The Universe Always Supports You
You know the feeling, don’t you? The feeling you get when you are about to make a big change or take a risk? It’s a little concoction of fear, anxiety, doubt, uneasiness, with a garnish of restlessness. Not always, but sometimes, right? Well, there are many ways to help ease the intensity of these emotions, but there is also something else that helps: The Universe. Exactly. The Universe always supports you.
My Favorite Pose
A while back, I read a simple and lovely story about Dancer’s Pose. Dancer’s Pose is one of my favorite poses. It’s lovely, challenging, and elegant; sometimes it’s stable, sometimes unstable. This pose has the power to bring up so many feelings. Physically it may seem that my body doesn’t seem to do what other body’s do in Dancer’s Pose, but I assure you, as I have assured myself, that the benefits are ALL there.
Let me start by saying is that it’s an intense heart opener and heart openers tend to bring up so much emotion. Think about it, most of us hide our heart, feelings, emotions, through the positioning of our shoulders. The shoulders slightly lean forward over our heart creating a slight concave in our sternum, where, in turn, the heart is “protected,” so to speak. This idea of protection keeps us comfortable. It keeps us comfortable exactly where we are at that moment in time. If we do anything to change that, then we will be uncomfortable, and why would we ever want to suffer from discomfort? You know what I mean?
Well, I’m gonna tell you why.
Being uncomfortable can bring up a myriad of emotions, similar to the concoction I mentioned above, along with vulnerability and/or anger too. In fact, Dancer’s Pose does just that for me. But, do you want to know the best part? The best part is the victory of controlling my breath, which then controls my mind (ego), which then controls my emotions and BOOM, I just challenged my ego to a battle and won, very elegantly if I may say.
Without this process in everything we do, change won’t ever get the chance to show you what it can do.
Back to the pose and the story… I wrote about this story that I read during my teacher training and while I was reading it, there was a strong sentiment around the room and even a few goosebumps. I was never able to find this story again anywhere! Yet, this is how I remember it:
Shiva, a Hindu deity known as the destroyer or transformer, loved to dance. Shiva danced and danced around the Earth all day and all night, but when she would reach the edge of the Earth, she would stop and retract. She was frightened and felt insecure. Days past as she danced and danced and again would reach the edge of the Earth and felt anxious and distrustful towards the Earth and the Universe’s ability to support her. She had many talks with wise Gods and Goddesses about fear, anxiety, and trust. They told her to trust her body, her spirit, her breath, and the Universe. They asked her to open her heart and let her breath guide her mind to a place where the courage to change would prevail.
The next morning, Shiva danced and leaped all over the Earth and as she approached the edge, she slowly exhaled, opened her heart, let go of fear, and trusted in her instinct to change and go deeper into her Dancer’s Pose. As she leaned over the Earth, with her hand holding her ankle behind her, she kicked into her hand, blossomed her heart forward, and the Earth and Universe expanded to keep her safe.
This, my friends, is a life lesson.
Push yourself to get out of your comfort zone, believe that every change is just one step on the beautiful marble stairway of life, know that it will take you beyond where you are now or could ever imagine, and trust that the Universe will always be there to support you.
P.S. If anyone ever finds this story please leave a comment below or contact me!