Yoga teaches, that everything in this world, other than the Creator, is an illusion. And all that is happening to you are creations of your own mind and your Karma, the good and the bad one. So when one is going through the hard times, it is always great to remember this.
“ E verything moves in perfect order” ~ Sri Dharma Mittra
Being a yogi changed my perspective on life and how to react to everything. (You can read more about how yoga changed my life here). But there were times when it was very hard. When life events hit one, after another, after another… it is truly hard to keep a balance for anyone, even for a yogi.
Well, nothing really changed on the outside since I started practicing yoga. Life still brings on a lot, sometimes positive things, sometimes not that much. But now I perceive things differently.
When Life Takes Unexpected Turns
My first yoga teacher, who was my close friend, one day said that people were not coming back to yoga classes because of me. At the time I just started to teach yoga. I had taught maybe about 10-12 classes by then.
I couldn’t put my mind around that for a while because people did come up and thank me for the wonderful classes. But I knew that when someone does something against you is the reason for their own insecurities and events they are personally going through.
So I just let my friend go… I let her work through her own life. And that was probably one of the best decisions I’d ever made because something really good came out of this later.
“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity” ~ Albert Einstein
Harder Times
Later my uncle had a stroke. He was my God Father. They did a surgery on him, although he could never talk or move after, despite being awake for a couple more weeks after the surgery. But everyone could see in his sad eyes that he was extremely upset about his condition. So he just gave up. The hardest is that both of my grandparents are still alive. And my grandma just could not accept that fact, struggling with deep depression until now.
And More Hard Times…
Just a little later, my husband had an incidence with the snowblower. We had to drive to the emergency room immediately and they did surgery on his hand that day, three hours later. Well, let me just say, thank God he stayed with fingers. Although the recovery is still in process.
Not long after, one of our dogs Bauer got an eye infection that was worsening by every minute. So we had to run to the hospital to take care of the problem right away. Sure enough in a couple of days, two of the other dogs got the same eye infection. Just like kids… And yes, we have three Dalmatians 🙂
While recovering from the eye infection, the older dog Chelsea (mom to other two) stops eating… VERY bad sign! Long story short, we had to do a surgery on a top of a diagnosed Lyme disease.
While on the way to pick up Chelsea after the surgery, our car broke down. The transmission was gone. But to be honest, whatever the car… The most important that Chelsea is fine and recovering now.
All these finished with my entire family getting stomach flu 🤢. But eventually, everyone got better.
How to Live a Yogi Life When Everything Goes Wrong?
All these events definitely threw me out of my balance. There is no doubt. During these times I could not meditate, because all my thoughts were going right back to the current problems. Although I continued practicing the physical part of yoga, the postures. My interest in life and being motivated to do something disappeared. I just started to exist…
Interestingly, that was exactly the moment when I felt a deep connection to God, even without meditation or strong religious belief in God. How come? The truth is, I was meditating in my mind all the time while focusing on a specific problem. I was taking one step at a time. Without overthi
What have I Learned Through the Hard Times?
Now looking back I realized I have learned some valuable lessons through those times. And they were the three main ones:
- Forgive everyone, everything
- Overcome your fears. Most of the time your fears don’t come alive
- Surrender to God (or whoever/whatever you believe in)
One Lesson at a Time
First and foremost, I’ve learned to forgive. Why? Because the anger hurts only you and no one else. So in order to remove the stones from your shoulders, you should forgive. Everyone! No matter what they did, no matter how deeply they hurt you. Just forgive. You will live an easier and better life. I promise. Life will bring so many good opportunities your way!
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Also, I realized that anything I feared never really came to life. And opposite, whatever I would never expect, happened. So I’ve learned, that we should live taking one day at a time. Leave the worries aside and just live life, the best possible way. Whatever it brings.
If something bad happens – just react quick! Don’t wait until it is going to get better, because it won’t! And don’t restrict yourself because you don’t have enough money to take care of the issue.
And at the same time while something good comes your way – accept it! And enjoy it to its fullest strength without the fear of losing the joy and heading difficult times after.
Finding the Light Through the Hard Times
The third lesson was the hardest one for me. I have never been a religious person. Well, I can not say that I’d never believed in a higher force, but I really hated the religious ideas of putting a single “person” = God on a top of everything, who is actually in control of all that is going on with us and the world. That did not seem right to me.
But now, thanks to all that happened for the last 15 years, and especially those recent events, I realized that we are all a part of that higher power. We play the main role in our own lives. We are creating our own destiny by the thoughts we are thinking and the things we are doing in life. And we have the main power to change everything, the whole world around us.
Some people say that “power”, that Creator is God. But it does not matter what you call it. What’s important is that everything, the higher power, the light, the Knowledge, the Truth is right within you. Everything you ever wanted, anything you are looking for is right there, inside of you.
YOU are a part of God. Once you realize that and surrender, life becomes Eternal.
Conclusion
Going through hard times has never been easy for anyone. But there is always a reason for all that is happening to you. And if you analyze it, you will understand valuable lessons it teaches you.
At the end of the day, life will always bring something. There will always be both good and bad events. But what’s impor
By trusting your Higher Self, your fears disappear. All you need to do is to realize that your soul is a part of Eternity…
P.S All the events mentioned above happened during the time when I was completing my 500-hour Dharma Yoga teacher training. And I want to give a credit to my teacher Sri Dharma Mittra who transferred a lot of this knowledge to me. And thanks to this knowledge I was able to get through all these hard times while Living Yogi Life.
Namaste ॐ
If you wish to know about the books that influenced my perception of life, visit my Amazon store
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Great post! I am trying to be more conscious of how I react to something. It helps me keep things in perspective. BTW, we also have a dog named Bauer. 🙂
What a coincidence 🙂 I have not seen a lot of Bauers 🙂
What a nice post, Anna! I believe our reactions to life events help determine future events. I just came across something yesterday that said, “Live like your life is happening FOR you instead of TO you.” And yes, forgiveness is key. I try to look at my highly dysfunctional family as if my soul had chosen them for spiritual lessons that I needed to become closer to God. Your dogs sure are beautiful. I hope everyone is healing well!
Thank you, Ramae! And so true about life…
It is very important to keep everything in perspective and be positive. Good thoughts.
Thank you, Pauline
Great thoughts! Love those Dalmatians!
Thank you, Lisa!
This is good. I foster children and one of my 4 year olds is having a really hard time with acting out in preschool. It’s an anxiety thing from her trauma, but comes out with anger when she can’t be in charge. Her teacher does yoga and has started teaching simple poses to Johanna. We’ve been encouraging the little one to find a quiet spot and do a little yoga before she gets too upset. We also found a stuffed cat and she watched me give it a million hugs and kisses. She keeps it at school so she can get a hug from me when she feels she needs it. Both seem to helping!!!
That’s amazing that you could find a way! That’s the key for sure!
First of all, let me tell you that your doggies are super cute. I think the way we react to our circumstances determine how we overcome them. Thanks for sharing this post!
Thank you, Carolina. And that is so true!
I love this! No matter what life throws at us it is how we respond to it that makes a huge difference on the direction it will take us. Forgiveness is my number one as well. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for reading, Lina
While my beliefs are different from yours, there’s a lot that you said that I completely agree with. Especially the importance of not getting spun up about your circumstances and focusing on that higher power! 🙂 On a really funny side note, we have the exact same carpet in our living room that you do!
Haha, that is too funny about the carpet :))
Inspiring post! When you go through hed times sometimes it is hard to focus on the positive things in life!
Oh my gosh, glad Chelsea is okay! Poor babes. Love yoga for healing, it’s so powerful. Wonderful post and beautiful pictures of the trees in bloom!
Thank you, Caitlin
Loved your post. We all go through some hard times, and hard times just seem to pile up on each other. But luckily we always seem to make it through. I enjoy Yoga myself. It’s something about the quietness of yoga that I like so much. You talking about forgiveness is also another big thing that I think many people could do more of in life. Releasing the negative in our lives can really make for such a more enjoyable life.
I could not agree more, Brittany
This is similar to how I was feeling 2 years ago. There were a lot of losses in my life all within a short time frame and I just started going through life in a blur. Anxiety started to take over and I felt like crap. But just like you, I turned to God and made it through. Anxiety and stress for me is similar to what you had said. It was focusing on the bad that might happen (and never did). Instead focus on the present and appreciate what we have right now. Great post!
Thank you, Kim!
I agree to forgive everyone. It does not do yourself or anyone else a benefit to hold unforgiveness. It is so unhealthy for heart, mind, and body.
We’ve been going through some really tough times as well lately – it seems like things keep going from bad to worse. I’ve been finding that the crazier things get, the more I need to make sure I find the time to meditate and quiet my thoughts. It’s the only thing that keeps me sane.
I can understand that. And I hope things will get better for you soon.
Wow! You sure have a lot going on. It sounds like you have a really great perspective.
Thank you, Leigh Ann.
Thank you for sharing your story. I have never personally done yoga, but I would like to one day. I felt at such peace while reading this! P.S I love your dogs!
Thank you so much, Paloma
I think you are brave for vocalizing the hardest lesson we all need to learn and that is forgiveness.
I agree. Forgiveness probably one of the hardest ones out there. And we all should practice it!
This was a great reminder that the hard times teach us something in our life. I’m pinning this for later ♥️
Thank you very much, Erin
Very inspired thoughts. My husband and I try to always remind each other in hard time that we received blessings in our lives specifically to “cover” those times and walk us through them. And yes, forgiveness is a major force in life…allowing you to move on despite what happened to you.
Yes. Forgiveness. It’s a hard one. But so important.
I am glad you can find peace in your practice. I love going to the yoga mat, I don’t practice it enough.
Beautiful post! I appreciate your perspectives. Life is a journey and the challenges bring with them my greatest times of growth.
Thank you, Cindy! ❤️
A well written, very needed post for me to read right now. We all have days (weeks, months) like this. There will be better days.
❤️❤️❤️ it is all about perspective, isn’t it?
This was a very interesting read. We do all have phases in life that seemed to be filled with one obstacle after another. Learning how to process them and react to them is important and a growing experience. For me, prayer and reliance on God have been critical.
Hi, Anna 🤗 a lovely post and I am so glad to hear that your husband’s hand is healing and Chelsea as well. You’ve had a very trying time and are now coming through. I think sometimes once that energy starts to play in our lives and the fact that it’s so powerful it gains more strength and begins to snowball. I have always believed that energy (of any kind) attracts like energy. Maybe I’m off my rocker lol but I am glad that you’re all doing better and onto sunnier times. 🤗
Thank you, Angela! 🤗
[…] The difference is in the perception of your mind. It is your values, your priorities, how you see your purpose on this earth. If the first thing comes is your ego, then you blame everything and everyone around. You only think about how poor your soul is to go through the hardest times. […]
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