Have you ever experienced a moment when you have been met by someone who has been totally present with you? They see you for who you are, they see your beautiful, adorable qualities. They see your absolute potential and hold you in that.
This indeed is a beautiful feeling. We know love and we know when we feel it.
S E L F – L O V E
What then happens when we add the word SELF to the word LOVE? Is it . . . .
Selfish?
Self-obsessed?
Self-absorbed?
Self-love is meeting ourselves, totally being present with ourselves. It’s a body and mind thing. When we keep our presence with our body, keeping our mind together and focused on what we are doing, we get to become aware of so much more. We get to feel how delicate we are, how sensitive we are and how much we are feeling. In that state of presence we know how to take care of ourselves to the nth degree – a level of care that leaves us feeling very aware, present, open, still, joyful and ready for anything.
Our body very quickly tells us when we step away from the way it is designed to be treated. It knows love inside and out. The question is, are we present enough to listen and act on what we have received?
Esoteric Yoga is a sequence of movements designed specifically for us to explore being present with ourselves again. We observe the effects of a restless mind, its endless distractions, lies and stories that it feeds and very cleverly convinces us of. We learn how to settle the body and the mind through focus, presence and a level of connection with our body. We come to understand that we have a body and a being, an energetic state of being that is equally important to know and take care of. We learn how to look after this incredible body of ours in a way that is self-loving.
Whenever we are met by someone who has been totally present with us, what we are feeling is the way they are with themselves. For how we are with others is only ever a reflection of the care and love we have for ourselves. How could that ever be called selfish? That’s what I would describe as inspiring!
Author: Vicky Geary
Photographer: Dean Whitling