Are your thoughts serving you?

Do you ever pay attention to the things that you are telling yourself throughout the day? I’ve been thinking so much about this lately because of conversations I’ve had with a few of my yoga students.

It seems that a lot of times we can say the most negative things to ourselves and wonder why we are not happy or don’t always think so highly of ourselves.  I’d like to invite you to pay attention to your thoughts and see where you stand.

For example, some of my students have said that they say things to themselves throughout class such as “I can’t do this” or “this is hard” or “I’m not good at this” and we are surprised at how discouraged we can be at ourselves.

And no, I don’t then tell them to say the opposite of “I can do this” or “this is easy” and “I’m great at this” because we all know that would do nothing.

But, what I have been paying attention to lately and inviting others to do is start whatever project or class or anything you are doing where you know there may be resistance and remind yourself of the reason you are there and why you are doing it in the first place.

So, if it’s to relieve stress, to become more flexible, to ease your mind and relax, etc. you then do your best to catch yourself when you are having those negative self talk moments and then simply just remind yourself of why you are doing it in the first place and give yourself a little slack and feel grateful that you are able to do something great for your body and mind.

If it’s a part of your job and you are telling yourself how much you hate doing what you are doing, think about the end result and what it provides for you or others and remind yourself of that along the way.

I hope you all have a safe and joyous Memorial Day weekend and may you find a way to have some thoughts over the next two weeks that serve you better.