Conflict versus Unity: Choices

It seems like a simple proposition. Make choices based on reducing your internal conflict. But, often choices are made based on habit; habits that have grown throughout the course of a life lived without any particular focus on awareness or dealing with emotions in a healthy way. So we pick up habits based on trying to feel better when in fact those habits make feel worse. We know we shouldn't eat too much sugar, or drink too much coffee, or watch too much tv, or be on facebook for too long, etc, but we do because we're avoiding feeling terrible. It's avoidance, not resolution.


Then we wonder why we're in pain. We trudge through life instead of walking tall. Ani DiFranco is (in my opinion) a very talented musician. In one of her songs she sings: when I look down, I miss all the good stuff, and when I look up, I just trip over things. Can we learn to see both?


Firstly, you have to practice walking without looking behind you. My daughter used to walk into walls that way. Focus on past events can take you away from what's happening now. You will most assuredly walk into emotional walls. Allowing the present moment to be usurped by the past will lead you to make decisions based not on what's going on in front of you but what you've already gone through.


It takes effort to let go of our hold on the past. Which comes first? Letting go of the emotions that come up when you're reminded of the past or letting go of your unhealthy coping mechanisms? It takes time and dedication to get anything accomplished, particularly something you react strongly to.



Yoga gives us techniques to keep us present, to feel calm in the face of strong emotion, to bring our bodies and minds back to wellness. The most powerful tool we have for health and well being is our breath. Take 12 seconds out of your day and take 3 deep breaths. No particular pattern, no particular physical configuration. Just breathe in as deeply as you can (include your belly) and exhale completely. Make it noisy if it helps. Now see how you feel. You can't breathe yesterday or tomorrow. Only now. Take time throughout your day to notice how your breath flows. If it flows.


Once you get a handle on your breath, you can begin to notice how it flows when you're faced with certain situations. You make choices everyday. You have to. Under what circumstances do you choose unhealthy? Under what circumstances is it easy for you to choose what's good for you?


The word yoga means to yoke. It refers to uniting the many disparate parts of the human being. Uniting with yourself in the present moment will allow you to live with less stress, less sickness, and more happiness.