As you find yourself on a new path full of unknowns, cultivate courage to balance excitement with the natural anxiety that comes with change.
So how do we cultivate courage? When we feed our inner world and believe that we really have everything that we need, we can stay the course and make the shifts that we desire in our lives. YogaToday instructor Adi Amar reminds us to maintain the practice, look inward, and keep going – with enthusiasm! Remember, strength comes from within. Build up your bravery with these simple tips:
1) Strike a Power Pose
Try a fiery practice to cultivate courage! We recommend doing sets of lunges with "cactus arms" (just like the model featured in this post's photo). Feel your strength radiate through your fingertips as you reach to the sky, broaden the collarbones, and stay steady through your legs. Then connect to your abdominals through variations of side plank pose.
2) Get Your Beauty Sleep
Nothing saps our power like feelings of fatigue and sluggishness. Enter Arianna Huffington, the reigning queen of ZZZ's. If you are feeling overwhelmed and tired, consider Huffington's example and buy her book for some bedtime reading: The Sleep Revolution. Also, check out this post on Yoga Nidra or "sleep of the yogi."
3) Practice Positive Thinking
The human brain naturally focuses more on negative experiences as an evolutionary adaptation to avoid danger. However, as we are only too aware, negativity can get in the way of happiness, add to our stress, and ultimately damage our health. Experts recommend to first accept the negative thoughts and then to challenge their validity. To cultivate courage and self-esteem, try speaking to yourself as you would a dear friend and then move to a place of action that counters the negative thought cycle.
4) Surround Yourself with Support
Author and motivational speaker Jim Rohn once said that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. That might include family members, friends, and your partner if you are in a relationship. In short, choose wisely and pick positive, supportive people who elevate your energy. We all know, intuitively, that we are "the company that we keep," but it's a nice reminder to tend to your inner circle with extra care and to weed out the nay-sayers. The bottom line is this – your "top five" are critical to success.
5) Visualize and Embody Strength
When life is in flux, try a meditation to support transformation and cultivate courage. This meditation for strength and courage on YogaToday incorporates the "seed sound" (Ram) of the third chakra, the chakra of self-esteem and personal power centered in the solar plexus.
