This is the sixth and seventh in a series this year we’re covering in my weekly Y12SR session (Tuesdays 7 pm ET). Each month, I explore one of the 12 Steps through my own experience as a Yoga practitioner. What I’ve noticed over the years is that even if we may not identify as a person in recovery from addiction (of any kind: substance, process, behavior) it is a useful framework for looking at any behavior from which we seek freedom.
On Step Six:
“Became willing to have God remove all these defects of character.”
Because I am human, I am bound to make mistakes, experience fear, and cause suffering.
Do I want to feel differently?
Do I want to relate differently?
Am I willing to see my fears, my resentments, my conflicts and my conditioning as information, as fuel for growth?
Am I willing to let life unfold in a way that shows me opportunities for change and reveals chances to move in integrity with who I am becoming- who I really am, beneath it all?
Am I willing to take steady, meaningful action to become clearer and clearer about the way forward that is being revealed to me every day?
On Step Seven:
“Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.”
Because I am human, I am bound to find myself stuck in patterns of suffering from which I deeply desire release.
In every subsequent interaction, may I become humble, and remember I don’t have all the answers- unless I am willing to seek them.
May I be willing to see where I can pause, reflect, see the situation and my part in it clearly, and take effortless action that supports the cleanest of relations possible.
May I pause with the self pity, dishonesty, self-will, self-seeking and fear that arises in response to life situations.
May I become willing to take a different path, to see myself, things and people differently.
May I be present with the suffering that arises without attachment or aversion.
May the obstacles in my path reveal new opportunities for me to act in integrity with my truest, deepest self.
May I act without contempt, resentment, or malice.
May I reaffirm this commitment each and every day, with clear eyes and an open heart.
