A Blissful Life 3/5/24: Living Without Regret

I invite you to settle into your space with some conscious inhales and exhales. Close your eyes and let your mind rest on the fluid breath inside your body. Feel yourself coming onto subject (subject being you), letting go of everything else– even if just for this instance. Find this moment. Can you open your mind to the possibility that every moment is your moment?

What does, “living with no regrets” mean to you? Every so often, I stop and ask myself: “If my life were to end today, would I have any regrets? If so, what would they be?” This reflection helps me to self-assess if I am living in alignment. It brings awareness to the areas that I would like to improve, and guides me in determining how I will prioritize my time going forward.

I believe it is important to ask yourself this question (and any important question, for that matter) not just once, but periodically, because as we live, our minds expand and our answers evolve. Revisiting important reflection questions helps to keep us on our honest path.

As we grow throughout life, so does our level of awareness. Once we become aware of something, it is no longer valid to use ignorance as an excuse for our behaviors. This being said, sometimes we know in our minds that something is wrong, but there is still a level of ignorance because the knowledge has not yet been converted into wisdom. Wisdom is a product of experience, which is why we can read all of the books in the world, but unless we go out and live, we won’t fully grasp the meaning of the letters on the pages. Because of this, aligning our actions with what our minds and souls know to be true can sometimes take time, and that’s ok. If we have an idea of where we are going and take even the tiniest steps in that direction each day, we are heading in the right direction.

Looking back, I am amazed at everything I have overcome to step into the person I am today. There were times when I felt trapped in certain patterns or behaviors, but even in those spaces I had a vision of what I was capable of and I kept that vision in the forefront of my mind. I didn’t necessarily know how I would get there, but I knew I had to. We are constantly becoming ourselves, and I have found that having a steady vision and feeling into the energy of “future self” here in the present moment, plays a big part in our evolution. (I express this as “we” and “our” because I have coached many clients using this technique and witnessed their success.)

Circling back to the initial question, living with no regrets for me means aligning my actions with what I know to be true in my current level of awareness. Change can be difficult, but adjusting my behaviors and lifestyle to mirror my ever-expanding understanding has become easier and easier. I am at the point now where I have had the experience (various times) of being forced into changes that I could have made by myself earlier on without nearly as much pain or suffering. These life experiences taught me a lot. For one, having the strength and courage to follow your inner knowing in the moment, even though it feels hard and scary, will get you where you need to be quicker and with much less of a mess than waiting for outside forces to make the decision for you. Of course I am not perfect, but this is my practice, and I find that the more I stand in my truth and initiate the hard step forward, the more effortless and natural everything after that becomes.

In closing, we are all different. For me, in the past I would have the knowing, but not take the action out of fear and that lack of wisdom that only time and experience are able to give you, if you are willing to receive it. Many things have helped me to build strength and courage, but one of the big ones was getting really strong and aligned in my body through different practices, including yoga and Pilates. When there is structure, strength, and flexibility in the physical body, these same qualities are reflected in the mind and all areas of life.

I invite you to join us at Ocean Bliss Yoga. Check our schedules and sign up at oceanblissyoga.net. Also, I am hosting an in-studio mini-retreat on Saturday, March 9th from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Sign up on our website or contact me at 917-318-1168.