So I've been battling a lot with myself and life, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and psychically for a few months now, probably more like years without knowing it ;-) But I've arrived at a point in my life where a decision about my life will need to be made soon. Not particularly life-changing or huge like having a baby, but I'm gradually arriving at the time where I need to make decisions about who I want to be, where I want to go and what I want to do. Not to say that these decisions have to be permanent, but I need to build a foundation for the rest of my life. I'm young, but not so young that I can't just live willy nilly...especially as I'm seeking to go beyond the material of the world and ground myself in the deep trenches of divinity. Unfortunately, I've felt detached, disconnected and completely out of sorts with the spiritual journey. And I need to find a way to either get back to it or come to the realization that its just not my time to be spiritual.
I've been thinking about what to do and not to do for quite some time now. Being that planner, organizer and list maker that I am (although that could and probably is detrimental at times), I've come up with a challenge of sorts. I think challenges are good because they are short term and gives one the time needed to know if something is good or bad, working or not working for them. I started doing these after being inspired from one of my spiritual teachers and have successfully and unsuccessfully started and finished and some times finished many of these challenges. Luckily for me and my soul, it is summer time, I'm practically finished with school which means I have the time and energy to dedicated myself to this challenge hopefully seeing it through. So here it goes.
For the first 30 days, I'm going back to my roots and starting off slow; gradually easing myself back into a dedicated and semi-rigorous routine. I will simply wake up every morning and pray and pray every evening. Sincerely pray to God. In praying I mean talking to God, sharing with God my issues, deepest fears, secrets, happy moments, appreciation and gratitude. During my prayer time, I want to give everything over to God in a mutual relationship of give and take. It is with my prayer time that I actively want to let God into my being and build a strong relationship, a friendship with God. I know God knows everything. God knows everything that I intend to share, but it is one thing to simply allow oneself to accept that truth and actively share. In verbalizing it, I want to prove to God my desire, my wish, my longing to be with God.
I will also recite a set of mantras in the morning upon waking and in the evening before going to sleep. Universal mantras applicable to any religious or spiritual group regardless of sex, gender, ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, you name it. They are a set of mantras that I believe helped to keep me going at the beginning of my journey and create vibrations that reach a part of me that I have never journeyed to. When I recite these mantras its not even a recitation, it's more long a song, it's like an expression of my desire to God and myself through quasi-singing (let's be honest I can't really sing ;-).
I will also develop a consistent asana/yoga routine following the rules and prescriptions of the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Tradition. This means practicing EVERY DAY except for Saturdays and New and Full Moon Days. Yeah, I know it's real. But I've been doing this...sort of...for the past month or so and I love it. Actually have been blogging about it at Love.Yoga.Dream. and post regularly about each asana section there. I fell off for the last 2-3 weeks due to the craziness that is my life and the end of the school semester.
That's it...Simple? A little. After 30 days of following this plan, I will take time to decide how I feel, if I want to keep going and hit the 60 day mark, add any other spiritual practices like meditation or malas and go from there. If I decide that I do then I will post about the extension and any changes to "the plan." Once and if I hit 60 days, I will do the same reflection again, but extend it to 100 days. The inspiration behind a 100 days challenge, came from another blog I read from an old soror of mines who embarked on a 100 Days of Prayer challenge. Her reasoning and passion behind was so impactful that it inspired me to the same, but knowing how fluctuating my reputation is with challenges I decided to adjust and modify it to my personality and success rate ;-)
I'm excited, nervous and scared about this all at the same time. I'm unsure of how it will turn out or where it will lead me. I'm not expecting to have the door of answers opened to me or multiple session of clicks and realizations. I'm only looking for clarity and direction for my life in whatever form that my take....Here we go
*I already posted about the asana session of Day 1 of this challenge here.*
I've been thinking about what to do and not to do for quite some time now. Being that planner, organizer and list maker that I am (although that could and probably is detrimental at times), I've come up with a challenge of sorts. I think challenges are good because they are short term and gives one the time needed to know if something is good or bad, working or not working for them. I started doing these after being inspired from one of my spiritual teachers and have successfully and unsuccessfully started and finished and some times finished many of these challenges. Luckily for me and my soul, it is summer time, I'm practically finished with school which means I have the time and energy to dedicated myself to this challenge hopefully seeing it through. So here it goes.
For the first 30 days, I'm going back to my roots and starting off slow; gradually easing myself back into a dedicated and semi-rigorous routine. I will simply wake up every morning and pray and pray every evening. Sincerely pray to God. In praying I mean talking to God, sharing with God my issues, deepest fears, secrets, happy moments, appreciation and gratitude. During my prayer time, I want to give everything over to God in a mutual relationship of give and take. It is with my prayer time that I actively want to let God into my being and build a strong relationship, a friendship with God. I know God knows everything. God knows everything that I intend to share, but it is one thing to simply allow oneself to accept that truth and actively share. In verbalizing it, I want to prove to God my desire, my wish, my longing to be with God.
I will also recite a set of mantras in the morning upon waking and in the evening before going to sleep. Universal mantras applicable to any religious or spiritual group regardless of sex, gender, ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, you name it. They are a set of mantras that I believe helped to keep me going at the beginning of my journey and create vibrations that reach a part of me that I have never journeyed to. When I recite these mantras its not even a recitation, it's more long a song, it's like an expression of my desire to God and myself through quasi-singing (let's be honest I can't really sing ;-).
I will also develop a consistent asana/yoga routine following the rules and prescriptions of the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Tradition. This means practicing EVERY DAY except for Saturdays and New and Full Moon Days. Yeah, I know it's real. But I've been doing this...sort of...for the past month or so and I love it. Actually have been blogging about it at Love.Yoga.Dream. and post regularly about each asana section there. I fell off for the last 2-3 weeks due to the craziness that is my life and the end of the school semester.
That's it...Simple? A little. After 30 days of following this plan, I will take time to decide how I feel, if I want to keep going and hit the 60 day mark, add any other spiritual practices like meditation or malas and go from there. If I decide that I do then I will post about the extension and any changes to "the plan." Once and if I hit 60 days, I will do the same reflection again, but extend it to 100 days. The inspiration behind a 100 days challenge, came from another blog I read from an old soror of mines who embarked on a 100 Days of Prayer challenge. Her reasoning and passion behind was so impactful that it inspired me to the same, but knowing how fluctuating my reputation is with challenges I decided to adjust and modify it to my personality and success rate ;-)
I'm excited, nervous and scared about this all at the same time. I'm unsure of how it will turn out or where it will lead me. I'm not expecting to have the door of answers opened to me or multiple session of clicks and realizations. I'm only looking for clarity and direction for my life in whatever form that my take....Here we go
*I already posted about the asana session of Day 1 of this challenge here.*
