(Image above: Holly at passport control last year)
This morning I got in the cold shower at 5.30 after Holly the dog had woken me a lot earlier again. (The vet has now sorted her out I think).
I honestly thought 'I cannot believe this, it is freezing'.
Wow what a recipe, afterwards it was, well if I can cope with this then I can cope with anything.
Here is a quote about money, as after all it is Christmas, and time to dig deep if you will not regret it afterwards, if you will, then don't spend it.
"I suppose yoga has strengthened my impression that money is energy, and that the healthy flow of money into and out of my life has to do with the health (or not) of my own energy, of my confidence, my resistance, my fear, my flexibility and strength."
"What you cannot discuss runs your life" I remember that one from somewhere.
If your energy is blocked or you are blocking it, holding it back, then it could affect your ability to have, use and spend money, if it is wrapped up in the same fears.
If you are afraid of many things or judge them as 'wrong' such as you can't eat your pudding before your main course (ever), or you can never have peanut butter and jam then maybe this spreads into other areas of your life...
Maybe you think you can never have a holiday unless you have a job, that you don't deserve to enjoy yourself unless you worked hard, that you cannot have the right to be angry unless someone else admitted they have done you a wrong.
Perhaps having or not having money also goes back to childhood. If as a child you did not ever have what you needed. Maybe you were always told it was enough and it was easier to believe you were wrong than your parents.
Then as a grown up you don't realise what your needs are or believe that you can meet them. Popular psychology is always handy. So there's an element of deserving in it, and I like the French 'Pourquoi pas' Why not?
In our culture, money may not have ever been discussed during your childhood and then it seems taboo.
Christmas is a time when having or not having money can have a big impact on day to day happiness because of the emphasis on spending a lot on presents. I admit I read an article in the Daily Mail The best thing my Mum ever did was cancel Christmas. I agree but I am still glad my Mum didn't do that.
In yoga the role of the teacher is to elevate, no matter who, or in what situation. I have been touched by people and by yoga people helping me.
In order to elevate someone you have to communicate to them on the chakra level that they are stuck at. So how do you know? Well there are qualities associated with each chakra. These are positive when the chakra or energy centre is open.
As we grow up we can decide what life is about or should be about rather than what all our childhood experiences taught us. As Katar Singh said we can try to be human.
Well that does not mean being there for someone only when it is convenient because we are conscious creatures.
Deciding what you want to believe in and standing by it is part of becoming adult and free. Yogi Bhajan said that in society we do not really know about commitment, that one day we say we love someone and then the next minute we hate them.
It is interesting to notice how feelings change backwards and forwards. I try to remember that when I am stuck in a mood it is just as real as that opposite mood was to me the day before so I cannot run my life by it.
Being human is also to do with the flow of money. When a person is not willing to share money with their own family or loved ones out of fear of not having any tomorrow when we do not even know what is going to happen tomorrow, then the money is not helping us to be human. Offering others what you have is part of being human. There are many people in families fighting over money.
On a Yoga in Daily Life retreat and H.H. Swamiji said that often families argue about sharing out possessions. He said for god's sake (actually he didn't say that).
H.H. Swamiji said that 'if your brother or your sister wants something, you say to them, here you take it'. I remember that one as I have some wealthy relatives.
So Christmas and money seem to be about extending the flow of trying to share what you have, to support other people, and strangely it makes it a happy time. Now I come to think of it this is really what the story of Scrooge is all about too.
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