Please read Part 1 from last Monday before you read this.
So there’s discipline and there’s focus and there’s goals.
And then there’s expectations.
The difference is similar, I believe, to the difference between motivation and inspiration. It can be subtle. It’s energetic. But so so important.
A wise teacher once told me, “Motivation the ability to force yourself to act. Inspiration is the impulse to act.”
To be “inspired” means, quite literally, to be “in spirit,” or “with your spirit.”
So when you are inspired, you are “in the flow.” Life flows through you and for you. Things don’t happen “to” you, things happen “for” you.
I used to live my live fueled mostly by motivation, and girl, that ain’t no way to live.
You’d never have known by looking at my resume. I had “it all.” The degrees, the accolades, the Ivy Leagues—you name it! It was “mine.” What was missing?
Joy. Love. Grace. Freedom. Inspiration.
My mind was checking everything off my list—one by one, my body was aching with pain from this or that ailment or illness, and my Spirit was suffocating. Even my relationship with my partner at the time reflected this stagnant energy.
Then one day it all came to a screeching halt. What opened my eyes? My yoga practice.
As I breathed in and breathed out, moved through the poses passed down for over 5 centuries, and began to let go, my Spirit began to speak—and once it began, there was no stoppin’ it Sister.
Things began to fall away naturally—toxic things that didn’t belong in my life and weren’t serving me. Friendships that had long ended moved on and new friendships brimming with joy and love and promise began. Clothes found their way into bags to be given to charity. Various “things” in my home that weren’t me and cluttered my mind and my life found other homes. Even my body changed—effortlessly and quickly.
With every single practice, I became lighter–body and mind–and I began to feel joy and peace. Peace! I had had no idea what this was at the time. No idea.
Back in the day, I recall my therapist asked me to visualize a place that I felt “peaceful,” and this caused me even more anxiety as I attempted to figure out what she “wanted” me to say, because I had no idea what that would be or even look like. Let’s just say peace wasn’t my every step—or any of my steps. 
I was a “doer,” and do I did; however, peace and joy were not part of the package.
So yes, I was “motivated”—motivated by fear, really. Fear of not being enough. Motivated by EXPECTATIONS. Of others, yes, but more importantly, my own. Fear of the anxiety that would pervade me if I weren’t always doing something, achieving something, moving “forward”—whatever that meant.
But now, after committing to a regular yoga practice, I have found inspiration and let go of expectations. And this is a whole different way to live, thank The Universe.
Being inspired means following your intuition—what feels right? Instead of being glued to that list of things to do and EXPECTING to get them done, listening to what your heart wants to do right now. This takes courage. And your yoga practice will give you the courage.
By breathing away fear on your mat regularly, you open up/create the space for anything that you want. You create the potential—your pure potential—which has always been there…it’s just been hiding behind fear.
“Motivation,” admired by so many, is actually fueled by fear. So yes, you’ll “go far” fueled by motivation; but only so far, and there will be relatively little joy and peace, if any.
Inspiration, on the other hand, is the gateway to pure potentiality. You can literally be, do, and have anything that you want. If you follow your Spirit, follow your heart, and believe.
So when people ask me, “How do you DO all that you do with 5 kids?” I tell them that it’s easy, if I do my daily yoga practice and live by these 11 words: Only do what your Spirit loves and let go of expectations.
Because when you only do what your Spirit loves, you are inspired (in-spirit), and your main vibration is joy and appreciation—and from there, anything and everything is possible, the “pressure of time” slips away, everything lines up easily, you are always at the right place at the right time meeting the right people and being offered the right opportunities, and everything feels and is easy.
Why? Because it’s all about vibration, Sisters. What you put out comes back to you—always. This is The Law of Attraction.
If what I’m saying is resonating with you but you just don’t know how to get started on this path, write the following quotes on note cards and read them daily:
*Only do what your Spirit loves.
*Have faith.
*Breathe.
*Try easy. Everything is easy for me.
*Respect your path.
*If you weren’t afraid, what would you do?
*Hold your vision. See it! And trust the process.
*My main vibration is appreciation.
*To avoid criticism: say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.
*Think out of the box.
*Relax and let the Law of Attraction do the organization, the managing, and then you spend your time doing the things that please you.
*I’m creating the essence of whatever I’m thinking.
*Focus: where will you expend your energy, time, and talent?
*Being overwhelmed is about you not being up to speed with what you told the Universe that you want.
*Clear your aura. Simplify.
*Paddle downstream.
*At the moment of commitment, The Universe conspires to assist you.
*It should be easy and flow. It should flow beautifully and easily.
*Relax and have fun.
*My job is to relax, appreciate and enjoy.