"Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us."
{from When Things Fall Apart, Pema Chodron}

There's resistance. And then there's RESISTANCE.

This is a photo of my three hearts, who, unbeknownst to me, all snuggled into the three shelves of my now empty office at Yoga Shala Richmond, which is, very sadly, closing their doors in just a couple of days. Back in January, I moved into this beautiful, light-filled space that has long felt like another home to me - not because Ashtanga yoga was my first practice, and often an anchor that I returned to during some of my more difficult life transitions, but because this place had soul. This place had a depth and a quality of connectivity to it that all who practiced or even just entered there felt. 

As many of you know, I've moved a lot over the past few years. And each time, resistance arises in me. This kind of resistance feels like wrestling, like walls bracing inside or sometimes like complete collapse. It sounds like "why me?" like "I don't want this..." like "I wish this was different."

This kind of resistance is what many of us have felt since the beginning of sheltering-in-place at the outbreak of the Corona virus. It is when we are in direct conflict with, and therefore unable be in relationship to, reality. This kind of resistance is futile because it doesn't change the external conditions or circumstances (nor does it allow us to see what could be possible). It simply creates massive amount of suffering. This kind of resistance is what I work with and what I coach others to work with on a daily basis. Learning to drop resistance is the entry point to freedom - the opening ourselves to the annihilation of the ego, the part of us that thinks it knows what's best or how it should all play out.The part that hides Consciousness and distorts Truth within us. 

Then there is RESISTANCE. This is a word used throughout history and the world and, now, more regularly in our own communities over the past few years and especially in the past few weeks. This kind of RESISTANCE feels like awake-ness, like truth. It feels like the energy of a truth moving through you with such force that you can only align yourself with it, move with it, stand with it. This kind of RESISTANCE is, in my experience, the movement of life, of progression, of evolution - it's the inwardly (and sometimes outwardly) bold choice to hold the space for life to live on, to move forward. It comes with a distinct willingness to be open to annihilation because that which is indestructible, Truth itself, is what's pressing us forward as vehicles for the expression of Consciousness.

This kind of RESISTANCE is necessary. 

We are being invited, right now, into complete annihilation - complete dissolution of that which has created deep pain, deep separation, and the deepest of suffering. This is a tremendous gift and, in my opinion, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to drop our inner resistance and to stand with the dignity of RESISTANCE against the forces that keep their power only when ours is not united, when we remain separated. 

RESISTANCE comes in many forms and shapes and sounds and sights. All beautiful. All truthful.

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The second wave of my by-donation workshop series, Undoing Unconscious Racism will begin on July 18th. If you are interested in participating, please see the details below.