As I've said before, we all deal with frustration, both on and off the mat. This is part of being human. The world is not going to stop creating frustrations for us. What CAN change is our habitual responses to these frustrations. And it is by moving through frustration that we journey forward and continue to enlighten our bodies, minds, and spirits.
A simple, & perhaps an example we can all relate to is getting frustrated in a pose, because it feels too intense, your balance feels off, or you just feel like you can't get it "right" that day. A habitual response in the mind might be "Arrgh, I hate this pose", and a habitual response in the body might be to give up. But most importantly, when frustration wells up it wants you to shift your focus AWAY from what you are doing. This is the yogic challenge here; to keep your focus through the pleasant, the neutral, and the unpleasant. This takes time. We are very habituated creatures. But in order to be free of our everyday suffering caused by the conditioned ("chattering") mind, we commit ourselves to focusing through whatever comes our way.
Here is a secret that not everyone knows. Shifting your focus away from pain (either physical or emotional pain) actually makes it worse!! The next time you incur a minor injury, such as stubbing a toe or finger, try this: instead of concentrating on thinking "OW!" and how to relieve the pain and all the times you felt pain like this in the past and and and.... just drop that, and focus INTENSLY on the hurt finger/toe/area. You will notice that what felt like static pain is actually shifting all the time, ranging from tingles to sharper pains depending on the injury. Take an interest in this impermanence of pain. (Of course, if your injury is severe and/or you are bleeding a lot, please go to the ER or call 9-1-1! ) Keep your focus on your pain as intensly as you can, until you watch it gradually fade to a dull throb or ache, and then disappear entirely. Look at that!! You have just meditated through pain! You are teaching your mind that it focuses where YOU want it to, and not just where it wanders.
The same principal can be applied to frustration. Don't try to push it away. Remain very, very aware of it, in all its details and subtleties. See if it is trying to tell you something, but usually it is just conditioned mind chatter. Whenever things become difficult for us as adults, we have a hard time handling it, because we want to master it right away. But as I've been stressing, mastery takes time. Just think about babies learning to walk and talk.
No matter how severe your frustration and negativity is, don't turn it against yourself. We are all precious beings who don't deserve this terrible kind of self-talk. If you wouldn't say it to a 3 year old child you love, don't say it to yourself! By viewing yourself at war with your body and mind, peace is never possible, because the physical and psychic beings are always battlegrounds. However, a body and mind at peace are able to hear the knock of the Infinite on the door of their souls when it comes. Our goal in life is to be peace, and to spread peace everywhere we go. By working through our own negativity, we can offer others so much more. We're all in this together, so hello fellow travelers, and I hope we can all help eachother out.
P.S. - A big thanks to Shelley for subbing the Full Series Ashtanga class this past Saturday!! I heard rave reviews last time and the students and I really appreciate it! :) -LSD
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