Monday, April 11, 2011

Asteya

If you don't practice yoga, just bear with me. I promise you this is something that can be incorporated into every day life, for pretty much anyone.

This morning, I was at my usual 5:30am Monday hot yoga class with none other than RockstarStacy. She said that this week's yoga principle was "asteya" - the principle of non-stealing. She touched on it briefly, and I didn't have a chance to really come back to it until I read Serenity's blog on contentment, as well as a post at Yoga With Amey Matthews about asteya.

From Amy's website:
Asteya: Non-stealing, Non-greediness, Not coveting that which does not belong to us.

I read the whole page, and this is one of the sections that stuck out to me: "...most of us still feel an occasional impulse to have something that belongs to another person, or something that is financially out of reach, and we are a bit less skilled at controlling these thoughts. To long after something activates a sense of "not-having-enough." When we foster this sense, we divert our awareness from the abundance of what we already have." (emphasis mine).

So, let's see. If I had to take a sheet of paper and take a note every time I felt myself wanting something that someone else has, or wanting something out of my reach financially, I could probably fill up an entire notebook. I think even if I kept track of that just for this week alone, I'd be overwhelmed. Then again, maybe I DO need to keep track of that. Then I can reflect on the why's of it all. WHY do I want that thing? Is it really something that a need and that would be worthwhile for me to pursue? There really are some things that aren't worth the time to covet. Like, I could really want Serenity's hair type to be growing out of my head, but guess what? Not happening! LOL! I'm only gonna grow the hair that my body is genetically programmed to grow. So I need to concentrate on appreciating and cultivating that - it's a much better use of time and energy.

Is there anything that you've found yourself really wanting lately, that has blocked your ability to focus on what you have and are blessed with RIGHT NOW? Do you keep a Gratitude Journal or some other means of helping you to focus on the things you're grateful for?

I had a gratitude journal, and I let it fall by the wayside. I'm going to pick it back up this week and focus on incorporating asteya into my life. Hopefully, it's just going to become more natural as time goes on.

8 comments:

MzInspiredMind81 said...

This post is right on time for me. I'm so focused on all the things I want in the future, that I'm losing sight of my journey to get those things.

I have a lot of stuff going on right now and I really really need to sit down and just regroup.

I have a gratitude journal that I used to write in every day. It sits right on my night stand near my bed so there's NO reason I don't write in it. I'm going to dust it back off and focus on my blessings NOW.

Marilie said...

Well, I'll dust mine off, too. We'll help to hold each other accountable. :)

Monique said...

Oh wow, this was a great post. Great! And very much on time.

StacyW said...

Brilliant!!! I'll start adding gratitude to my journal. xoxo

StacyW said...

Brilliant! I'll include my gratitude in my journal also. xoxo

Adrienne said...

BEAUTIFUL POST!!!!!! I just talked about something similar!

Tameika said...

Love this! Don't you just adore how yoga is such a full body and mind and life experience? :)

Marilie said...

Yes - yoga off the mat! :)