Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams
I’m lying on my yoga mat attempting to follow my yoga teacher’s instructions for cat tail pose. “Bring one knee up….catch hold of the opposite foot…twisting gently backwards towards the floor….” Then he says my second favorite words (my favorites being “release the pose”)… “if you are not able to fully move into the pose then just move in the direction.”
Ahhhh…relief! I don’t have to achieve the whole pose right now. It doesn’t have to be perfect. I am invited to do whatever is best for me and my body in this present moment. Moving in the direction of the pose gives me relief physically, it teaches me about being in the moment and it reminds me to connect with my breath and listen to my needs. I can also achieve these results by bending my body into the actual pose but the pose comes with the pressure of perfection and feeling of failure when I can’t bend that way yet.
I suspect that many people don’t try yoga because they think they will have to bend their bodies into these seemingly impossible shapes. I know that many people don’t try for their dreams because they can’t imagine how they will do every single task required to realize their dream. Are you afraid to reach for your dream because you don’t know how to get from where you are now to where you want to be? I had no idea I would become a Life Coach, Speaker and business owner. I just knew that I wanted more joy in my life and I started to move in that direction.
Don’t put off your dream for one more second! Start moving in the direction of whatever you want, right now. Make the declaration, make the phone call, say no, do some research, say yes, ask for help – stop thinking that you have to get into the “perfect pose.” Do something, ANYTHING that moves you in the direction of your dream and I promise you, joyful results will occur. You may release the pose now!
I love what you said…I had no idea just moving
towards something was enough to start some momentum!
I am loving doing pilates and I love the long term
results I will have…I am only on pose 6 and am still
going very slowly, learning how to do them well.
Doing pilates for horseback riders is moving in the
direction of one of my dreams. A 20 year old dream
that I discarded…to be a really good rider. I am
noticing, surprisingly, that I am already reaping
rewards for my efforts…they are subtle, yet very
important…this is so neat how this all works, life is neat! Wow, I did something right for myself for this 100 day challenge! I am not easily convinced
that ‘Joyful results will occur’ – and here I am
living proof to myself that Deb can be trusted!:-)!
Hi Deb,
Your emails and blogs are always encouraging,uplifting and inspiring. I wasn’t able to take your course on joy, but by just daily reading through the outline, I became aware of my known strengths, hidden strengths and how to use joy as my personal filter. I also realised while reading through the list of my strengths that all of them contained high levels of joy. My 100 day challenge prior to reading all that was to get back into my writing and work at it every day. I needed some accountability from someone I trusted so I asked a very dear friend if she would be my “prompter”. As soon as we established this new part of our friendship, I began writing an hour every night and sending her a quick email to let her know that I did. I missed a couple of nights due to fatigue, but I didn’t feel guilty. I felt joy in the fact that I had made progress and that felt good. She even encouraged me in that – knowing my physical and mental limits and how I was looking after myself. Since the 100-day challenge began, I have written for 1 hour per day for 12 days = 12 hours of creative work that I didn’t have before. I have a few days left to finish this one project. Oh, and my friend gave me until the end of this month to finish this one and move on to the next writing project. I have several books written and several more in progress. I hope to publish one day, but will only accomplish that by working at the writing during the week and researching publishers on the weekends. That was our agreement and I’m making strides that I haven’t made for a long while.
I am responding to the April 01st 100 day
challenge reminder…
I struggled for about a week and a half…
And at the end of last week got in gear again…
I am doing pilates for 100 days…this is the
furthest (is furthest a word?) I have gotten
in my many attempts at 100 day challenge…
I am going to increase my workout a bit just
to follow the suggestion of changing things
up a bit…I am loving this challenge…one
of the things it is really helping me with is
that baby steps (a little each day/or almost
each day) really work…I am making more progress
with just the overall commitment to learning
pilates in 100 days than if I was doing it
the way I would have before which is trying
to be perfect and driven and super intense about
learning a new skill – to my surprise this gentle
approach is really working – I am still having
fun…neat.
1. I think I am changing the world with this challenge in a way that I am a role model or example to others. I have battled this issue my entire life. I at one time had given up and felt I could never get into a healthy lifestyle. I said things to myself which were very damaging. I called myself a food addict which was a dangerous label to put on myself. I can help others by learning myself how to do it and achieving my goal. I am changing my world, putting a smile on my face and gaining confidence and this radiates for others to see. I can encourage others when I am feeling encouraged.
2. I would tell my friend that this 100 Day Challenge has helped me to applaud my accomplishments and feel good about myself. It keeps me focused on what I am doing right and I can be kind to myself rather than feel like a failure when I am not getting fast results. I would tell her that my first 2 weeks taught me so much even though I did not stick to it. It helps me with realistic ways to get to where I want to be. It has also kept me feeling accountable and motivated to keep on going.
3. I will celebrate by just saying “YES NANCY!! You can do what you set your mind to do and you are amazing!! (This was a little difficult by the way) I will go out and buy myself a new outfit and not wait to lose more weight…Just the way I am!! (wish me luck please)
Thanks for trusting me Raylene! I would also say that you are trusting yourself which is really the key to your success. Great self awareness around taking small steps rather than your old way of being driven and intense. The way you are approaching this challenge is the best way to sustain it after the 100 days are up!
Kathryn, I’m so happy that you have been writing and that you engaged the support of your friend. So often we think we should be able to do everything on our own, with out help but that way of thinking and doing just ends up draining the joy out of our lives. Woo hoo to you for supporting yourself this way and for all that you have written so far!
Deb