy of these stones and their believed curing powers.
Amber
This gem remedies physiological stress, calms the nerves and improves self-confidence. It stimulates creativeness by freeing the mind of negative thoughts. It is believed to be effective for joints and act as a tonic for the liver and kidneys.
Amethyst
Amethyst steadies the mind and assists increased harmony and serenity. It represses self-destructive tendencies and aids self-healing. Amethyst also confers honesty and wisdom on those who wear it.
Haematite
A mighty gem that bestows strength and boosts willpower. Very useful for harmonizing the body and spirit. A grounding gem which quashes anxiety and is said to help insomnia.
Malachite
A mighty stone that can absorb negative energies and “contamination”. Useful for people suffering from emotional stress.
Moonstone
Amerliorates emotions, improves the powers of intuition and assists the power to gain access to the subconscious.
Sodalite
improves the power to communicate and understand others feelings. Useful for the maturation of intuition and spirituality.
The preceding gems are merely a tiny selection of gems that are believed to have healing properties. The only pragmatic way to discover if these gemstones can work for you is to actually put on such stones if you suffer from an ailment that a gemstone is believed to help remedy.
“You have collected all my tears and preserved them in your bottle! You have recorded every one of them in your book.” Psalm 56:8 TLB.
“Tears are often the telescope through which men see into heaven.” Anonymous. To think that our great God takes notice even of our tears and saves them as jewels! He promises that those who sow in tears shall reap in joy (Psalm 126:5). Our tears will be turned into precious gems for God. They are posted in His book of remembrance, for He does not forget our anguish. His own Son was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried” (Isaiah 53:3,4).
We can better see another’s anguish when our own eyes are bathed with purifying tears that wash out our blindness and allow us to better understand another’s vision. An adage says, “Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone.” But one who empathizes because of a like experience literally enters into another’s chamber of sorrows. Our own tears of grief quickly wash away preconceptions and presumptions and our hearts grow larger and softer for others.
Our heart is honed with God’s whetstone. “He who did not spare his own Son” (Romans 8:32) will not spare us because He loves us so much. “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).
The shortest and most poignant verse in the Bible is “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Jesus took on our weaknesses that He might give us strength. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are…” Hebrews 4:15. Only when we are in the cellar of despair can we appreciate and appropriate this marvelous truth. Our tears are His treasure!
