One Affirmation To Rule Them All
Posted on 16. Oct, 2011 by matthew in Blog
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My 8 month old practice of Kriya Yoga has brought changes into life that could not have been predicted beforehand. In the early confusion that I was feeling, I gained weight. I want to pass on to you some yogic wisdom that helped me lose that weight and I believe can help you shift your consciousness so that you can make the choices that are in your highest good.
Earlier this year I wrote a blog about that weight gain. For years I had been able to maintain a steady weight and even helped others release theirs, and so my experiences were guiding me to a new understanding of myself as I sought to create a new reality. My new practice of Kriya Yoga has helped shake out the old.
Whilst reading one evening I stumbled upon some words by Paramhansa Yogananda in his book “The Divine Romance” , an affirmation that inspired me and one that I returned to often over the course of several months. We need to repeat those affirmations to really imprint them into our minds. Our minds can be powerful allies when aligned with the wishes of the heart, and not preventing them.
“I am the master of my body, it will obey my mind irrespective of any food that I eat. Any tendency towards thinness or fatness must go.”
I had never seen an affirmation quite so eloquent and one that got right to the core of the issue, being a servant to the body. Yogic masters are of the body, and enjoy its pleasures, but are not attached to them. Their strength is such that the struggles with weight and physical pains do not have the same affect on them that they would have on us. They may experience it but are able to detach.
I have repeated this affirmation daily and thank Yogananda for his age old wisdom. I had bought into a belief somewhere that I needed to learn from my weight gain. What I chose instead was to just recognise that the lesson was that I need not be a servant to my body and that the dark emotions that were surfacing, the fear that some part of me had buried deep, need not take me off my path.
Over time I found my attitudes changing. Emotions did surface, and I allowed them to move through me. Fear was replaced with faith. Behaviours began to change. With all the turbulence in the outer world, the Kriya Yoga has given me a solid foundation with which to move through the changes. Despite the turbulence, I found myself making the choices for my health and wellbeing that I needed to. I also found that I could just let go of needing to lose the weight. I desired it but it did not become a daily obsession as it was in my youth when I first lost weight. In fact the weight loss was symbolic of letting go of some old behaviours.
And so, even though I have not exercised to the extent that I would have a year ago, I lost all the weight that I had gained, and found myself dropping habits that were not supportive, at the same time still enjoying foods that I like. I continue to repeat that affirmation and I recommend it to others now. We do not need to be servants of our body. We can be masters of our body, masters of our emotions ( note that this is different to controlling our body which is the goal of many weight training programs ). It begins with seeding the thoughts in the mind that shift our very consciousness to one of alignment with our higher source.
So, I do hope that you are convinced by me, and can put this affirmation into practice in your life. Morning and night repetition of it will help, in time, make it something you just believe unconsciously.
For a complimentary coaching session focused on helping you to eliminate the belief systems that prevent you from enjoying the fitness you desire, contact Matthew at matthewmashdown@gmail.com
