Happiness is Always a Choice

I was on a friend's facebook page last night and saw a post about lucid dreaming that included a link. I've always been interested in the idea of lucid dreaming so I clicked the link. The very first part of the site that loaded was the words "the key to a happy and fulfilling life resides within your dreams". I hadn't seen the rest of the page but I knew with certainty they were going to try to sell me something.

This makes me sad. So many people are unhappy in their lives that the idea of having a tool to help become happy is now a successful marketing tool. (Don't even get me started on pharmaceutical companies)

I can't say lucid dreaming won't help you become more fulfilled and happier. But I know yoga will. It's not that yoga itself makes you a happier person. Yoga asana may help your body to feel better, but actually it's the awareness and mindfulness that is cultivated in a regular yoga practice that will help you see what you need in your life to be fulfilled and make choices that lead to greater happiness.
Yoga (the entirety of yogic practices, not just asana) helps to clear away the cluttered chatter of our thoughts. As we are free of the distractions we are free to act in a way that makes our lives worth living.

This does not mean we will never again suffer, feel sadness, or pain. Life is full of challenges, but we can choose how we meet those challenges. The decisions we make about our reactions will determine whether we wallow in suffering or watch it, learn from it, and rise above it.

This week we will practice mindfulness. Asana will focus on strength. We will practice standing and balancing postures in order to prepare ourselves physically and mentally for coming challenges. You will learn so much about yourself as you practice moving through difficulty.
Watching the breath as it moves without manipulating it proves challenging. It is not something we are encouraged to do. When do you just sit and breathe? My love makes jokes. I tell him I'm going to breathe. He tells me he's going to blink. :) Maybe we should focus on blinks one day. The point is, as we focus on something without trying to control it, we create one pointedness in our attention and become more mindful.