On the field of dharma

I’ve been inspired to write about dharma and destiny this month, as I prepare for my Bhagavad Gita workshop coming up this Saturday.

Dharma is a key theme in the Bhagavad Gita and is one of the great, cosmic laws that upholds the universe. Dharma literally means to support. It can interpreted in many ways but is often considered to mean one’s purpose, one’s duty in the world.

Dharma and destiny are magical words that can feel a world away from the mundane, stressful, challenging experience of life that so many of us know. But if we can understand what dharma means and really claim it in our own life, it can bring back some of that magic and help us to have a more charmed, purposeful experience.

I shared a story on my Instagram this morning of my experience seeing Fleetwood Mac this weekend, who just so happen to be one of my favourite bands in the world ever. At the end of the show, after the band had taken their final bow and left the stage, Mick Fleetwood took centre stage and told us how grateful he was that he was able to do this for a living, to do what he loved.

For the members of Fleetwood Mac, it’s in their dharma to inspire others through their timeless music and songs.

But there was someone else who touched my life that night – the charming steward who danced and smiled and charmed everyone around him. That was his dharma. To serve others, to ensure we had a good experience and to lift us all up.

Both are valid. Both are equally important.

In our fame-obsessed culture, it can be easy to believe that if our life isn’t played out on the stage in front of millions, that if we aren’t known or hugely successful then what we do isn’t really that important. The trouble is that social media can have us in a near-constant state of comparison, and if we’re not careful, feeling ‘not good enough’.

There have been times where I have felt that, because I don’t have tens of thousands of followers on Instagram, that I’m somehow not good enough, that I’m not trying hard enough, that I’m not supposed to be do this.

We live in a world where it's so often a numbers-game. How many people like you, how many people follow you, how many people buy from you are valued above the quality of the contribution that you make in the world.

I have come to realise that whilst it is in my dharma to teach, to serve, to help others, it’s probably not in my dharma to be an international Instagram yoga star. I've had to make peace with that.

My job, my dharma, is to teach what I know. I must teach from my heart to those around me, share all the ways that yoga has helped me through the thick and thin in the hopes that it will touch the heart of someone who needs it. And that is enough.

Many people feel out of touch from their dharma or play it down because it might not be trendy or cool or flashy enough. If you are ever in doubt why exactly you are here or what your dharma is, look to the things that light you up. Look to what brings you the most joy. The things that you love to do that almost don't feel like work. And then look to how that serves and helps others.

There are no spare players, no spare parts. All of us are here for a reason.

The reality is that most of us aren’t meant to live our life out on the stage. Most of us are here to ‘shake the world in a gentle way’. We’re here to touch the lives of the people in our more immediate communities and make a difference on a smaller scale.

As I always try to remind myself when I feel insignificant or small or not good enough, if my work touches just one person and makes a positive impact in their life, well then, I’m living out my dharma exactly the way it should be.

If you find yourself in a moment of self-doubt, then I offer you this from the Bhagavad Gita...

'It is better to do your own dharma even imperfectly, than someone else’s dharma perfectly.’

I have this written up on my desk and refer to it often, because it's so important.

If we can all embrace our own dharma, fully claim it and nurture it and share it with those around us, we will change the world.

Because here is what happens when we compare ourselves to others and doubt our gifts, talents and abilities:

We close in and we seize up.

We shut our eyes and ears to the magic around us.

And worst of all, it blocks our inbuilt creativity so we are unable to share our beautiful gifts and fulfil our unique dharma.

The world doesn't need people who doubt themselves. You are here to share your dharma. You are here to live out your journey. You are here to share your unique gifts and talents with the world.

Just like in the Gita, on the great battlefield of life we play out our own dharma. We make our way in the world. We fall down, we get back up and we are held by a force far, far greater than ourselves.

We touch the lives of those around us – be it in the millions, the hundreds or a handful. We all have our part to play. We all have our place on the stage.

So then, in the words of Fleetwood Mac, play on.