If you see it, it'll come: the Magic of Ajna.

Well it surely has been an eventful month. The time change, vatta central, lack of sleep, going on vacation, and getting sick after vacation; the punches keep rolling, in an attempt to knock me down, which they almost succeeded in. It's interesting how when we feel our lowest, it is almost impossible to get back up, until some sort of blessing is instilled within you. This blessing usually comes in the form of a surprise change of events, but will only show up if you allow it to. You, of course, have the option to wallow in your own self pity, refusing to get back up. Which, of course, I contemplated several times, most particularly sitting on our study floor, crying my eyes out to my husband, doubting my path, and everything that I have chosen in this life...or more, everything that has chosen me. Why is it that mostly everything we see for ourselves is the first to get swept under the rug by doubt, by fear? I see this all the time when I speak with people about our Teacher Training programs. Something within them lit up to even start asking questions, yet when we get to the point of solidifying commitment and schedule, they are the first people to talk themselves out of this. "Oh, this isn't for me", "Oh, I'm not good enough", "Oh, I don't have enough money", rather than envisioning what they want, seeing it, and picking it up with their own bare hands. We are the first to dimish our worth and allow the ego to jump in. Our vision becomes muddied and foggy by doubt, much like the old stained glass windows of a church that has not seen the light of day in years.

Which brings me to the 6th Chakra, or in Sanskrit, Ajna. Which translates to command center. Located at our subtle body 'third eye', or more connected to the gross anatomy of our body, our forehead, temples, brow, and pituitary gland. Pretty much, everything surrounding our brain, eyes, and ears, the most sacred places in our body in which we process information we see, hear, and compute. Where we perceive and what we know. This is the space of our reality. Now the funny thing about reality, is that it's not reality at all, it's merely what we perceive our reality to be, what our stories, what our childhood, has taught us that is it. Most traditionally this Chakra is realted to our intuition, but I challenge myself to take it the next step further, which is begining to trust what I see, what I envision as mine, because when that happens, that is where the magic sauce is, where our ability to truly paint the picture of our life. But first, we need to see, to believe.

I ask you, Yogis, what distorts your vision? What gets in the way of the beautiful picture you'd like to paint for your life, the things you'd like to see?

For me, it's being impatient, and losing trust in my path. I learned, when I was younger, that things do not come easy for me in life. I guess this was a good lesson to learn at seven years old, however, it's probably the most frustrating aspect to my personality. My sheer bullheadedness, the inability to wait, to want it right here, right now.  I will do the work. I have always been great at that. I have always been really great at having a creative view for my future, and knowing I must put the hard work in to get there...now the patience, that's never been there. I can trace it back to being in ballet class, while we were doing our foundational movements at the bar, all I wanted to do was to dance free, to learn the 'fun' stuff, diminishing the importance of strong groundwork. Who knows, if only I would have stuck with the boring stuff, maybe I would have been a world class Ballerina....nah, doubt it! But the point is here, you must have the balance of all of those qualities, the patience, the humility, the hard work, the open mindedness, to truly reap the benefits of your path, without suffering.

Now, what do you wish to see for your life, for those you love? Do you trust that if you see it, it'll come? (Not without hard work and patience, of course)

Through this practice of Yoga we are able to soften the ego, the misguided voices, that hammer the false reflection in the mirror, which can be the largest and most persistent demon of the 6th Chakra. The voices telling us we are never going to be thin enough, that we'll never be liked, that our dreams are too hard to achieve, that this life is mundane, and bland. Why do we rely on our eyes for the truth, when the secret to our fantastic future, and everything we have ever wanted, is already within us, we just need to see it, to have a clear view/picture, of what it is that we want, and just...BELIEVE. Because, if you see it, it truly will come.

When we begin to tap into the space of our 'Third Eye Chakra', we are truly connecting to our inner most desires of what we wish to see and using our intuitive nature, to trust the path that we are on, no matter how quick or how slow. When we begin to doubt, when we begin to compare, we start stripping away the power of ourselves, and the magnificent power of our perception. The ability to really trust...ourselves.

Because, in the end, it is us who holds the key, and we have the choice to see what we believe, or believe what we see. I choose the first. What do you choose?