Below is an assignment from my 300-hr Hatha Yoga teacher training program at Light and Love Yoga in Encinitas, California. The subject, was abundance, and I was to write a journal on the different ways in which I am abundant. The paper took a lot of time and patience to for me to complete. I learned a lot in the process, about how the power of affirmation works in real life situations, about expectations, responsibility and forgiveness. Here is my paper:
Abundance
I am abundant, because I think outside the box. I see a hidden lessons in everything. What I used to think were “problems”, I am constantly reminded that they are “opportunities” for me to grow, to learn, to prepare myself to live a better life and to be of better service to others. I am able to do this because I have learned many different ways to express my Self, my heart, and my mind. The ways I can express my love and creativity are through yoga, Reiki, massage, music, art, woodworking, gardening, journaling, cleaning, cooking, playing, and through conversation. I am grateful, just to be alive, for breathe, for love, for support, for kindness, for eye contact, for smiling faces, for cuddling, for tenderness, for compassion, for friendship, for humor, for lessons, for karma, for patience, for emotions, for sun sets and sun rises, for stars, for clouds, for rain, for snow, for heat, for waves, for peace, for burritos, and for not being alone.
I have gone to school for many years and studied, read, and written about a wide range of different subjects including ecology, rain forests, climate change, sustainability, water and plant science, philosophy, sociology, theatre, & creative writing. My experiences of love, loss, happiness, & pain from elementary school throughout college have given me an abundant amount of compassion for humanity. Opportunities surround me to express this compassion and I am able to constantly be learning about this new-ness in our humanity.
Now, I try to meditate and practice yoga daily. I give myself permission to be playful. I have grown both on and off the mat, since I have started taking this practice of meditation and yoga more seriously. I do have a daily practice of reiki. I work with the energy in myself mainly; however, often I like to channel reiki to others: animals, food (I’m eating or cooking), plants, the environment, and inanimate objects like my surfboard, my art pieces, my crystals, or my space.
My service to others, my healing touch, and knowledge of yoga brings people both pleasure and bliss in their lives. Being of service to others leaves me with an abundant feeling of happiness that follows me like a shadow that never leaves. I know I am able to tap into my emotions and feel things deeply, to attentively listen, to relate, to connect, to share, to give and forgive, to speak, to cry, to smile, to laugh, to sing, to hum, to whistle, to dance, to make silly faces, to play guitar, to do hand stands or wild things.
Some of my friends and I go to a festival called Burning Man. Going to this festival surrounds you with a different kind of abundance than what most people think of. Neon lights, art cars, DJs, Tea Houses, Yoga Events, Beautiful yet Mad Scientists/Inventors/Artists/Nudists. The bottom line is that I am abundant and I have an abundant life. I perceive that abundance around me all the time. My friends, family, and teachers have all tuned into different levels of this same abundance by using their unique talents. I am abundant in love, compassion & trust; with acquaintances, friends & family with good hearts; with teachers, guides, and mentors in everyone; with passion to write an express whats in my heart, body & mind; and creativity that I channel from an infinite energy source found within myself. I am abundant because I have all my needs met. Same with my family, friends, and loved ones. I am faithful and I am patient. I am aware, I am conscious, I am present. I am growing and I am free. I trust and I seek the truth. I am courageous and I am receptive. I walk with grace and I am humbled to be so abundant.
Abundance. Appreciation. Aspirations. Art. Attention. Awareness. Balance. Beauty. Breath. Calm. Care. Choices. Clarity. Comfort. Commitment. Compassion. Concentration. Consciousness. Conviction. Courage. Creativity. Curiosity. Dedication. Devotion. Dharma (Duty) Divinity. Dreams. Ease. Education. Elements. Emotion. Empathy. Energy. Experience. Faith. Flow. Flexibility. Focus. Forgiveness. Freedom. Friends. Generosity. Gentleness. Goofiness. Grace. Gratitude. Happiness. Harmony. Health. Height. Honor. Humility. Humor. Imagination. Independence. Innocence. Inspiration. Instincts. Intelligence. Integrity. Introspection. Intuition. Jokes. Jolliness. Joy. Joy. Joy. Joy. Joy. Joy. Joy. Joy. Joy. Joy. Joy. Joy. Joy. Joy. Joy. Joy. Jubilance. Karma. Kindness. Kung-fu (Kidding!!) Laughter. Lightness. Love. Loyality. Luminosity. Magnetism. Mantra. Mellowness. Music. Mystery. Nature. Nurturing. Nutrition. One-ness. Open-heart. Open-mind. Optimism. Organization. Organic Food. Passion. Patience. Peace. Poetry. Presence. Protection. Questions. Quickness. Quiet. Receptivity. Respect. Responsibility. Rhythm. Self-Esteem. Self- Love. Service. Spirituality. Strength. Surrender. Space. Tolerance. Unity. Vibration. Vision. Will power. Wisdom. X-Mas. Yams. Zoot-suits.
Sat Nam.
