50 Ways to Connect to Your Life’s Dharma

Yoga philosophy tells us that we each have a specific purpose for being here on earth. It is our destiny to fulfill that purpose. When working with my students and clients, I am often asked, “how do I know if this is really my path?” It’s as if we are afraid of failing, of not getting it. We don’t want to encounter the disappointment, feel the failure, the pain, the suffering. However, these experiences are part of life. It is through all life experiences that we connect to our path. The truth is simple but difficult.

You are connected to your path if you experience peace, joy, love, and belonging. If you experience agitation, depression, apathy, and disconnect, you have stepped off your path. Simple, because we need to start listening to ourselves. We need to stop thinking and start feeling. It is difficult because it is easier said than done. For many of us, our patterns are deeply ingrained. It is possible, though, to begin listening to our heart’s whisper…to stop listening to everyone around us and begin to trust that everything we need to know comes from within.

50 ways to connect you to your life’s dharma:

1. Spend time in nature
2. Take a cooking class
3. Collaborate with a friend on a joint venture
4. Start a blog
5. Practice yoga (or any other activity that moves your body)
6. Spend time with seniors at an assisted living facility
7. Read a book on a subject that fascinates you (one a week/month)
8. Save $50.00 per week
9. Take an art class
10. Find a teacher/mentor you can learn from
11. Learn a new language
12. Meditate
13. Adopt a pet
14. Make your own cleaning products
15. Stand up for yourself
16. Forgive
17. Create sacred space in your home to recharge
18. Take action, daily
19. Write a book
20. Learn about the chakras
21. Join a choir
22. Mentor through the Boys & Girls Club
23. Plant a garden
24. Have weekly conversations with people that inspire you (I love Skype & in person time!)
25. Become a parent
26. Teach others on subjects that you are passionate about
27. Take one day, every week, to rest and play
28. Read autobiographies on your favorite heroes
29. Take a yoga teacher training
30. Design a play
31. Open an Etsy shop
32. Invest in Photoshop and experiment
33. Join an online community of like-minded friends
34. Study your favorite spiritual scriptures
35. Perform random acts of kindness
36. Learn from your past
37. Stop running to meet your future
38. Celebrate The Arts (Enjoy the symphony, spend the day at your local museum)
39. Simplify
40. Reconnect to the things you loved to do in your childhood
41. Take an e-course on something that interests you
42. Speak at local groups and schools on subjects that light you up
43. Take something apart and learn how it works
44. Make your own bath products
45. Travel to places that intrigue you
46. Keep a daily journal
47. Begin a new hobby, like photography
48. Design an e-course on your favorite subject
49. Take the Myers-Briggs personality test
50. Be yourself

Namaste’,