The end of hate

Do you ever find that some changes, even some pretty dramatic ones, kind of creep up on you? That seems to happen a lot to me the more I practice Yoga and meditation.

Twisted plant

And yes, I am a lot more flexible, I can do poses that a few years ago I would have thought impossible, but the biggest changes, the important and most rewarding ones are totally internal.

The other day  I was having a conversation with a friend about how Yoga and meditation had totally changed my worldview. And while I was describing some of the changes, I realised something I hadn’t quite verbalised, not even internally, yet: I seem to have lost the ability to hate.

I used to be a very angry person. There was an awful lot of “me” (or “us”) vs “them” going on in my head. And there definitely were very clear distinctions in my head between “the good guys” and “the bad guys”.

I don’t really have that sort of stuff going on in my head anymore, and it feels pretty amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I do get annoyed, irritated and grumpy about behaviours. I also get upset when people act in ways that I believe negatively affect other people, animals, or the environment – but I cannot recall feeling a sense of hate, or a sense that I am better than someone else, regardless of what they do.

What meditation has done for me is make me very aware of how interconnected we all are and how we ALL hold the potential for the full spectrum of human behaviour, from the serial killer to the saint.

The way I see it, we are all like waves in an ocean. Individual for our wave lifespan, but inextricably part of the same ocean, and therefore, in very real terms, all have the same potential.

These practices have also made me realise that it is up to me to try and change the world as much as it is up to everyone else and that the change has to start from the inside. Transforming myself and hopefully triggering a positive ripple effect.

For all of this, I am infinitely thankful. And I truly hope that, through teaching  Yoga,  I can help spread this kind of positive change.

Comments are closed.