We all have a vision of the person we want to be, so why aren’t we that person yet? It’s because of resistance. On Episode 9 of Swami Ji, the OG we are going to talk about overcoming resistance so you can move towards becoming that person you see in your vision. I’m going to talk to you about what this type of resistance looks like, how to gain the energy, strength and discipline to overcome this resistance, and how our subconscious thoughts are the thing that are holding us back. The key to being able to overcome out subconscious thought loops is through awareness. Let’s take a look at how to practice awareness and become the witness so that we can overcome the resistance in our lives.

Realizing Your Potential by Overcoming Resistance

Most of us have some vison of our “future self” where we ARE the person that we strive to be. But why aren’t we that person now? What keeps us from moving forward, to take the necessary steps to become that version of ourselves that we know we can be? We usually know what steps we need to take but we don’t take them. Why not? Resistance! 

 

Before we get into the episode I wanted to read a listener review. Laure wrote, “On the challenging journey that is life it’s easy to get lost and confused. Having a guide like Swami Atmarupa to help us understand ourselves and navigate life with a little peace of mind and playfulness is a precious gift. Thank you Swamiji!” You’re welcome, Laure!

Thank you so much for leaving that review. Reviews are a great way to support the podcast. If you have been enjoying this podcast please consider leaving a review. Thank you for your support!

 

And now let’s discuss resistance and what to do about it!

Resistance! Resistance is defined as a force that tends to oppose or retard motion. This means we need a certain amount of energy and strength, a certain amount of discipline and intention, to overcome that force-the force of resistance. We need a greater force to overcome the force of resistance that opposes our movement into our better self.

Why don’t we have it and how can we get it.

Most of us don’t have it because we are stressed, overly busy, dealing with a variety of dramas in our lives.  It becomes hard to muster those qualities of energy and strength, discipline and intention. We are so preoccupied with thoughts about the past, the future, or some imaginary problem that we end up leaving the day-to-day, moment-to-moment tasks to the subconscious. And this is where the problem lies.

This subconscious mind is full of our life-long, programmed behaviors that are responsible for most of our actions. It is estimated that 90-95% of our decisions, actions, emotions, and behaviors are derived from the unobserved processing of the subconscious mind.

We are running on autopilot most of the time. And it’s important that we are to a certain extent. Imagine how difficult it would be to even get out of the house in the morning if we had to “relearn” every move we make.

To have a better understanding of the extent that our subconscious mind works, it is estimated that over 40 million nerve impulses per second are interpreted by the subconscious mind.

Whereas the prefontal cortex, the thinking mind, the self-aware mind, only processes about 40 nerve impulses per second. This means the subconscious mind is a million times more powerful than the self-conscious mind. Wow!

And … most of these subconscious patterns and programming occurred before the age of 6, when much of what we learned was based on misperceptions. On top of that, we have spent our whole lives reacting and reinforcing this programming without awareness! Therefore, much of this subconscious force, this resistance, is now being expressed as limiting and self-sabotaging beliefs. They are under the surface of our thoughts exerting their influence. 

In yoga, these patterns, these conditioned ways of reacting, are called samskaras. Samskaras can be negative or positive - they are patterns, simply reoccurring patterns, that end up creating our personality. 

It’s not the positive samskaras that we want to change. It’s the ones that create the resistance, those that limit us and that keep us from realizing our potentiality. 

Our conscious mind, our thinking mind comprises only 90-95% of our potential awareness. And you may be interested to know that as for our thoughts, psychologists estimate that 70% of our thoughts are negative and redundant! Are you aware of this?

We have to find a way to overcome our thought loops, our samskaras, our conditioning to be able to move forward into our potentiality. The key to being able to do this is through awareness.

True awareness requires practice, lots of practice. Practice in learning how to see our patterns, practice in self-acceptance of who we are – both the light and the dark sides, and practice in seeing where we waste our energies. Because we need both awareness and energy.

Classical yoga provides both. In the classical yoga that I know, even the practice of asanas, the physical poses, are done without distractions – normal room temperatures and no distracting music. Instruction is geared to being present, to be aware in every moment, to feel what’s going on in the body at a deeper level, to count the repetitions of the pose, to link the breath to every movement, to watch whatever thoughts or feelings arise and to feel the effects of each pose before moving to the next. This is a method of fine-tuning the awareness by using the physical body and it can then be taken into our daily lives. We spend a lot of our awareness and energy on the body. We feed it, wash it, clothe it, sleep it and use it continually. It is a good instrument to use to begin to expand the awareness.

In yoga we also use breathing practices to further move the energy through the body on a more subtle level and to introvert the mind. To let go of the material world around us and connect with the energy systems that need to be balanced and strengthened.

These breathing practices are called pranayama which means to expand the life force! The breathing practices are not only physiologically beneficial to the respiratory system, but they do really cool things like linking the thinking brain with the more primitive areas of the brain. These connections go through the emotional brain, so not only does the awareness become introverted during the practice of pranayama, but emotional tensions are released. This results in more mental focus and less scattered thoughts. 

Additionally, we need some form of meditation. Having released physical and emotions tensions, the awareness is stronger and more fully capable of seeing the subconscious patterns of the mind that are revealed through meditation. 

The key to seeing our patterns and therefore to be able to change them, is to learn the practice of witnessing. This is often referred to a mindfulness these days, and there are many techniques that support witnessing.

The witness is that part of you that sees. That part of you that has always been in there observing from the moment you opened your eyes at birth. That part of you that may now look in the mirror and be startled to see the wrinkles or grey hair. It’s the part of you that has been watching when you played as a child, that watched all of the relationships of life, that is watching you listening to this podcast. 

It is the part of you that is closest to your true nature and the part of you that is often suppressed and overridden by the conditioned parts of you that are projected into and interact with the world around you. The part of you that is suppressed by all of your fears and insecurities and the busyness associated with the roles that you play in your daily life.

But in yoga we are trying to strengthen that part, because without the ability of the witness, the ability to see the patterns, to choose the course rather than react based on our conditioning…until we can find the space of awareness as the witness…we will remain stuck.

Stuck in our samskaras, our ongoing thought loops, our ongoing subconscious conditioning. And being stuck is the strongest form of resistance! There is no movement when something is stuck.

This will take a lot of practice, but it’s never too late to begin! 

Begin to explore the practices of yoga that will support your awareness of the present moment, increase your energy reserves and begin to show you those thought loops so that you can truly realize there’s another way of being.

Begin to examine your life. What is consuming your energy? Making you tired and stressed? What can you let go of? Do you need to set stronger boundaries? Do you need to learn how to say no? Do you need to off load some responsibilities or rethink your life’s circumstances?

Remember it will take awareness, energy and strength, to create the necessary amount of discipline and intention, to overcome that force of resistance that is holding you back from realizing your potential.

Thank you for listening.

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