Covid and the Kleshas

Change is the only thing constant in our life!
Something I have been saying a lot in the last 2 years.
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People like comfort:

• Comfort food – although we know it’s not really healthy
• Routine – although we experience the happiest times when stepping out of it
• Repetition – although we might cause harm to our physical bodies by doing the same movement again and again
• Alcohol – although it gives us the illusion of ease, we know it disconnects us
• And I’m sure you can come up with many more things that comfort you and have a disadvantage. 

We get anxious when we step out of comfort. If we get an instant reward – great – we do it again. If we step into the unpleasant we get more anxious.
I believe that is what happened with Covid. We were forced to step out of what we knew and into the unknown and that unknown still keeps changing.
What if we surrender to what is?
 
Take a look at the Yogic principle of the Kleshas:
Avidya (ignorance): Consider learning about what you are ignoring, that which makes you feel anxious or fearful. Knowledge is power and allows informed decisions and might provide a new sense of comfort.
Asmita (over-identifying with your ego): Only thinking about yourself can lead to suffering. Be curious about other's opinions, maybe that person has a point. Maybe there is some truth in what others say. Don't be ignorant (avidya) though, check the value of information. 
Raga (desire, or attachment to pleasure): We humans love comfort (see above). When things go well, we're happy so we attach to that feeling and want it to last. Trust that there is balance and that after a rough time comes happiness. The clinging to comfort is pushing against the stream, like sitting in a rowing boat upstream, much more work and a lot of resistance. 
Dvesha (avoidance): Is just like attachment only in the opposite direction. This covid can't be ignored or avoided. No matter your opinion or belief around it, it infiltrates all our lives. 
Abhinivesha (fear of dying or clinging to life): Since the start of the pandemic, we have been driven by Abhinivesha. No matter if you went with science or what has been said in the media or gone a different path. Fear is a driving factor and that that caused the greatest division and with that the greatest suffering.
 
Just like most, so do I go through all of these and have done so regarding Covid. What helps me is to shine light on the suffering, consider the Yogic texts such as the Kleshas to make sense of my behaviours, thoughts and patterns as only then can I create change myself to come back into balance. I then still have to remember that balance is not a state but fluctuates/changes too or is your tree pose always solid?
Practicing Yoga is as much on as of the mat. Take what you find on the mat with you and apply it to your day ❤.