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Ahimsa

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Ahimsa. It sounds like a funny yogi word… but it’s oh so much more than that.
Yes, I learned about it in teacher training at CorePower, but I feel compelled to share it with all of you mostly because of how it’s effected me outside of the studio. Let’s break it down.

Without getting too yogi on you, the yamas and niyamas are basically ethical guides. It might sound boring, but the teacher training lecture that broke them down was my favorite session so far. So many of the things that I love about yoga were all of a sudden articulated in it’s history, and I definitely nerded out a bit. The yamas and niyamas include things you’d expect, like truthfulness and gratitude… but one of them stuck with me more than any of the others.

Ahimsa roughly translates to “non-harming.” Don’t harm anyone… umm, obviously, right?? But what if it was about more than just refraining from physically hurting someone? What if you treated people with compassion instead of saying or even thinking unnecessarily hurtful things about them? Try to recognize those thoughts and then make room for the possibility that there might not be any need for all that negativity.
But the REAL root of ahimsa is one step further – what if this doesn’t just apply to how you treat other people… what if this applies to how you treat yourself? See, for most of us, that’s the hardest part.

In this same session, we talked a lot about the concept of Big Self vs small self. Your small self includes the little things that make up who you are. Your job, where you live, your friends, your significant other – the variables. Even though these can change, many of us tend to cling to them in order to define ourselves… but what happens if one of these things shifts? You move to a new city, switch careers, deal with the end of a relationship… these happen all the time. So if/when you’re faced with these changes, you are left with your Big Self – who you are underneath it all. And the million dollar question is… do you like that person?
… and now we’re back to ahimsa 🙂
For my long time followers, you already know that the first half of my twenties were a little bit of a struggle. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get what I wanted and I couldn’t help but think that my flaws were the reason I wasn’t where I wanted to be. And then all of the things that made up my “little self” were stripped away. “I live in New York” / “I’m solely pursuing an acting career” / “I live near my best friends” / “I’m in a committed relationship” – every single one of those statements were no longer true. Scary, right? Definitely. But it also gave me the opportunity to look at my “Big Self” and find out what else I could discover about me.
At the end of the day, all of that needed to happen. That self discovery has made me more successful, more confident and happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life. Learning how to really take care of myself, follow my instincts, and push myself to do things that were once far outside of my comfort zone – these are all things that I couldn’t have discovered if I continued to judge myself and think negatively.

At the same time, life is a practice. Despite all of the good that’s come out of these opportunities, I’ve still managed put myself in a position where I’m working a full time job, maintaining and growing Lake Shore Lady all by myself, and working towards my certification to be a yoga teacher. That is a LOT to juggle, combined with the fact that I get frustrated with myself when I’m unable to do everything on my to do list and give it all 100%… but how could I? I’m only one person. And instead of judging myself for my lack of super human powers, I can be nice to myself, and do what I can and forgive myself for what I can’t. It’s not always easy, but that’s the goal. See?! Ahimsa 🙂

Now, I know I’m not the only one who could use this reminder. Could you be a little bit nicer to yourself? Do you let negative thoughts get you down or hold you back? Think about how you would feel if you let that go. What else could you accomplish? How would you live your life differently?

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20 Comments

  1. Jess Keys
    March 29, 2016 @ 1:25 pm

    I LOVEEE this post, Lauren! I've been so hard on myself lately and so needed this reminder–thank you so much!

  2. Kellyinthecity
    March 29, 2016 @ 4:00 pm

    I love the concept of "Big Self." Loved this post, Lauren, and loved these photos!!

    Kelly | Kelly in the City

  3. Dannie Moore
    March 29, 2016 @ 5:25 pm

    I love this whole concept! It's really important to care for oneself in the same way we care for others. It's kind of like "Treat Others the way you would want to be treated" only applying it to yourself. Treat YOURSELF the way you want to be treated.

    Great great post.

    xoxo,
    Dannie
    http://www.stilefotocibo.com

  4. Katie @ Live Half Full
    March 29, 2016 @ 6:09 pm

    This is probably my favorite post I've read of yours. Please share more of your yoga wisdom, there are lots of us who geek out over it as well!

  5. Lauren Nolan
    March 29, 2016 @ 7:16 pm

    I'm glad it resonated with you, Jess!! <3

  6. Lauren Nolan
    March 29, 2016 @ 7:17 pm

    Right?!?! It's not a new concept or anything, but this way of thinking about it made so much sense to me. And Julie is such a great photographer – there's more pics from this shoot coming soon!! xoxo

  7. Lauren Nolan
    March 29, 2016 @ 7:18 pm

    So glad you liked it, Dannie! 🙂

  8. Lauren Nolan
    March 29, 2016 @ 7:19 pm

    Thanks for the feedback, Katie! I'm learning so much right now that I want to share it, so I'm glad it's resonating with people!! I already have another one in the works – stay tuned!

  9. Lauren Nolan
    March 29, 2016 @ 7:19 pm

    Thanks Katharine!

  10. shaheen khan
    March 29, 2016 @ 8:10 pm

    Love this post Lauren and think you truly embody positivity! I literally tell Trevor that after every time we hang haha. A great reminder to not put so much pressure on ourselves and live a little happier in the present! Can't wait to see you tonight!

  11. MushroomStew
    March 29, 2016 @ 9:10 pm

    Ahimsa is such an important part of yoga — how cool that you're learning the concept so indepth. I'll have a lot of questions for you. When I took yoga when I lived in India it included the Aryuvedic side as well so we were required to eat according to our doshas and to take care of our body from the inside so as to improve our yoga performance and our well-being as a whole. It was such a moving and interesting experience and I've always wanted to learn more and never have!

    Thanks for this post — so excited to have someone to ask so many yogi questions to!

    Xoxo,

    Ashley || Sed Bona

  12. Katharine Lindsay
    March 29, 2016 @ 6:35 pm

    This is SUCH a great post! Ahimsa is definitely something to strive for and I love it!
    Katharine
    Beverly and Park

  13. Kris
    March 29, 2016 @ 8:46 pm

    I so love this post- both the concepts that are discussed and the way that you discuss them. Seriously. Makes ME excited about your yoga training just hearing about it.
    xoxo

  14. Maggie Zemanek
    March 30, 2016 @ 4:28 pm

    Great post!! I love those leggings, too 🙂

    http://www.maggiealamode.com

  15. Kira Obermeier
    March 30, 2016 @ 6:19 pm

    Umm, have you been living inside my head lately?! Seriously, you just described my life 😉 I wasn't following you back in your early-twenties stage, but I went through a similar shift (including corepower's teacher training program). What's interesting to me is that I tend to be hardest on myself when I'm focused on my little self. I don't have x job or x clothes or live in x place. It's all about what I don't have, and that makes me feel less than, thus resulting in an extremely hostile attitude toward myself. Love love love the concept of ahimsa and love the reminder to focus on my big self. At the end of the day is my big self someone I like? Someone I want to spend time with? Good questions for me, thanks for the reminder and for sharing this post Lauren!

    xo,
    Kira

    http://www.theimperfectionistblog.com

  16. Lauren Nolan
    April 1, 2016 @ 6:46 pm

    That is so sweet, Shaheen! I'm not aaaalways positive hahah but I do my best!! xoxoxo

  17. Lauren Nolan
    April 1, 2016 @ 6:46 pm

    Thanks so much, Kris!! Glad you liked it!

  18. Lauren Nolan
    April 1, 2016 @ 6:47 pm

    I will ALWAYS geek out with you about yoga! Seriously, whenever you want!! Haha it's all so interesting, and there's always something new to learn.
    So great seeing you this week!!

  19. Lauren Nolan
    April 1, 2016 @ 6:47 pm

    They're so comfy, too 🙂

  20. Lauren Nolan
    April 1, 2016 @ 6:50 pm

    Kira, I'm so glad this resonated with you!! And I love what you said about how you tend to be hardest when you're focusing on what you DON'T have. Being grateful for what you DO have is half the battle, right?! Also, being cool with your "big self" makes it so much easier not to play into the comparison game. Everyone is on their own journey!