A couple of weeks ago I shared my journey with yoga with you. How my identity kept me from trying it, and my new committment to doing yoga every day.
First, an update.
I am not only still doing yoga…I notice the daily practice, combined with broken belief patterns and shift in identity, are leading to a more disciplined approach to my day and my health.
Fascinating!
Beliefs I didn’t even know I had
I promised to share with you what answer I got when I asked myself why I hadn’t started doing yoga yet.
“Cause it’s hard.”
Haha, yep! That was the answer. Are you kidding me? “Cause it’s hard!?”
Wow. Was I surprised when I quieted enough to hear that answer!
Those who know me know I don’d tend to shy away from the “hard stuff,” so it never occurred to me that this would be the answer. Never!
Realizing this was what was stopping me from even trying, I set out to change that belief, once and for all.
I found some yoga poses online and in my daughter’s books. I asked her to show me some simple poses.
I chose a few that looked possible. They were incredibly simple, but I had one goal, and one goal only, for these poses.
To shift my beliefs.
That was it. It was not about increasing my flexibility or strength. It wasn’t about building myself up to full sessions.
It was simply, and solely, about shifting my beliefs.
You see, if I believed yoga was hard, and I did some yoga that was easy, my beliefs would have already shifted. Out of necessity.
So, I tried some poses. I didn’t “do” the poses. My beliefs wouldn’t allow me to commit to that yet. (I was suprised to find out how strong my beliefs were!)
I tried some poses. And they weren’t hard! They were, in fact, easy! And, they actually felt good!
And that was the beginning of the end of my beliefs about yoga being hard.
And that’s been life changing.
Our beliefs get cemented throughout our lives, from various sources. Maybe it’s something our parents said. Maybe they developed after several experiences that could be interpreted one way. Or maybe it was some seemingly innocuous thing that was said at a particularly vulnerable time in our lives.
Regardless of the source, our beliefs help define our behavior, our identity, and our experience. They color our perceptions of interatcions with others, experiences in the world, and our self talk.
They can either empower us or limit us. They can help or hurt.
And they are everywhere.
The key is in recognizing when our beliefs are limiting our choices and our lives, and then doing something about it.
One simple thing you can do when you recognize that your beliefs are limiting your life is to make note of the belief. Allow yourself some quiet time to hear and understand exactly what that belief is. Listen to the words of the belief. Be open to hearing it without edit or judgement.
Your beliefs are there for a reason. They are not there to hurt you or frustrate you, and reacting as though they were will only compound the issue.
The key to successfully working with your beliefs, and changing them to something that works better for you, is to accept them. Then, find examples of times that belief does not hold true. Times that you can see, prove, that the belief isn’t always accurate.
That will begin to erode away at the belief. It will offer your subconscious options to your existing belief. It will begin to add qualifiers, like “sometimes” or “can be” rather than the concrete “always” and “is.”
Give it a try. Let me know how it works. Are you able to shift your beliefs using this technique?
If you’d like to work on your beliefs, or have additional questions, feel free to schedule your FREE NLP Discovery Session to explore how your beliefs are impacting your life, and what you can do about it!