Trusting the Universe – Greg’s Journey
Wonderful Santosha Yoga Teacher training graduate Greg joins us on the blog, to share his wise words on trusting the Universe. We often read and hear people say phrases like “trust in the universe” or “the universe has your back, just let it guide you”. But what does this actually mean?
For me, it means to act from feeling rather than thought.
As I’ve started to let what feels right guide me through life rather than my thoughts which are loaded with pre-conceived ideas and limitations, things have really started to flow organically.
There’s nothing more satisfying than feeling in rhythm with all that is, allowing space for ideas and opportunities to bubble up to the surface from the source of creation and come to fruition.
It can also be extremely challenging and unsettling at times as with this process I find that the outcomes are not usually in sight, but rather manifest along the way. So putting your trust in universal design is a huge leap of faith.
Rolling the dice and letting intuition guide you when you’re not exactly sure where you’re heading can be daunting, but if you can push through the uncertainty and fear of the unknown, the transformation of life as we know it can be beyond comprehension.
For me, everything came to a front when I arrived at a significant life intersection in August 2017. There I was, standing in the middle of the cross-road with no clarity on which path to take. For a while I’d been feeling stagnant, disconnected and ultimately unsatisfied with my life. I wasn’t unhappy or depressed, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that surely there was more to life than this? So began the process of weeding out the things in my life that weren’t serving or satisfying me, including quitting my job, ending relationships and stepping out into the unknown.
I had no plan but knew things needed to change, so I made the decision to trust my intuition and created space for new beginnings.
Stepping through the fear wasn’t easy, it took me almost a year of being disenchanted to take action. One day I just found myself writing my resignation letter which was extremely liberating and a real turning point in my life.
Once I transcended the things I felt weren’t fulfilling me, it opened a huge window for transformation and growth, and life provided me with so much opportunity. I had the calling to start practicing yoga, so I did. Instantly borderline addicted, I went on a mission to experience a wide variety of yoga styles and teachers in my home city of Melbourne.
As I started to unravel the philosophy and mythology behind yoga, I began to truly understand and appreciate the depths of the yoga world and fell in love.
I started to realise yoga as a system to still the fluctuations of the mind, eradicate negative beliefs and connect to one’s true self. Not to mention the physical benefits!
My body had been desk-bound for too long and was rigid and neglected. Liberating my body from its physical slumber was extremely powerful, like a dormant volcano erupting. Flexibility, strength and looseness were restored, and a new-found passion arose to maintain and build on the extremely beneficial mental and physical states I was cultivating.
This passion led me Bali to undertake my yoga teacher training with Santosha Yoga Institute on the beautiful and tranquil island of Nusa Lembongan.
The main reason I wanted to study yoga is because I knew I loved yoga but I didn’t fully understand why. I realised that I’d only skimmed the surface of the true essence of yoga, that there is so much more to uncover and understand – it’s endless and that’s what I love about it!
So I packed up my home in Melbourne, ventured to Bali and dove into all things yoga with the intention of deepening my practice. To have this experience in a tropical paradise with perfect waves was complete and utter bliss! From day one I felt at home on the Island of the Gods immersed in the beautiful Balinese culture.
There is such a high energy in Bali which I attribute to the Hindu devotion including daily prayer offerings to the Gods – the place definitely felt alive.
Throughout the training I experienced so much positive growth and transformation on a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual level.
The course placed a lot of emphasis on yoga beyond the physical component, and learning about yoga as a system and the history and philosophy behind it was intriguing and inspiring. Of course we learned some pretty bad-ass asana poses too! I felt I was exactly where I was supposed to be, the course complimented and expanded upon my previous learnings perfectly.
It was also an amazing journey into my feminine side given the ratio of females to males was 26:2! All the teachers and students were amazing and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of souls to share the journey with. I learned and shared so much with them and I’m forever grateful for what was a life-changing experience.
Santosha means contentment and that’s exactly how I felt upon completing the course.
Life takes some beautiful and unexpected twists, ride the rhythms of Mother Nature with no resistance and see where she takes you – turns out I’m a yoga teacher now! I didn’t go into the course with the intention of becoming a teacher, however throughout the course I really began to enjoy teaching and sharing yoga.
At our graduation ceremony we were asked to set an intention relating to our training and I found myself saying that my intention is to help and inspire others, build community and create a better society.
To dissolve fear and embrace love, and help connect people to their true selves. I sat with this intention as I offered it to the universe, felt the beauty and the weight of it, and cried deep tears of gratitude.
So who knows…perhaps I will pursue a career in yoga! Either way I know it’s going to play a constant and significant role in my life, I’m so drawn to every aspect of the practice.
During my time in Bali I met an amazing astrologist and felt the call to have my birth chart read. This experience was so powerful and nothing short of incredible, talking to her was literally like having a conversation with the universe. The reading provided me with such a deep understanding of so many aspects of my life including love, desire, masculinity, femininity, creativity, balance and communication. The most prolific part of the reading was around the eclipses in August last year which coincided with the major changes in my life. She explained to me that this is the universe aligning me with my true path which is communication and healing, and that I am in perfect flow with the cosmos.
I thought back to all the change during that period and me feeling so lost and confused and realised it was all part of this bigger picture that I’m painting.
I’ve encountered so many opportunities and teachers to guide me in this new direction which I believe is divine intervention. Knowing that the universe has my back in this time of uncertainty is reassuring. Whilst I fully trust in this journey, it’s nice to know I’m connected to and part of something far grander than myself. I even got the heart (anahata) and throat (vishuddha) chakras tattooed on my chest to symbolise and remind myself of this significant transition in my life mission.
During this transitional phase I began to question who and what I actually am. To dig below the surface layer and look at patterns and behaviours that were hindering what I wanted to achieve, and what was driving them. This led me to explore and engage in a range of therapies including core belief therapy, kinesiology and inner child healing, to peel back the layers that were suppressing my true self.
As Rumi says “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it”.
The various therapies and their results have been amazing. Through this work I was able to identify my limiting beliefs and fears that were repeatedly manifesting the same situations in my life. Not only did I derive these limiting beliefs and fears, but I was able to start releasing them and allow my true self to begin to emerge. It’s a process I’m still working through, and it will likely be a lifelong journey rather than a destination to arrive at, which is exciting.
Even at these early stages it feels like I’ve made some true change from within, and as a result my actions and behaviours are now transitioning effortlessly to be aligned with my vision of how I want to experience life.
Targeting and shining awareness on the causes rather than trying to treat the symptoms has been the key. Pretty powerful stuff that I’d recommend exploring to anyone who is feeling the call to do this work.
I’ve made a conscious effort to reconnect with mother nature on many levels. This has involved more surfing, hiking and just being outdoors and connecting to the source that sustains us as much as possible. It also involved deep and intense work with plant medicine. Emotional trauma and cellular memory don’t stand a chance if you can muster up the courage and strength to face the darkest secrets you keep from yourself, not to mention the way it rewires your neural pathways to break patterns and addictive behaviours that aren’t serving you.
Serendipitously, an opportunity to partake in a Vedic mediation course arose. I instantly fell in love with the mantra-based practice, the way it grounds you down below the surface layers, out of thought and into deeper states of being. I began to revel in the calming of my nervous system and release of deep-rooted stress and negative emotions I didn’t even realise were plaguing me. The practice has also led to greater clarity and focus, and increased creativity and ideas which are beginning to flourish.
I know this new tool of self-inquiry and exploration is going to be revolutionary, it already has been and I’m only experiencing the tip of the iceberg.
With sustained practice the benefits are greatly amplified and broadened, as newfound states of consciousness and perceptions of what we truly are begin to emerge.
Whilst the methods of self-inquisition I’d previously engaged in involved external facilitation, Vedic meditation is self-facilitated which is extremely empowering. It has brought everything into alignment for me an and allowed me to transcend thought and connect to my deeper self effortlessly and independently, which I’m very grateful for.
Next up – India has been calling for a while now, I don’t know exactly why but I decided to honour the invitation to the wild and sacred land. I’m sure it’s going to be pretty mind-blowing!
I’m not saying I have the answers or things are always easy… that I know where I’m heading. I’ve been craving a home base for a while now, my desire to ground and plant roots is growing stronger. I know that time will come soon though and in the meantime I’m enjoying my freedom and the journey into the unknown – and damn it feels good to be alive! Whilst it’s liberating at times it can be unsettling as questions such as “what am I doing with my life?” and “where am I heading?” arise. Do I sometimes feel guilty for so much self-indulgence? Yes.
But I also know that real change comes from within, and my best chance of creating the change I want to see in the world and serving others starts with myself. So I just take some deep breaths and trust in universal flow, and I remember that we truly are the creators of our own reality and can attract our greatest desires.
Life is a movie and we are the directors, so we might as well make it awesome!
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Thank you so much Greg for sharing your words of wisdom and your experiences with following your heart and own innate wisdom. We can’t wait to see where the journey takes you next… we know it will be somewhere special.
If you feel the calling to begin your own journey visit our Level 1 RYT-200 Yoga Teacher training page and start the first step along your new path today.
We can’t wait to share the journey with you
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