Just Do It!

The other day, a good friend of mine asked about my blog. I’ve been talking about it for months but I haven’t published anything yet. I didn’t even try to make up an excuse. Truthfully, I’ve been working on it. I’ve even written some of the posts. I just wanted to tweak them a bit more and research a couple things before I actually posted one. Next thing you know, months have gone by.

I admitted to my friend and myself, it’s time for me to just do it. I’m usually pretty
good about taking action but then there’s my inner perfectionist. That part of me that wants to perfect and prepare for everything to the point that I get stuck in the details and remain on the sidelines. Don’t get me wrong, preparation is necessary. But at a certain point you need to get in the game, that’s when the real learning happens.

If I’m honest, my inner perfectionist is a cover for my fear of making a mistake and not having everything under control. I’ve dealt with this before and thought I’d moved beyond this. Our stuff has a way of rearing its head when we least expect it. Yogis call these unconscious patterns samskaras.

According to Yogic philosophy, we are all subject to samskaras, mental, emotional and behavioral patterns that operate in the background our lives. Samskaras embody our underlying conditioning, some of it serves us and some of it doesn’t. A samskara could be the habit of going to the gym or the feeling of love that washes over you when you hear a loved one’s voice. A samaskara could also be the habit of attracting unavailable partners or the inner critic that comes up when you look in the mirror. The more we reinforce our samskaras, the more deeply entrenched they become within us. If we’re not aware, we wind up replaying old patterns over and over. I’m sure you know that person who may change their environment, job, relationship, etc. but ends up in the same old situation.

Awareness is the key to dissolving samskaras and reconfiguring the patterns and habits that are holding us back. This is just one reason why cultivating awareness is such an important part of the yoga practice. Now that I’m aware of my old habits resurfacing, I can choose to do something different. There is power in a choice. When we consciously choose, we take back control of our lives from the unconscious patterns paying out in the background.

So I choose to ‘just do it’ and launch my blog. I’m excited to share my journey and insights about mind-body-spirit practices and how to integrate them into your life in a meaningful way. I’d love to hear about your journey as well. What do you need to ‘just do’ in your life?