This book is one of my favorites and has been an inspiration in itself for me to continue making things to share, regardless of the outcome. I have read it multiple times, most recently when on vacation in a cabin in Orland Maine. It was the perfect way to reset. This is a book I intend to re-read again if I fall off track. In this book Elizabeth speaks of inspiration as a being in itself, similar to the goddesses in Awakening Shakti, my current read. She emphasizes that we all have the need to create. It’s not just for the few that can make money with it. All creation is an important part of the life of the creator. Coloring is just as important to the person doing it, as is writing a best selling novel. Giving yourself the freedom to create the things you love to create, in a dedicated way, without the need for others to enjoy it, is not a privilege but a right.     

This is a good reminder for me as I center and attempt to figure out what I am doing here at Grace, ME. When I circle back to you, the one I hope also enjoys my creation, I want you to get as much joy out of accessing my creations as I get out of creating them. I’m not here to get you a beach body. I’m here to help you enjoy how you feel in your body right now. For you to realize that all bodies deserve to enjoy Maine’s painful beaches. If you don’t get that last line please, for the love of goddess, go read Vacationland by John Hodgman. But I digress…   

I want your yoga practice to help make you feel stubborn gladness, brave, curious, and playful. These are the emotions that make you ready to receive what Elizabeth calls “inspiration.” Here we want to develop the ability to approach life as a dedicated half-ass. The work wants to be done, regardless of the outcome. I believe what Elizabeth calls inspiration is connected to what yoga calls bliss, and what positive psychology calls a flow state. It’s the acknowledgement that things are both bigger than you and you are bigger than you. At the same time your experience and joy of participation in the process is the point unto itself. The work is successful if you feel good in your body and are enjoying more little moments of joy in your life. This outcome takes dedication but it also can’t be just another thing to get done. When you do it right, you want to do it, you need to do it, the practice becomes your life. 

I’m going to make a nice graphic for you for when you are taking yourself too seriously to enjoy your work. Remember to be; a dedicated half-ass, feel stubborn gladness, brave, curious and playful. Approach your practice like this and it will help you find inspiration, bliss and a flow state. That bliss will be what holds you to your intention. This is also in keeping with what we know about behavior. Focusing on how you feel today is far more motivating than some amorphous benefit for the future. Statements like “I want to be healthy” or “I want to lose 5 pounds” can seem like reasonable goals. However, they are actually demotivating and people who try to use these types of goals to change behavior are frequently unsuccessful. Be dedicated but also swing back around to being in your body right now and acknowledging how amazing this practice makes you feel. That is all the motivation you need to get back to it tomorrow. 

 

Practice well yogis, 

Oxox,   

Grace

 

 

 

 

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