Journey Into Power

Book number 1: Journey Into Power: How to Sculpt Your Ideal Body, Free Your True Self, and Transform Your Life with Yoga written by Baron Baptiste. I'm not gonna lie, I judge books by their covers, which is maybe why I have a hard time reading them. I almost never read current novels. My mom was a book editor in New York City for a long time and so I typically go off of her suggestions... which are always the classics. Classics are hard to disagree with, they are amazing, and if you didn't like it, you at least read the whole thing and have something to say about it. When I bought Journey Into Power, I wasn't that excited to read it. It's hard cover, looks like a textbook, and has a dude in Crow Pose on the cover looking way too serious. Also the title... I'll keep my opinion to myself. This book was recommended to me by another yogi, and I figured "why not, i'll see what it's all about." The truth about this book? It's good. Aside from being direct, it's easy to read... literally, anybody could read this book, but I suppose that's why I like it. It's pretty preachy, but Baptiste knows what he is talking about, and he is clearly a very inspired person and best of all, he gets it. Whatever path you are taking to resolve your struggles and get on a better path, there is something for everybody in this book.

In the first chapter of this book he has a section titled "The Power of Yoga to Rewire Our Minds." Yoga teaches us to be fearless, to not dwell on those things that are preventing us from moving forward, to soften our reaction time, so many things that we are capable of on our mats, but once we are faced with the reality of every day life, all of a sudden our yoga goes out the door. There is a lot of bullshit every day that we can choose to be a part of or not. I believe the universe is constantly challenging us. Today for example, I met up with a friend who ran into somebody who I recently had a falling out with and the very talk of this person made me angry. It's amazing, we have people in our lives that bring out the worst in us, we think awful things, but we have the choice to react a certain way.  We are constantly being given the opportunity to choose. We do not always choose wisely, but it is there. Somebody doesn't "like" your Facebook status, and the first thought is, "what the hell is their problem?" Honestly, does it matter? The choice is there as to what kind of energy you give it.

Baptiste says, "This yoga is the ultimate laboratory for awakening. Your yoga mat is a place to invite in stress and meet it head-on, to rewire your mind on a daily basis. All the ingredients you need are there: the challenges, the resistance, the doubts, the frustrations, the fears, the possibilities. You challenge yourself on a physical level, and the mental resistances rush right up to the surface. At those moments, you have a choice: You can either break down or break through."

Gotta love the power of positive thinking...