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	<title>The Dating Optimist &#187; enligten</title>
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	<link>http://thedatingoptimist.com</link>
	<description>a little dose of love and life positivity</description>
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		<title>Take it From a Yoga Guru!</title>
		<link>http://thedatingoptimist.com/theblog/take-it-from-a-yoga-guru/</link>
		<comments>http://thedatingoptimist.com/theblog/take-it-from-a-yoga-guru/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:08:43 +0000</pubDate>
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				<category><![CDATA[At the movies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Optimisms]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[enligten]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yoga]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thedatingoptimist.com/?p=1643</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I wanted to watch a little cable On Demand last night, and this being January—the time of year when we&#8217;re all thinking more than ever about achieving body and mind health—I chose to watch the documentary Enlighten Up! In it, filmmaker Kate Churchill takes on a guinea pig in Nick Rosen, a journalist who is skeptical about [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I wanted to watch a little cable On Demand last night, and this being January—the time of year when we&#8217;re all thinking more than ever about achieving body and mind health—I chose to watch the documentary <em><a href="http://enlightenupthefilm.com/"><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Enlighten Up!</strong></span></a></em><em> </em>In it, filmmaker Kate Churchill takes on a guinea pig in Nick Rosen, a journalist who is skeptical about yoga and curious to learn more. Their quest takes them to India, where they meet one elder Indian guru in particular who I think was called &#8220;the guru of the blissful refuge.&#8221; </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1657" title="IMG_1397_2" src="http://thedatingoptimist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/IMG_1397_2-300x169.jpg" alt="IMG_1397_2" width="300" height="169" /></p>
<p>He looks wise, doesn&#8217;t he? Well, he was. The guru sat on a little velvet couch and answered Nick&#8217;s questions about why we do yoga. My favorite answer from him was this:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;<span style="color: #a00d5c;"><strong>It&#8217;s not important what you are doing. It&#8217;s important </strong></span><em><span style="color: #a00d5c;"><strong>why</strong></span></em><span style="color: #a00d5c;"><strong> you are doing.</strong></span>&#8220;</p></blockquote>
<p>When Nick asked &#8220;What do you mean?&#8221; the guru used an example I loved. Well, go figure, it <em>is</em> about food, after all:</p>
<blockquote><p><span style="color: #333333;">&#8220;You can prepare food for your, just consuming,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You can prepare food for somebody you love. And you can prepare food for your Ishta, Bhagwan. The Lord. So the action will be the same. Physically. </span><em><span style="color: #333333;">But inside it will be different.</span></em><span style="color: #333333;"> And if you are forced to do some cooking for somebody you don&#8217;t like, you will do it! You will cook. But you won&#8217;t enjoy it.&#8221; This, he said, wasn&#8217;t just true of cooking or yoga. It is true of &#8220;a</span><em><span style="color: #333333;">nything</span></em><span style="color: #333333;"> my dear, any </span><em><span style="color: #333333;">anything</span></em><span style="color: #333333;"> absolutely under the sun. Everything depends on you, hangs on you.&#8221;</span></p></blockquote>
<p>That message is so important to your dating optimism and something I write about in <span style="color: #ff6600;"><em><strong><a href="http://meetingyourhalforange.com"><span style="color: #ff6600;">Meeting Your Half-Orange:</span><span style="color: #ff6600;"> </span></a><span style="color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">What&#8217;s important is not that you want to date, </span><span style="color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">but</span> </span><span style="color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">why</span><span style="color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> you want to date. And why </span><span style="color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">do</span><span style="color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> you? </span></strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;"><em><strong><span style="color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Here, I&#8217;ll help you. Why are you dating? To meet someone. And why do you want to meet someone? <em>To be happy.</em> Well, if your goal is to be happy, then stop making yourself miserable and nuts thinking that dating is the only way to get there! Stop forcing yourself to go on a certain number of dates per day or week or making yourself write to people online you don&#8217;t feel like meeting, and stop beating yourself up for still being single.<span style="color: #a00d5c;"><strong> If you&#8217;re seeking a relationship so you can be happy, well then what the heck are you waiting for? Give yourself the gift of being happy </strong></span><em><span style="color: #a00d5c;"><strong>now</strong></span></em><span style="color: #a00d5c;"><strong>.</strong></span></span></strong></em></span></p>
<p>&#8220;Happiness not outside,&#8221; the guru also said. &#8220;It is within us.&#8221; The guru&#8217;s right. So find the happiness within you—which is <em>why</em> you&#8217;re dating in the first place—and start enjoying your life for what it is today. <em>That</em> is where your happiness lies and how your half-orange will come.</p>
<p>You might also like:<br />
<a href="http://thedatingoptimist.com/theblog/take-a-pottery-position-on-dating/"><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Take a Pottery Position on Dating</strong></span></a> </p>
<p>Big love and namaste,</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1650" title="Amy Signature 4" src="http://thedatingoptimist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Amy-Signature-4-150x80.jpg" alt="Amy Signature 4" width="150" height="80" /></p>
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