Letting Go of the Ego

Inspiration: To relinquish my need to be superior in whatever I am doing.

The ego. It is identified as the "I" or me. An inflated feeling of pride or superiority. The majority of us display this ego in one way or another.In some areas we may be quite humble. In others the opposite is true.

Most recently, I ran into a woman who was one of my first acquaintances in my pursuit of a different way of being. She is a Buddhist nun. Whenever I would see her I would feel something like "Wow! If I could just be as peaceful and present as her." I had an encounter after not seeing her for a bit. She was very kind and asked how I was doing. I then asked her how things were going. Her reply was " My private practice is really busy, I have 27 clients." We had this conversation after I had finished a yoga class. Maybe I was just in a zen state. I found this response a bit grandiose. Maybe that is a judgment but the truth is she could have just said her practice was flourishing. I did not need to know an exact number.

Not that I am without ego. My new feat is to be able to do some arm balance poses in yoga. I have the strength but my left shoulder/arm and hand have suffered many an injury. I am still recovering after a long time. Anyway, here I am in classes. So focused on the pose that I fall. The teachers always says to keep your head up and lean forward. After reading a blog by a teacher I adore, he mentioned leading from the heart and not the head. The next time I attempted these postures I had greater success. What is my point? The head is where the ego lives. The mind. The heart is where all is possible. It is nice to be reminded that we are all students living and learning on a daily, moment to moment basis.

To my surprise, I realized my ego is still more present than I would like it to be. I will continue to breathe, work on my judgements and be a more loving, patient and peaceful warrior. Yes, I am an Aries. Can't get away from it. I am very firey.

Namaste,
Denise