Today I’m going to share with you 5 yoga practices for overcoming doubt. Do you ever doubt the choices you’ve made in life? I’ve been feeling stuck and doubting my career and life choices for 5 years (probably way longer than that). The yoga practices I’m sharing with you are all directly from the ancient yoga texts and none of them are yoga poses. Yoga is more than just the poses!
It’s challenging to show up as mom and also show up fully at work. It’s even more challenging to show up for your work when you work for yourself. Working for yourself requires intense discipline and structure and I’ve always struggled to cultivate these habits consistently.
I’ve known I wanted to be a writer since I was in first grade. I knew I was going to major in journalism in college when I was a sophomore in high school. And when I learned that I didn’t like reporting all that much, I quickly pivoted to work in marketing and public relations when I graduated college. When I know what I want, I do it. It’s not that I have a hard time deciding what I want, it’s that what I want sometimes seems to be in direct opposition to each other.
Becoming a mom has always been a “given.” Perhaps I should have examined that more, but it’s always felt like the natural trajectory of my life. I remember the moment I knew I loved my high school boyfriend (now husband). It was when I realized he would make an incredible dad to our future kids. It’s like I’ve always been hardwired to be a mother.
It’s just that I have other passions too.
I struggle to balance my natural instinct to be a mother with my desire to show up in the world to write and teach yoga. I’ve heard some of my yoga teachers suggest that the householder’s yoga practice is tending to the house. While I can’t say I’ve ever fully gone all-in on this advice I can say that stay-at-home, full-time mothering drives me insane! I need an outlet for my creative ambition and a break from kid-mode during the day. But I also feel guilt and shame for not enjoying the role of stay-at-home mom. There’s a disconnect between “mother” being a natural part of my life and my desire to hand off the details to someone else.
On the work front I feel like a total failure. Nothing has quite worked out the way I intended, making me feel like I’m spending fruitless hours toiling away at nothing when I could at least be spending quality time with my kids.
Have you ever felt this way?
These existential thoughts plague me every day. One day I’m ready to throw in the towel and give up teaching yoga and the next day I’m back to uploading YouTube videos. One day I’m tearing my hair out with the kids and the next day I’m convincing myself that being at home all day with the kids wouldn’t be that bad.
Remember your work matters
When I started teaching yoga online in 20212 I created an email folder where I saved all the feedback I received from students. I recently went back and read some of that feedback, which reminded me that what I offer is valuable and that people do get a lot out of my teaching—even though sometimes it feels like I’m teaching to the void. I’ve saved 66 emails since 2014. Most of the students have expressed how excited they are to receive my newsletters (who is excited to receive a newsletter!?) and how much they enjoy reading what I write. And then there is the one student who recently shared that she prints out my emails and keeps them in a binder so she can re-read them later on. That is dedication! Messages like these remind me that I can’t stop this work. It’s too valuable even though it sometimes feels like no one is reading/listening/watching/practicing.
In these moments when I’m doubting what I should do next or how I can best fulfill my life’s purpose I turn to my yoga practice. Here are five yoga practices for overcoming doubt, confusion, and indecision. Sometimes the path to overcoming what ails us requires a willingness to work through/with it.
5 yoga practices for overcoming doubt
Contentment
When it feels like everything is spiraling out of control, you can always come back to contentment. Contentment is the first Niyama in the Yoga Sutra and I almost named my social media company after its Sanskrit name: Santosha Social. (Kinda catchy, right? I went with The Social Shoppe instead.)
When you’re feeling down, ask yourself: Am I content? I’ve found that it is better to seek contentment than happiness because it’s easier to be content while also experiencing other emotions at the same time. Contentment offers a larger container for you to be everything all at once. Contentment and gratitude are connected. You can use a simple gratitude practice to remind yourself what you do have.
Here are a few ideas for affirmations that you can repeat to yourself throughout the day to help you connect with contentment.
Steadiness
Yoga Sutras 1.12-1.14 state:
1.12: You can achieve the state of mind called yoga through practice and detachment.
1.13: Practice means applying continuous effort toward steadying the mind.
1.14: Steadiness of mind is achieved when one practices for a long time, consistently, without interruption, and with sincere devotion.
The principle of steadiness shows up in your daily life through your ability to commit to routines and consistency. Steadiness helps you reclaim balance. When life feels all over the place, it’s time to get grounded. Recommit to your daily routines (or establish some) and exercise discipline to stick with them. These routines could include working out, eating well, or showing up to do what you say you’re going to do. They could also include morning or bedtime routines, dinner routines, or getting your kids on a daily routine that causes less stress during the most stressful times of the day (that would be dinner at our house). Routines provide a steady and consistent state. When you can rely on a foundation of steadiness you will discovery more freedom in your life and cultivate more joy.
Meditation
Meditation is the OG yoga practice. All of the ancient yoga texts refer to meditation when they reference the practice of yoga. The practice of meditation has been such a rock for me. It allows me to come back to myself in a way that no other practice does. If you mind goes all over the place and drives you insane, it’s time to try some meditation. Don’t get hung up on the “I can’t meditate” belief. Not every meditation session will be perfect. You might not be “good” at it in the beginning, but that’s what practice is for—to grow and get better. In those fleeting moments—and they really are fleeting—when you connect to you deepest sense of Self and your own divinity shines forth, that sensation and recognition is all the motivation you will need to keep going. To keep showing up as your best self, even when everything else feels like it’s spiraling out of control, you need a practice like meditation to get you centered. The great thing about meditation is there are lots of different techniques to suit your individual preferences. Sign up to receive my free 5-minute mantra meditation below to start practicing today!
Let go
This may be my hardest lesson to learn in all of yoga life. Letting go of the things that bother you is not easy, but I’ve come to recognize that when something feels like it’s pulling me down or holding me back, it’s best to just let it go. The irony of yoga is that all of the practice and techniques only work for a little while; at a certain point, you have to give it all up in order to experience true freedom. Yoga Sutra 2.45 states:
2.45: When you dedicate your life to Surrender and devotion to God, you will master samadhi.
If you let go of the religious connotations for a moment (there you go, letting go already!), then this sutra really just asks you to trust that everything will work out in the end. It’s not worth holding on to all your little worries throughout the day. Give them up to the universe to worry for you.
Because surrender is a more subtle concept—it’s not like you can just take your thoughts and throw them out in the garbage—I have actual conversations in my head telling myself, “Just let it go, Ashley.” Sometimes I even visualize whatever it is that’s annoying me dissolving into thin air. I can’t say that it works every time, but it’s a start. You can also write down everything that’s causing you stress and then tear it up and physically throw it out or burn it (safely, and preferably outside).
Trust yourself
I tend to doubt my inner knowing, yet it’s proven me right over and over again these past few years. I’m learning how to lean into my intuition and give it just as much credit as my more developed, rational brain. Often my intuitive voice scares me because it tells me to go against the grain or do something that feels uncomfortable. Now I know that when these feelings of discomfort or fear crop up, it’s time to listen.
Part of the practice of trusting yourself relies on your ability to let go. If you can let go of the little things and trust that the universe will figure everything out, you can start to trust yourself too. You are, in fact, a part of that universe that all works out in the end. In those moments when you feel that little twinge of discomfort cropping up in your mind or your body, pause and notice. Ask yourself where it’s coming from. Keep an open mind and stay curious. Don’t be so quick to discount those thoughts that scare you or seem to be the “unpopular” choice. Trust yourself and find courage to take the actions that will help you live the life you want to live, not the life someone else wants for you.
All of these concepts and principle show up prominently in the ancient yoga texts like the Yoga Sutra, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Upanishads. These ideas are foundational to living a yogic lifestyle. Because yoga is more than just the poses, it’s important to integrate these practices into your daily life just as much as you practice poses on the mat.
What are some of your favorite ways to overcome your doubts?
