The science of yoga saved my life, and I've seen it save many other lives, no matter how dark and hopeless it might feel for someone, there is a pathway forward towards stability and empowerment ... toward creating a new and more meaningful identity and mission in life.
There's a much deeper knowing and deeper intelligence in this place. This is where I began the journey of listening to that inner wisdom. We've all had those aha moments. In yoga it's called prajna - a flash of illumination. I heard that voice.
I remind myself that I don't have the ability to completely manipulate reality to be exactly what I want it to be. So now that reality is antithetical to what I want, how I can feel into it and act skillfully rather than react? How can I choose my best course of action while not pretending I don't have the pain, or running away from the pain, or blaming someone else for the circumstances of my life?
Emotional pain rarely comes up for me now. When it does, for sure, I feel it. But then, fortunately, through my life experience and my practices, I'm able to see it for what it is, and I'm able to use the techniques that yoga and Ayurveda have to offer us.
My message is believe in yourself. Have courage in your capacity. Listen to your inner voice. And then the critical component of all this is, do the work.
This very deep, soothing voice came on, saying: "You now have permission to be strong and healthy and calm and relaxed. There's no place else to go. There's nothing else to do." I could feel it in every cell of my body, and I immediately realized, there's something here. I could feel my heart rate slow down. I could feel stress melting out of my body.
Well for me, courage means having the courage to walk off the edge of what is known, with complete faith that you're not going to go crashing to the bottom. Stepping outside of your own self-perceived boundaries and limitations.
I now realize that a broken back, failed surgery, and Stage IV cancer are three of the greatest things that ever happened to me. Three of the most positive, transformative things that ever happened to me. They helped me become a vastly better person than I ever was, and I am eternally grateful for that.
No matter what you're facing in your life, what obstacles you might have, and what you feel your limitations might be, there's something inside you that's eternal, that is filled with wisdom and potential and possibility. There's an inner power inside you to affect an amazing level of healing, to help you find who you really are, to help you walk your unique path up the mountain, to help you move towards manifesting your fullest potential
I went through the same process when I sort of addressed in my practice cancer next, when I began all the veganism and the fasting and the purifications. Part of that was just gratitude, expressing gratitude, thank you, thank you.
Grateful that it brought me to a point of really seeing myself and really seeing where I was imbalanced, and really seeing it was a message from the Divine that changed my life.
I think, in a way, I've returned to who I used to be as a global correspondent whose life was devoted to really making a difference, illuminating what's happening in the world, always drawn toward the suffering of peoples and cultures and exposing exploitation and injustice; but now I'm the same person in a much, much softer iteration.
I feel vulnerable every day to the grace of God as expressed in every living thing. I feel vulnerable to the astonishing beauty of being alive and to Mother Nature. I feel positive when I feel vulnerable, because it's another reminder that it's not all about me and about my ego. And I actually think it's courageous to be vulnerable, and it's not something to be avoided.
I actually think it's courageous to be vulnerable, and it's not something to be avoided.
How can I look at it and say, there it is - it's real. This is what is happening. It might even be a catalyst for more personal growth for me. It might be a blessing in disguise. It might not be. What's my best course of action? How can I be skillful?
Each day, I would feel new wisdom and new intuition and I would follow that. Most everything I was doing was coming from that voice in my heart, which was affirmed by the ancient texts.
I don't think I can put my finger exactly on when remission occurred, because from that moment on, I left Western medicine and never looked back. I practiced every day for ten to twelve hours a day - spiritual studies, meditation, pranayama, yoga postures, Ayurvedic studies, deep, deep, powerful cleansings and fasting.
I was at a point in my life that was really between life or death, and I sort of intuitively and instinctively knew, I have to listen.
Definitely an intelligence in the light of the heart. In yoga, we refer to this as the heart center - right behind the breastbone, and visualize it as a golden candle flame of light and spirit.
You now have permission to be strong and healthy and calm and relaxed. There's no place else to go. There's nothing else to do.
I remind myself that I don't have the ability to completely manipulate reality to be exactly what I want it to be.
I feel vulnerable every day to the grace of God as expressed in every living thing.
I feel vulnerable to the astonishing beauty of being alive and to Mother Nature.
I feel positive when I feel vulnerable, because it's another reminder that it's not all about me and about my ego.
I'm inspired by how miraculous some of the simplest and most natural aspects of life can be the greatest sources of healing and transformation.
