It has been a while since I last updated the situation on my teacher training.  The application is in and I am simply waiting to hear if the course will run as planned and if I have been accepted.  The program I am trying to attend is the Level 1 Amrit Method® of Yoga Training and Teacher Certification.  If I haven’t heard back by the end of this week, I will start gently reminding them that I need to know what is happening.

There was once a small man with a very harsh sounding voice who was known for his kindness, love and determination.  This diminutive man was Spencer W. Kimball, twelfth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and prophet of God.  He was well known for two simple words, “Do It!”  These last few days, Do It!, has kept me moving.  As happens every Spring and Fall, I have been teetering on the brink of a major depression.  Trivial tasks seem monumental and I would like nothing more than to just throw my hands to the heavens and weep in frustration.  Following the advice of this prophet and doing it has kept me from toppling over that dangerous precipice.  Here is an example from today:  I dropped off some DVDs at the post office (Netflix is wonderful), put gas in the car, bought two new journals (I have three pages left in my current journal), read from the Book of Mormon and Old Testament with my family, taught my Yoga class, read a chapter from 1 Nephi (Book of Mormon again) and wrote in my journal all in the space of four hours.  Trivial things, exceptionally so, and yet I have a great sense of accomplishment.

I would often have looked at these trivial things I did today and said, I really need to do all those things but instead I will sit here and stew.  I will wait for class time to come and go teach.  The next part would have been that it is just too much bother to do all those trivial things, they don’t really matter anyway or they can wait but in the back of my mind doubt would grow, doubt about my ability to even do something as trivial as take a DVD to the post office.  As time passed, that doubt would grow into a true barrier and going to the post office would have become more and more difficult until the mere thought of going there would have had me fearful and panicked.

Last night I saw another aspect of this rearing its ugly head:  Physical limitations and our willingness to be bound by those limitations.  I was teaching inversions, specifically salamba sirsasana, and a number of students were not even trying it—the majority were and a few even had their feet heading skyward!  After class, a couple of students came up to me and apologized for not trying the pose.  The main reason given was a history of neck problems.  Now, neck problems are very legitimate reasons for NOT practicing salamba sirsasana; HOWEVER, as Richard Bach wrote in Illusions:  Argue for your limitations and, sure enough, they’re yours.  Just because we are limited by something today does not mean that we absolutely must be limited by it tomorrow.  If I know that I have a weak neck or other issues with my neck and I simply avoid doing anything that involves my neck, what will the end result be?  My neck will remain weak until the day I die.  If, on the other hand, I begin gently and carefully strengthening my neck with full knowledge that I might well be talking years rather than days, then one day I will find that what was once weak and fragile has become strong and flexible.

Do you have a weak neck, or rather, do you have areas—physically, mentally, spiritually—that are your own weak neck?  I am sure that we all do!  Find your own weak neck and start today to strengthen it.  Remember, though, to be mindful of Satya and Ahimsa.  Satya requires one to see the truth in all of its facets.  Ahimsa requires one to balance the truth that is seen against the need to not cause harm to oneself.  If your weak neck is a bad heart due to lack of good exercise, do not run a marathon tomorrow as it will likely kill you but also do not imagine that simply rocking twice as fast in the rocking chair on the porch will be all you need do.  Find instead the balance between strengthening your weak neck and keeping yourself free from harm.

Now, DO IT!