Yoga continuously prompts us that deep within our own heart lies the greatest “remover of darkness”. Purposefully, many of the words used frequently inside the context of yoga work to remind us of this fact: that we have within us great resource; that we are in fact much more than we perceive ourselves to be; that this inner guru, or wisdom, is in fact the “infinite itself,” manifesting as us; and that the idea that we are separated from our Creator is only an illusion.
To help clarify this point that there is no separation between us and our Creator, it can be helpful to use the metaphor of the ocean. If the Creator is the ocean, and we are its waves, consider this: Can you separate the wave from the ocean?
Your Sat Guru— the true teacher within you—arrives when you finally call upon yourself – when you’ve finally given up on hoping someone else will take the bait, take charge of things, or take your hand and show you the way. That’s when your Sat Guru shows up. Except they’ve been there all along—you’ve just finally decided to listen.
And the only way to awaken the Guru in you is for you to be open to receive the wisdom from within.
Here are some steps that you can apply to invoke the Guru within:
1. Talk less. Listen more
You’ll know where to go if you give yourself permission to trust the non-verbal part of your brain. We’re all intuitive, and one of the most scientifically-proven ways to tap into this is to listen to the part of you, connected to the non-verbal part of your brain: your body.
2. Never take anything personally
When you are too attached to something, your Self becomes bound by the sequence of events that unfold before you and you become the prisoner to your emotions. People around you are bound to act and use words that will hurt you for as long as you are attached to their reactions and judgements. Our lives is about how people perceive us – it is an inevitable circumstance; yet, if you are able to deflect everything you hear and see and not allow it, to penetrate into your Being-ness, it is then you are able to be free!
3. Do without doing
The Zen concept of doing without doing includes aligning yourself with the natural ebb and flow of life. All things ebb and flow, no matter how tangible or practical. “Doing without doing,” means that you take action or rest when it feels supported and is in alignment with your energy, not the energy coming from people around you.
4. Let Go
Let go of your need to be right, or the need to have the last say n a conversation or an argument. You are not here for a popularity campaign for you to be the most liked human being. Your purpose is not to fulfil your ego but to fulfil your living, without the ego. Let go of your past – you can learn from them but not make your past linger in your present or your future.
5. Be happy
Our inherent, truest state feels like freedom. When you make decisions that feel like joy and freedom, you’re living from your soul, honouring your dharma, and tapping into your true purpose.
6. Ask for help from unexpected places
It might come from a stranger on the bus, an email from someone you’ve never met, or a Tweet from a follower you had no idea supported you.
7. Seek the truth
Genuinely, sincerely commit to seeing things as they really are, not how you’d like them to be. From this place, you can take action that actually helps you get where you want to go. When you’re looking at a map, you can’t get to where you’d like to be without first knowing where you are.
8. Be open to new directions
Sure, you can crash through the thorny bushes, determined to get there no matter what, certain that the path you decided on months or years ago is the right one. Or you can spot the surprise opening in the green and follow it all the way to blue sky.
9. Be authentic
Be your own Self and find your own values and morale of living, even in the most unthinkable of ways. You may seem weird to others, but you will also give them the courage to be themselves.
10. Find your own tribe
Find a crew of people who are in alignment with who you are and what you’re about, who’ve spent time clearing up their own blind spots and can give you input based on what’s right for you.
11. Expect miracles
Miracles happen when you believe in the power of possibilities. It is when you are truly open to possibilities, no matter how big or small, is when you allow for miracles to take place in your life.
12. Practise Self-love
You are only as much as you offer yourself, hence, give yourself the most before you expect it from anyone else.
13. Live like no one’s watching
Yoga teaches us that life is more than precious – it is the highest expression of existence and it must be worshipped. Be sure to live out of the box and to live in your infiniteness that you are able to bring so much more depth, value and happiness to every day of your life.
14. Participate only with yourself
We are all witnesses in this majestic process of life, wandering around with much curiosity and bewilderment. Participate in what gives you value, the joy, the freedom, the receiving and let go of any need to participate in the things that don’t bring any value to you.
15. Meditate
The saying goes – Meditate to save your life. meditation is the key to bringing that stillness, that quietness and the level of gratitude into your Being. When you meditate often, you open doors to everything else in your life. The more we quiet our minds and stop focusing on what’s outside of us, the louder our inner guru will become. ~Toni Nagy
Most of the time, you already know the answers to the questions you are asking. You just don’t want to hear them because perhaps they point you to the harder path. Yet, when you take the time to follow your instincts without the static of outside influence, you start to trust yourself. Ultimately, the only person you can ever truly know is you. The more you can connect to your own inner guru, the more empowered you will feel in your life.
Even though we can learn from others, we can also learn so much from ourselves. We don’t want to form a dependency where we no longer trust our own intuition and are always turning to others for guidance. Instead, we also have to honour the teacher inside of us.
– Sujata Nandy
Visit our Shop for more goodies.