“When you meet obstacles with gratitude, your perception starts to shift, resistance loses its power, and grace finds a home within you.”
―  Oprah 

Alison Smith is my favorite yoga teacher on the planet. She is on a quest to understand and experience the wonders of yoga and the body. And she shares her journey, insights, and deep practice in her weekly “yoga-love-notes” she posts as “The Spark” because they are short, sweet, and just enough heat to ignite inspiration for your practice. Her latest is on overcoming obstacles: The non-dual traditions want you to get up close and personal with desire. To understand its intricacies so that you’re not driven by desire, instead you harness your desire. Because what happens when you don’t get what you want?  How do you feel? Do you fall apart? Or come more fully together? For me, this is the crux of resilience. Because I used to fall apart. Spectacularly. Many years ago on Maui, in a workshop with Darren Rhodes, he instructed us to “watch our minds”. Okay, I thought, that sounds reasonable. The “hip-opening workshop” then turned into a wild arm-balance exploration. And I watched in horror as my mind made a mantra out of “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t”. It took all of my willpower to simply stay in the room. But it woke me up. Because afterwards, I was well aware of that deeply disempowering story that seemed to be on subconscious repeat. I became determined to develop a more inspiring internal message when I was challenged. Because I knew that if it was happening on the mat… it was happening everywhere else too.  And that brings me to Ganesha.

You’ve probably seen images and statues of Ganesha. With his elephant head and soft belly, he seems like a pretty approachable deity. He’s known as the keeper of categories, the organizer of the Gunas, and the remover of obstacles. The idea of a remover of obstacles sounds lovely, but there is a little more to it than that. Perhaps a better way to say it, is that Ganesha is the guardian of the gateway. He can let you through, or stand in your way. As an organizer and record-keeper, Ganesha is dedicated to your learning, growth, and prohibits passage if you’re not ready for what’s on the other side. So the deeper question becomes: when you’re blocked, when obstacles are in your way, when you don’t get what you want, what is your default response? Push harder? (what if you’re efforting against an immortal elephant?) Walk away? (what if you’re just inches away from your breakthrough?) Soften, Open, and Receive lessons?  Recalibrate, Reconnect, Refine, and then Re-Approach? The last two are easier said than done, but ultimately that is what Yoga wants to teach you. The challenge of the physical poses, while breathing fully and deeply, retrains your brain to stay open and spacious during difficulty. Then those expanded states are easier to access off the mat.  May all your obstacles become opportunities, Alison  PS – there is the whoooooosh of enthusiasm at the beginning of the New Year. And then riiiiiiiiiiggghhhhhht abbbbboooooouuuuuuuuut NOW! there are obstacles. Keep Ganesha in mind as you re-frame, re-approach, and re-dedicated yourself to your dreams and intentions throughout the year.

More posts based on Alison’s wisdom: Get Grounded, Deep Core Work for Back Support, Stretching & Yoga