Feeling vs knowing

Living with the knowledge of something versus living with the feeling of something.

This can be seen in many different places, and in many different forms. I experienced it in relationships, and in yoga recently.

            When I first started learning about yoga and yoga philosophies, I tried to read as much as I can, take notes, and learn the terms. I was learning with my mind. I was acquiring knowledge about yoga. However, as time passed I came to realize that it is not the same thing as feeling it from within… It is like the difference between something you hear that happened to someone, and something happening to you, you personally experiencing it. When you personally experience the mula bandha, when you personally experience the energy lifting you up, the lightness of your legs in sirsasana (headstand), then it is totally different than someone telling you how it feels.

            Yoga is like that… Until you experience it yourself, you are more skeptical about the written words in a book. You are more skeptical about what is being told to you. Don’t take anyone’s word for it. Go and live, and as you practice regularly, continuously, patiently and persistently, you will experience all those things yourself, one by one. When you see the changes and effects on yourself, and your body, you will see, and believe. That’s feeling from within… Knowing something can only take you so far. When you feel something it grasps you as a whole and feeds you more and more everyday. You never go hungry or thirsty. It gives you what you need. All you need to know reveals yourself in your practice, and it all comes from within. You believe in it, and it reveals more and more to you as you practice.

            They say that yoga is a divine knowledge and it is all within ourselves, and the things we read and hear just remind us what we already know, and wakes up the divine within us. I believe that in relationships we need that kind of a reminder as well. We may know that we are loved by someone, but don’t we need to feel it as well?

Some people are in a relationship knowing that they love the other person, and that the other person loves them. This knowledge is enough for them. However, for some they want to feel the love of the other person on a daily basis. Do you live with the feeling that you love the other person and do you feel that person’s love for you every day? Or do you live with the knowledge that you love that person and you are loved by him/ her? I am one of those who needs to feel that love. I need to feel it on a daily basis, with small gestures, kind words, with a look, a subtle touch, a smile. I want to experience anything that would transmit that love, warmth, or affection of that person to me. Knowing you are loved or that you love someone is not enough. Every relationship is alive. Once you surrender to the relationship, it doesn’t end there.  To keep a relationship, and a loving relationship alive, you need to practice regularly, continuously, patiently, and persistently. Just like the way you practice yoga… You want to and need to feel that love from within. Not just know it with your mind, but actually feel it, and live it by heart and soul.

If you approach things just from your mind, things become a habit; a habitual chain of actions and reactions. It becomes dull, and convenient.  I believe that what keeps things alive is treating every day as a new day. You need to treat every day as a new day, treat every downward facing dog as a new one, treat every opportunity to be with your loved one as a new one. Don’t start seeing things as habit. Realize the newness in everything. Realize the change in every single downward facing dog. Instead of making things a habit, have a fresh intent everytime. In every downward facing dog, pay attention to your hands, arms, your legs. Don’t just come in to the pose due to habit, and fall back to your habits. Instead pay attention, and that’s where your growth lies int. Also in relationships, when you are with a loved one, don’t take that person for granted. Don’t just assume they know you love them. Show them your love, make them feel it. Treat your time with them as a fresh new opportunity, as if you are looking into his/her eyes for the first time and seeing their beauty for the first time, their smile for the first time. And you will see the beauty within them, and you will appreciate them, and will be filled with love, and they feel it too.

Do you live with the knowledge of something and rely on it, or do you live with the feeling of it and experience it? And which one would you prefer?