Swami Vivekenanda:
“You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.”
“We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.”
Swam Vivekenanda, a discipline of Sri Ramakrisha, is credited with having brought yoga to the west after giving a speech to the Parliament of the Worlds Religions in Chicago at the turn of the twentieth century. The quotes above really resonate with me because they are about cultivating strength and stability and really identifying who you are as an individual. In some ways it’s very exciting and inspiring, but in other very real ways it can be daunting and threatening. For one, you have to trust yourself. This trust is developed both on and off the yoga mat— I’ve found it’s often easier to start on the mat.
During my journey I have found that practicing yoga asanas and meditation help me to get clarity on my ‘inner truth’ of the moment, and slowly as I practice more and more, that little light inside my soul grows larger and stronger. The words we think are the food we feed our soul so we need to be very careful about what we say to ourselves. Yoga and meditation are teaching me the value of my thoughts, and how important it is to really think about your thoughts and try and rewire your brain so that you are confident and self-assured.
