Absolute Love!
February ushers in thoughts of valentines, hearts and all of the concepts that we have woven together in the pursuit of living and understanding Love. For our practice at Yoga on the Beach this month we have chosen to focus on Absolute Love. It is a broad subject and an infinite path for us to journey on during this shortest month of the year. So, let’s dig in, get really sweaty and dirty uncovering what limits our love, while we uncover the sweetness and bliss of Absolute Love.
So why did we choose the element of absolute with love you may ask? It certainly did give us some moments of pondering ourselves, as we tossed around ideas for the theme this month. First off, we wanted to lead with something strong and powerful as opposed to a negative that comes with words like unfettered or unconditional. Those words begin to lead us away from being bound or conditioned but leave many of us stuck not knowing what to BE or do.
Absolute, by definition, represents complete, outright and pure, without being diminished in any way. When we connect absolute to love it gives us the opportunity to take a look at all the ways we may diminish love, whether we are feeling it, living it, expressing it or caring from it. What a remarkable concept! Combining the essence of “pure” or “complete” with love, as we journey this month, observing how we may do less than that when in acts of loving, is the practice.
Does this mean we MUST love everything? Absolutely not! It does mean that when we are faced with anything that defies our values, that we take a moment to look at how to be kind, do no harm, be open to explore possibilities and continue to move in the direction of our values. Be loving, set boundaries, act kindly and still be able to say no can be born from Absolute Love. Redefine your understanding of love and then allow your actions, through your intentions, to manifest from absolute love, including your boundaries.
Love on the other hand has so many definitions, many mixed with attachments, conditions, limitations and sexual drive, leading the masses into confusion and often in a state of suffering. Here are some of the definitions I found:
o To hold dear
o strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties
o unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another
o the object of attachment, devotion, or admiration
o attraction based on sexual desire: affection and tenderness felt by lovers
o inspired by affection
Can you see that even in the definitions there is the implications of conditions or attachment?
Now, let’s put those two energies together, the complete and outright nature of Absolute with the affection of Love. Freely explore the pure essence of love without the “other” that has been implied or attached.
Take some time this month to explore how YOU define love and what expectations you hold around the way you feel or show love. Can you feel the benevolent feeling freely?
What if we spend this month unraveling the attachment and conditions we have tethered to love? Let’s notice when we are limiting our loving spirit, that sense of lightness that pervades every cell in us helping us to feel uplifted and choose to free ourselves from the limitation.
It’s a path. Begin where you are with this. Shed gently. Love deeper.
Most of us will not succeed at living 100% from Absolute Love, however we can set our course and root ourselves in the intention of expanding our love (not diminishing it.)