Opening to the possibility of change is healthy.

Just like plants shed old parts of themselves, you too need to allow the old parts of yourself to fall away, to lie fallow or die. In doing so, you enable yourself to emerge anew.

Correct motivation

When an impulse to make a change arises. Before you do anything. First ask yourself “why do I want to make a change?”,  “what is it that is no longer serving me?”, “is my motivation healthy and wholesome”

Having the right motivation can be key to the success or failure of your desire. Often your desire for change comes from aversion, greed, or delusion.

For example, a common desire for many of us is weight loss. Maintaining a healthy weight is an acceptable goal to have. It promotes wise food choices and often ease of movement through exercise. Frequently, the underlying motivation is vanity or the desire for social acceptance.  When these negative motivations are present, the focus of why someone wants to lose weight reinforces the habits and behaviours that caused them to be off balance.

To be able to succeed you must first organise your efforts around wholesome motives to ensure that you move towards a better relationship with yourself.  Your ability to sustain your intention and achieve your goals becomes more achievable with a positive focus.

Perhaps you do not like how you behave at work or in a relationship. You seek out a new situation. However, it will seldom resolve the problem. To change how you behave, you need to change from within.

However, it is different if you're in an unhealthy environment or being subject to demeaning behaviour. In this situation, the impulse to leave, even if it causes much disruption, can be considered a healthy motivation.

Wholesome and healthy change

A desired goal or change can be healthy or unwholesome or unhealthy and unwholesome depending on your motivation.  Consider the changes you want to affect. Reflect on what is motivating that change. Be critical and consider the possible effects of the change. Consider the following questions, and maybe note your answers in a journal.

• How will the change affect your life, and others around you?

• Does it serve you and cause no harm to others?

• Are you giving it the proper priority in your life?

These questions help to direct the way change moves and affect you.

Your yoga practice serves to help you open to the possibilities of change. The time on your mat allows you to step back and reflect. As you work through your physical body the mind becomes quieter and you can think more clearly. This allows you to work from a place of wisdom and truth. It allows you to reflect on your goals and dreams, to assess whether those goals or intentions are healthy and wholesome motivation; it gives you space to change your perspective and become more creative by stepping away from expectations.

Life is constantly changing. You have the chance to start over each new year, new month, new week, new day. Springtime is a wonderful time of year to harness the energy of the changing enlivening season to effect change in your life. Just be sure that it is healthy and wholesome. That is has the correct motivation. If it does, you will succeed.

New beginnings by Gertrude McClain

It is only the beginning now,

a pathway yet unknown,

at times the sound of other steps,

sometimes we walk alone

the best beginnings of our lives,

may sometimes end in sorrow,

but even on our darkest days,

the sun will shine tomorrow

So we must do our very best,

whatever life may bring,

and look beyond the winter chill,

to smell the breath of spring,

into each life will always come,

a time to start a new,

a new beginning for each heart,

as fresh as morning dew,

although the cares of life are great,

and hands are bowed so low,

the storms of life will leave behind,

the wonder of a rainbow,

the years will never take away,

our chance to start a new,

it's only the beginning now,

so dreams can still come true