In the meantime — return to basics

In my current set of meantimes, I find myself ping-ponging about what to do. After going through my library of ‘how-to-sort-your-life-out’ books, I came up with these questions: What experiences do I want to have right now? How do I want to feel right now? What makes me happy right now?

In my daily yoga practice, I ask for clarity, compassion and connection for myself and for others. Looking back in my journal last year, I was reminded of the concept of koshas in yoga, layers of being (check out Do Your Om Thing for more detail or this). Regardless of this meantime space, what I want in the physical, energetic, emotional, intellectual and spiritual parts of me are the same.

Whilst I have been hurt, I needn’t prolong my suffering. To do that, I need to return to basics. Through each layer, either inside out or simultaneously in some way, I can create more clarity, compassion and connection in myself and for others.

So how do you do it?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Physical — What do I want to embody? What nourishes me?
• Energetic — What do I want people to feel when they are around me? What inspires me?
• Emotional — How do I want to feel? What balances me?
• Intellectual — Who are I? What is my purpose? When does it thrive?
• Blissful — How am I following my bliss? What are my acts of generosity?

Here’s what I came up with last year:

As these values, your personal philosophy, become clearer, you can think about what you currently do to uphold these values and what you need to do to develop them through your work, hobbies and how you interact with others. For example, I do yoga to maintain strength (physical) as well as the philosophical aspects of it, such as cultivating compassion (energetic). I run Meetups groups to further my purpose of building resilience and enabling people to flourish (intellectual) and offer it freely (blissful).

Recognising your values and embedding them in all that you do makes you stronger and more able to cope with life. To me, the layers make sense because when I’m physically unwell, it has a knock on effect on my mood, my patience and intellect. If you want to feel better in yourself, you have to return to basics.