What do I do now?
A while ago I started listening to an audiobook. Out of its 12 hours, the only segment of the book I stopped to re-listen to and write down word-for-word was simple, and not really mind-blowing:
When seeking guidance, ask for guidance on just the next step of your life. When you do this, be prepared for unexpected possibilities. Have the faith and humility to open yourself up to a variety of paths toward solutions.
Now, I’m purposefully not including the title or topic of this book, because it doesn’t matter—I think we all have different ways of naming and connecting to our source of guidance. Whether you call it gut instinct or divine inspiration, and whether you seek it through listening or meditating or praying, the instructions above ring true.
When the path before you is all fogged over and you’re stuck on the need to see the end of the road, try instead to focus only on the next step. Be humble and have faith. That’s how you’ll invite the unexpected, the serendipitous, the merciful synchronicities to come to your aid.
I’m convinced there’s not one technique of introspection/prayer that is appropriate for everybody—or even for every situation or phase of life. But I do think there is a common current to all methods, and your yoga practice can help you tap in to it.
One of my teachers says that the most profound benefits of yoga come from the simplest things we do in our practice, and that I do believe. Today I invite you to set aside time in your daily practice to do something “simple”—a pose or sequence you like, one that allows you to focus your movement, attention, and breath together, without struggle.
And then really do that: yolk your movement, breath, and attention into single-pointed focus. Keep doing that for a while. Notice how it affects you. That’s yoga—and in the spacious, vibrant awareness yoga creates, you might find the fog starts to lift, at least just a little. And if, in this state, you ask for guidance on just your next step, and you make yourself open to unexpected possibilities, the universe will conspire to help you put your best foot forward. It never fails.
