A few months ago, I had the pleasure of attending Yoga Journal’s conference in New York City.  Over the course of the event, I met and learned from top yoga teachers and spiritual guides (Seane Corn, Shiva Rea, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, Dharma Mittra are just a few).  To say it was a life-changing experience would be an understatement.

One of the topics that came up in a panel discussion about living your yoga in daily life was the concept of DHARMA.  What’s dharma?  In short, your purpose in life. The answer to the question: “Why did my soul choose my body?”

Is your calling to …

• be a healer
• help the homeless
• work with children
• be a communicator
• raise awareness for social consciousness
• be an entrepreneur
• make surf videos
• sell insurance
• remind people of their greatness
• travel the world
• create art
• motivate people to live a healthy lifestyle
• entertain
• inspire
• take care of animals …

or something completely different altogether?  Think about it.  Really think about.

This whole idea of dharma can be overwhelming in its loftiness. But don’t be scared because it’s also quite simple.  What. Is. Your. Purpose? (Hint: you have probably known this all of your life … you just may have done a really good job of covering it up.)

So many of us have “fallen” into our lives, jobs, relationships, cities we call home.  Sometimes we took the first thing that came along.  Sometimes that first thing is the best thing for us, other times it’s not.  How do you know?  Listen to your inner guide. Hear the message that is being sent to you.  This is your dharma speaking to you.  Are you ready to listen?

When you can cultivate a peaceful, clear mind, ultimate happiness is attained.

Do the work.  The importance here is doing the investigative searching to truly know yourself … so you can match your innermost world of your heart (your values, belief system) with your outer world of living, being, action (your work, relationships, health/wellness pursuits).   When you feel “off” in life, chances are your innermost world and outermost world are out of sync.

Seeing the BIG PICTURE is essential to conquering the inner conflict that is raging in so many of us. So get out of the weeds and jump into your helicopter … and look at your  life from above.  (The picture in this post is taken from a helicopter in Kauai … awesome.)  What do you see when you look at your life?  How do you feel about this picture?

Okay, now that we’ve established the importance of knowing yourself, how do you go about this?  Below is a tool I use with my clients who are working through a powerful system called: Energy Leadership™, a process that develops a personally effective style of leadership that positively influences and changes not only yourself, but also those with whom you live, work and interact. The result of Energy Leadership?  More production, less effort, and more fulfillment!  For more information about EL, click here or contact me.

FOCUS OF THE WEEK
–    Be still, breathe and access your inner guide.  We all have a guide, but we must be quiet to hear what he/she is saying.
–    Complete the chart.
–    Start taking action on the items you write in column 4.
–    Embrace the idea of living your life with your dharma in mind.

You may be wondering what to do if your calling is NOT anywhere close to what you’re doing now.  Don’t fret – you don’t necessarily need to radically change your life (move, quit your job, end a relationship) yet … or ever.  There are many approaches to embrace your dharma in an organic, empowering, easily implementable way. Next week, we’ll focus on part 2 of this process … taking action on your purpose and creating your life from the inside out.

Until then, listen to your inner guide.  Get to know your dharma.

xoxo

Jenny