The Habit of Consciousness

All experienced yogi's will have encountered or be confronted by inconsistencies in their mind at some point. It's a great experience to have, as it reveals to us how conditioned we are. Conditioning cannot be avoided (this is Samskara) and is very helpful with automatic function.. we can't be thinkin' of everything all the time.. that would be exhausting.

But meditation gives us capacity to examine our conditioning, which empowers us to make more conscious decisions about our life. In our recent retreat students were invited to challenge themselves with this awareness in a variety of ways.

 

From a psychological view when we see patterns of self sabotage or bad behaviours – taking anger or anxiety out on people close to us, abusing intoxicants like alcohol,TV and social media, procrastination to deal with the stuff that needs to be done – awareness developed in meditation can give us the ability to call it and do something different. We also looked at applying this in our spiritual life. Most people on the retreat were experienced meditators who were encouraged to take ‘response ability’ and be self accountable for practice – particularly beyond the retreat.. Meditation apps are great, but the capacity to go to the mat and sit and curiously observe yourself without lead, is next level. This independence is also super important in a spiritual world that tells yogi's they need a Guru. While there is some benefit to an objective guide, ultimately they only reveal what is inherently within and taking back responsibility is necessary at a point.