Habit 1: Be Proactive - A Mindset Shift

Yogis start every practice with setting an intention for that practice. It requires an awareness of your own abilities and that your words are powerful - that they can make things happen by being expressed. Now, I feel that they only have that power when we commit ourselves to being the primary acting force on our own lives.

It took me a while to believe that thinking of something in the present tense (because thinking in future tense doesn't encourage change) could do anything, and certainly the idea of releasing it to become a seed in my mind made no sense. But focusing intently on something doesn't always assure it'll come true, as I've found. It requires action, forward movement, and that isn't always hand-in-hand with thinking. Sometimes you just have to do and not think to make something happen. (Most of our movements are like that.)

Intentions are supposed to come from the heart. They should feel like they resonate throughout your being. For a gal who's as rational as I am, that was kinda hard to fathom, but I guess it's like when we were little. We just knew that something felt right - although it wasn't always best for us. I've used a number of intentions. "My body is healthy and whole." "I feel ease in my body and my life." "I am open to all the creativity within my mind." Those are a few of them, and I know everyone can think of their own. It's a goal that you phrase in a way so you don't limit the odds of it happening, and it opens you to other changes.

This has everything to do with what Steven Covey described as the "See, Do, Get model." How we see the world influences our actions, which dictate what happens. So if you assume that you're too old for something or you can't do a particular thing, you're self-fulfilling. Saying that you can do something doesn't assure that you'll do it, but it leaves more possibilities open, and it's the start of all change.

So being proactive requires a mindset shift, which involves accepting the mantle of taking care of yourself and your life. For most of us, in yoga it starts with acknowledging our body's limits for a given practice and day. It build into increased body awareness which encourages better care of the subtle needs.