I am still working on those spiritual horizons but I've been distracted the last few days by something. I don't really know why. I think it was a random thing that someone I don't really know said to me one day last week. In any case, the something is ego.
Merriam-Webster defines ego as "egotism" which is defined as "an exaggerated sense of self-importance." This is the kind of ego I have been pondering. Mainly my thinking has revolved around ego as it pertains to practicing yoga, especially when it comes to men practicing yoga.
My ego gets me in trouble all the time. And I personally believe that in relative terms (i.e., relative to the rest of the male species), my ego is rather tame most of the time. However, I have my moments. I mean, I am a man (well, most of the time anyway). My ego got me in trouble this morning with Marcia. My ego got me in trouble last night during my practice. It's a damn shame and just another reason why I attempt to practice yoga on and off my mat. It's a waste of time to have ego and ego bothers me. Which pisses me off because I am wasting my time getting pissed about something that bothers me and is a waste of time which is a waste of time. Yoga reminds me to let it all go. If all of us let go of ego and practiced yoga, the world could be a utopia of love and happiness (example of my tame ego, I mean how many men would say something like that!?!?).
In any case, I think that most men let their ego intimidate them when it comes to the thought or actual practice of yoga. I felt it a bit when I first started doing yoga but like I said, I think my ego is tame by comparison. I was surrounded by beautiful, fit women (one of which was my gorgeous wife) and was being taught by an amazing guru (Dolly), all of whom were doing things like touching the back of their head with their toes while I could barely lift my foot off the floor in standing splits. Had I thought about it too much at the time, I probably would have never gone in the first place let alone kept going. Instead I focused on the progress I made each time I practiced and the sweat (sweat = progress to me not to mention I like to sweat which I do a LOT when I practice). It worked for me and still does. Just last night I was able to do a full bind in parsvakonasana. Dude!
I wish there were a way to express to the world with one Word what it is to practice yoga. What it feels like, what it can do for you mentally, all of it in one word. Then I wish everyone would say that Word at least 10 times. It might not even take that many times for most people but if everyone chanted this Word 10 times out loud, I bet half of them would want to keep doing it. That would be cool.
"Both practice and non-reaction are required to still the patterning of consciousness. Practice is the sustained effort to rest in that stillness. And this practice becomes firmly rooted when it is cultivated skillfully and continuously for a long time. As for non-reaction, one can recognize that it has been fully achieved when no attachment arises in regard to anything at all, whether perceived directly or learned. When the ultimate level of non-reaction has been reached, pure awareness can clearly see itself as independent from the fundamental qualities of nature."