I am in the midst of my 300-hour Yoga Teacher Training, knee deep in yoga texts, self study, and special projects, and loving this incredible journey to becoming a certified 500-hour Yoga Teacher. One of my homework assignments this month comes straight from a book we are reading called Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing, by Caroline Myss.

I’m digging this book for two reasons:

1) It provides a deeper understanding into the energy associated with each of the chakras.

2) Caroline Myss is an awesome storyteller and uses a ton of real life stories in the book to illustrate her points…and who doesn’t love a good story!

In the chapter that covers the fifth chakra (vishuddha – the throat chakra) and the power of our will, Caroline covers the challenges of surrendering our own willpower to divine guidance. She puts forth five rules to live by to open up our ability to let go and honor the divine. So, for the month of July my yoga teacher, Mary Pat Murphy,  gave me the assignment of trying to live daily with these five rules:

1) Make no judgments.

2) Have no expectations.

3) Give up the need to know why things happen as they do.

4) Trust that the unscheduled events of our lives are a form of spiritual direction.

5) Have the courage to make the choices we need to make, accept what we cannot change, and have the wisdom to know the difference.

Wowza, that is a pretty challenging homework assignment!

In my yoga classes this week I’m inviting my students to try out these rules as well. If you want to try it out with us give it a go. If you think it might be too challenging, I would highly recommend trying out #1. I always knew I put a lot of judgment on myself, but I never realized how quick I am to judge others and putting this rule into practice has been an eye opening experience. As yogis if we want to practice yoga off our yoga mats, we must let go of judgment and open our hearts to love all beings.

This sign should be posted on the door of every yoga studio.

If you want to free up a huge amount of wasted energy, I highly suggest the practice of #2. I am the queen of putting too much expectation into activities like vacations and concerts. When you go into a trip or event with no expectations, the unexpected occurrences will hopefully be a delight (like when your car’s air conditioning goes out on a 90 degree day on a 3-hour road trip).

My life over the last seven years has given me the opportunity to put into practice rules #3-5, and this week I am sharing a real-life story in my classes of how a big unscheduled event in my life was truly a form of spiritual direction. In fact, when I look back I now realize that I have been the recipient of divine guidance many times and that is how I received the call to begin practicing yoga and to becoming a yoga teacher. 

If you thought summer was a time when there’s no homework, here is a huge honking homework assignment, if you choose to accept it. I’ll write more about my experience of practicing these rules, and please feel free to share your experience as well in the comments.