Sometimes when the universe is sending a message, and we stop to pay attention, the message is all around us.

A while back, I had attended a Gabby Bernstein workshop in which she spoke about resistance, being aware of resistance, and how to release it. She describes resistance as non-acceptance of what is and how it leads to stress, and blocks our ability to move forward.  Gabby’s suggestion:  “Be aware of what it is that you are resisting. Make a list: I am resisting….” So I did.

When I sat down to do my list, I was pretty happy to discover that I actually had some difficulty coming up with a list. (If you followed me through the day, you’d clearly see the humor in this statement!) Was I resisting my Resistance List??

So, in following Gabby’s advice, I spent some time contemplating my resistance. Again, there’s really not a lot there. (Yay, me!) I managed to come up with one thing that I found myself resisting. Just one thing! Not bad!

It’s Wednesday morning, and I’m looking forward to my weekly yoga class. It’s important that I get to yoga a few minutes early so that my car makes it into a parking space in the driveway. Otherwise, I have to park along the side, blocking the cars that made it into a spot, making it necessary for me to then have to rush out of class. Just thinking about it was stressful! 

Unfortunately, no one was cooperating with my plan to get there in time! Cars were driving too slow. Trucks were on the road, and, frankly, nothing worse than being behind a truck when you have somewhere that you need to be! Resistance, the entire drive! Finally I make it to the driveway, and guess what? No spots! Seriously, people??? So I park my car, quickly grab my yoga mat and water, and make a mad dash for class. As I approached the front door, I became aware of all the tension in my body. 

As I put my hand on the door knob, there’s a voice in my head saying, “Girl, you need to let this sh*t go!”  I took a deep breath, walked into the room, and quietly sat down, all stress and tension slowly releasing.

As we began our class, Kathy, the yoga instructor, told us to lie down, close our eyes and relax. She then began to talk to us about, what else — resistance. Seriously???  She spoke about a cherry blossom tree that she recently saw and how she felt very moved and inspired by this tree. She watched as the branches gracefully swayed in the breeze, and noticed how beautiful the tree looked as it swayed. No resistance, no tension — just beautiful movement with the breeze. She then recalled a time she was snorkeling, and saw a coral reef in the ocean. With its grace and beauty, no matter how fierce the current, it remained grounded and strong. “As you go through your yoga practice, and through your day, be the cherry blossom, be the coral reef. Flow through with ease and grace, and release all resistance.” 

There it was! In a less than subtle way, the Universe spoke loud and clear in sending me the message I obviously needed to hear. I needed to see all of the resistance in my life, and throughout my day; the stress that I created in my non-acceptance of what was.

So, I went home, sat at my desk, and once again, did what was suggested — I made a list of the things I was resisting. As I reflected on my morning, I realized just how much of my day is spent resisting. There was no longer just one thing on the list. And there was no longer resistance in creating my list — there was flow.  I became the cherry blossom!