As the summer heats up and the pitta dosha of fire and water in our bodies increase, you may catch yourself being more judgmental towards yourself and others. When we fear doing the “wrong thing” (often the motivating factor for us pitta dominate perfectionists) then we may start to judge others who are different or make different choices because subconsciously it somehow makes our choice wrong. One of the arenas we see this play out so often is between moms. All parents I know have talked about a fear of not doing the right thing for their kids. For many that fear converts into judgment and a protection mechanism when we come across others that have made different choices. The competitive judgey mom culture is one of the things that sometimes makes me want to swear off having kids and run for the hills. But this energy plays out everywhere in board rooms, school rooms, yoga studios, online forums and the crawl spaces of our minds.
Luckily love, compassion and understanding trump fear and judgement. Finding love for that person who seems to “have it all wrong” might seem like a stretch. But we can start with perhaps an understanding. An understanding that everyone is doing the best they can. Making decisions best for them or what they are capable of in that moment. And more importantly, we work to gain a confidence in our decisions and actions. If we can see every difficult person or situation we encounter as the universe throwing us an opportunity to grow and evolve then we stop taking it so personally. We ask ourselves “What do I have to learn from this?” the practice known as svadiyaya or self study in yoga.
Yogic Prescription:
We always want a well rounded practice but from an asana and pranayama perspective we can work with the energy we are confronted with through the chakras.
Fear – 1st chakra Muladara
Judgements – 2nd chakra Svadistana
Confidence – 3rd chakra Manipura
Love & Compassion – 4th chakra Anahata
Check out Alan Finger and Katrina Repka’s book Chakra Yoga for detailed practices for each of the chakras.
Meditation is a Must
Our minds can start to understand these concepts and we may even begin to feel some shifts through our asana practice but the roots behind these reactions are often held on a deeper energetic level. That is why a samadhi focused meditation practice, like the kind taught at Ishta, is so important. Our minds can seek to cultivate feelings of love, compassion and understanding but we can tap into the source of this energy when we meditate and reach the state of samadhi. It is in that state our consciousness merges with a universal intelligence and we go from holding the intentions of compassion, confidence and love to BEING compassion, confidence and love. Notice I did not use the word “compassionate” or “loving” as those words describe ourselves as being separate holding that quality. In the deepest states of samadhi our consciousness merges with and becomes part of the whole, that universal intelligence that IS compassion, confidence, love, wisdom and wonder.
Hari Om
Om Tat Sat
Published on the Ishta Yoga Blog: http://www.ishtayoga.com/catch-yourself-getting-judgy/
