5 Keys to Change and More Freedom

Many people come to yoga because they seek change, consciously or unconsciously. And, behind the quest for change is a desire for more freedom. They want to be free from pain e.g. confusion, personal or work-related stress, identity crisis, professional or personal dilemmas, difficult relationships, physical pain - acheing joints, stiff muscles, lower back pain, incessant thinking...

In order to create and gain more freedom in your life, it’s often necessary to undergo physical, mental, emotional, behavioural and/or spiritual change.

The trouble is a lot of the time, you’re looking for other people to grant you the freedom you desire or basing choices on beliefs and attitudes that aren’t yours – the ‘shoulds’ and world views inherited from parents, organisations, society…

But freedom is a state of mind.  As Viktor Frankl stated in Man’s Search for Meaning:

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

The way that you have chosen so far in your life is coded in your hands. There is a blueprint there that symbolises your attitudes over the course of your life and knowledge of that blueprint can free you up to soar, rise up, choose your own way and have a freedom-based state of mind.

Here are five keys to creating more freedom and lasting changes in your life. I first learned these principles many years ago doing Aadil Palkhivala’s yoga teacher training course. They can be applied to all kinds of changes and situations.

1. The Desire to Grow/Progress
   
   The first key is to decide what you want. Most people are clear about the problem they want to be free of, but unclear about what they want instead.
   
   They want something different, but often lack clarity about what this different thing is and will often go round and round in circles frequently returning to the problem before saying what they want.

   The key question I use to hone client’s attention is:

   “When [problem/issue], what would you like to have happen?”

   
   This is a Clean Language question and was devised by David Grove.
   
   Try using this question to help you decide what you want to have happen. Keep asking it until you come up with an outcome.

2. Willingness to Change
   
   When running workshops and/or yoga classes, I often ask participants to set their intention or outcome – what they want to have happen. Then I ask how they need to be to get that outcome so they realise that they are responsible for their outcome.
   
   You are responsible for your life. The thoughts, feelings and actions that you take determine the outcomes you get and the kind of life you live.
   
   So you must decide what you are willing to do, how you’re willing to be, what you want to have and be willing to change to get your outcome.
   
   The willingness to change often requires inner exploration and a journey of self-discovery to identify your uniqueness, purpose, capabilities, potentialities, obstacles…

3. Seek Appropriate Guidance
   
   The Olympic starts in a few days time and we all know that top athletes have a team around them. They have coaches and mentors who help them perform at their best and to ‘peak’ at the right time. Without the guidance of a coach top performers would not get to the top.
   
   The same applies to you and me. I have teachers, coaches and mentors for coaching, business, yoga, hand analysis, meditation and more…
   
   Teachers, coaches and mentors help you to liberate yourself from the unhelpful and harmful self-talk and beliefs that get in your way. Believing that you’re not qualified, thinking that there is nothing unique about you, that you have nothing to offer to the world…are just a few of the common harmful thoughts that may get in your way. Until you get your mind-body right, you will struggle to make changes

4. Strategies and Taking Consistent Action
   
   You need to get clear and create strategies and solutions that will facilitate your freedom… and to take action. It’s necessary to put strategies in place to eliminate the psychological barriers and obstacles that get in your way and thwart your productivity.
   
   You’ve got to do the work otherwise nothing will change or things will get worse.

5. Persistence/Practice
   
   Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (Ashtanga yoga guru)  use to say  “...practice, practice, practice. … Then all is coming.”
   
   Miracles can happen but mostly it’s necessary to take consistent action for change to happen.
   
   Barbara Corcoran (star of ABC channel’s Shark Tank (USA equivalent of Dragons Den) in a key-note speech at a conference I attended in San Antonio, USA, stated that passion is over-rated and that persistence is also key to success.

   In order for lasting change to occur you have to be persistent and give it time. Neuroscientists have proven that when we take new action consistently, over and over, the brain creates new neural networks which become hard-wired the more you practise.
   
   Life is made up of choices and the decisions that you make determine your results. These five tips can help you to make the breakthroughs that you desire.

In case you’ve not noticed, we’re now half-way through the year and it’s important to evaluate the progress you’ve made with your goals and plans.

Ask yourself these three feedback questions from Caitlin Walker’s Clean Feedback model:

1. 1. What’s working well?

   2. What isn’t working well?

   3. What could be done differently/work better?Make a note of the evidence and any inferences that you are making. Then set yourself some developmental tasks.NOTE: If you are in the throes of an identity crisis, want to find the ‘real’ you, are confused about your next steps, have doubts about your current direction, unsure about your purpose and what’s blocking you, and are ready to get help, then until the 19^th August, you can receive a special ‘birthday’ hand analysis session that will help you with all of the five keys I discussed today…