What We Resist Persists

I hope you all had a great week. I have been finishing up my workshops for my upcoming retreat in Portugal and some of the themes are very powerful. The concept of Resilience is one I have mentioned quite a bit these past few weeks. 

There are two dictionary definitions of Resilience; 

1. the power or ability of a material to return to its original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity.
2. the ability of a person to adjust to or recover readily from illness, adversity, major life changes, etc.; buoyancy.

Our yoga practice helps us “practice” both definitions. Our bodies become more resilient when we combine strength and flexibility in our physical practice and our minds and hearts become more resilient when we can focus on softening our rigid thoughts and judgments. 

That is why this week I shared a simple quote as a reminder of these practices; “What we resist, persists.” 

Often we resist uncertainty because it makes us uncomfortable to realize we do not know what is coming next. However, when we soften into the unknowable it actually allows us to be more present and less attached to the unpredictable outcome. The worrying around what might happen tends to pull us away from what is happening now and that resistance becomes a pattern that persists. It is a powerful cycle that with mindfulness we can shift and find resilience (and less suffering) in its place.