I wrote these words when Fabrice, my young nephew, wasn’t too well
it could have been you or me, perhaps they will resonate with you too
confidence
when you are in touch with yourself you can feel something deep and quiet in which you can settle. You can give this several names: depending on how you look at it, it may be called confidence, trust, faith, etc. A sense of core confidence comes from staying within, like the dot in the middle of a circle. With such a focus, you feel all right, because things are in place, unlike when the dot isn’t in the middle of the circle. You can then stand in your power, so you can best be or express yourself or meet a challenge. When you trust someone, a connection is made between your centre and theirs and what you call trust is this sense of flow you can feel between both of you. Similarly when you trust something, there will again be a sense of flow between you and that thing. Sometimes you can feel that you are part of something bigger than yourself, like the world, life or a higher force and this sense of belonging is called faith
a movement of the heart
faith is a feeling and not a thought, a belief or anything imposed on you. It is natural to all human beings and it cannot be taken away from you. This feeling can be vague or clear, discreet or strong, in any case it is something that belongs to you and to no one else. Faith is not rational, so you cannot assess, justify or judge it with your rational mind, no scientific evidence can be given of it. This feeling is something you can perceive in your heart with the help of your senses, it is very private and intimate. Faith feels like there is space inside your heart and also a slight outwards movement from you heart. This movement is nearly imperceptible, just like when a seed soaks in water before sprouting. This shows that you are moved by something, and because you are rooted within yourself, you are open and ready and you feel strong enough to say yes to this thing
faith cannot get lost
faith can be dormant, it can be ignored, neglected or rejected, but it cannot disappear completely. Faith is part of our being human, as it is the way consciousness manifests in us. Faith is as essential to being alive as breath. As long as you live in your human shape, breath and faith are there together. Faith is part of your being, whether you want it or not, whether you are aware of it or not. When you start doubting or when you become cynical and disregard the feeling in your heart, you are actually running away from yourself. Changing your perspective and turning inwards to return to your centre will help you regain your confidence
enthusiasm
it is a powerful force and a strong incentive to action. Its roots lie in the core of your heart. Enthusiasm is like the sprout emerging from the water soaked seed, the first visible sign of the process starting with germination and ending with the full development of the mature plant, which releases a new generation of seeds. Enthusiasm is a desire which arises spontaneously when you are rooted in self-confidence and look at something you are interested in. It will prompt you to action even when the goal seems beyond reach. It gives you the strength of ten and the unshakable determination to meet your goal. Based on inner strength, enthusiasm is inviting, contagious and can rally other people’s energy to your cause. It only weakens when you get overwhelmed and lose track of yourself. Enthusiasm feeds from the inexhaustible source in your heart called faith. Without this connection, you lose motivation and interest in anything, you feel sad, depressed and cannot find any beauty or meaning in life. When this happens, you are thirsty and what you urgently need is to tap into the source to quench your thirst. Come back to yourself and you will come back to life
faith can move mountains
you manifest what you believe in, this is a law of nature. As fear generates fear, trust generates trust and peace generates peace, etc. There are no limits to what you can realise in this world other than the limitations of your mind. Your consciousness instead is limitless. Faith is the language of your consciousness. As long as you are in tune with yourself and pay attention to what it suggests, you can achieve virtually anything you wish. That is why one says that faith can move mountains. The trouble is that faith is often rather weak or hesitant or fluctuating. It takes an immense faith to move a mountain, as huge as the mountain itself. Yet when you lack faith you make a mountain out of a molehill, which shows your horizon to be narrowed. In fact the more you trust, the more you achieve and the more you achieve, the more your trust. This is called a virtuous circle. And as faith can grow indefinitely, all it takes is to start with a small seed and water it carefully, until something happens. Something will inevitably happen. Start with small things you can handle easily, and step by step build up you confidence, so that you can become who you really are
Thank you for your insights. It is so good to be connected to you via email, even if I find it difficult to attend your workshops. Hopefully in the future I would like to see you again. ️Regards Celeste
Thank you for wise words. Inspiring but also a reminder that in this busy world we can easily be distracted and feel disconnected from our self. That is the beauty of yoga, it gives us many ways to reconnect to the flow.
I look forward to the next workshop for more of your inspiring teachings
Thank you Sylviane, very relevant as usual. I will keep a copy of those words and will come back to them when “the ground wobbles”!
See you very soon.
Very touching words. Made me reflect and I too will keep a copy to turn too when I need to ground myself.
Hope to see you in autumn in London. Trust your nephew has recovered.
Dear Sylviane, you always bring it to the point – literally.
Thank you for sending out a reminder of how much easier life can be by simply being more in touch with ourselves and not only with the outside world.
I look forward to seeing you in November.
from Marianne
Deine Texte sind wie Pflanzen mit Samenkapseln, die noch nicht ganz ausgereift sind. Ich lese und bin still und lasse deine Worte wirken und leihe ihnen Ohr und Herz. Da entsteht Wärme, dadurch reifen die Kapseln. Unerwartet springen sie auf und schenken mir ihre Samenkörner, aus denen in mir Neues erwächst, was du nicht mehr in der Hand hast – du hast es mir geschenkt, indem du die Pflanze gehegt und gepflegt hast. Du lässt Sonne, Wind und Erde, Tage und Nächte ihre Arbeit tun. Ich komme entgegen mit Zeit, Stille und klingendem Warten. Glück, Sinn, Erfüllung, Liebe entsteht.
Danke für deine grosse Liebe für Fabrice, danke dir, Fabrice für das Durchstehen der schwierigen Zeit, die der Grund für Sylviane’s Brief ist, den wir auch erhalten haben.
Alles hängt zusammen, alle sind miteinander verbunden. So viel Kraft!