Re-Examining Your Comfort Zone

We are creatures of comfort. When we feel comfortable, a feeling of security and contentment is engendered. Because we like feeling this way, we spend an inordinate amount of energy trying to stay in that comfort zone and feel threatened when we are pushed out of it as is happening during this time when we are living through a pandemic, with a layer of political and social unrest on top of it all.

Today, I will discuss why we feel so threatened based on the yoga perspective of chakra theory.

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Let me take a few minutes to help you understand what the chakras truly are. The word chakra means ‘wheel’ and each one is an energy vortex that is somewhat of a ‘meeting point’ for the different aspects, the different layers, of our being. Each chakra influences, and is influenced by, the physical, energetic, mental, wisdom and spiritual dimensions of who we are. I want to make it clear that your chakras are all functioning, or ‘open’ despite what you may have heard or read in what I have to refer to as rather new age teachings. No chakra is ‘closed’ or ‘blocked’. The question actually becomes how the chakra is functioning - poorly, normally, or optimally. It’s really a matter of degree – a continuum – and that function slides along the continuum.

As an example, consider your eyes. If your vision is poor, you can’t see well, and especially as a child, you may not even realize there’s a better way to see until someone tests you. Maybe you become aware there is a weakness of vision and you take the action of getting glasses that allow you to see normally and this correction becomes second nature. Now imagine that you could ‘see’ beyond that – to ‘see’ or discriminate more of what is truth. Perhaps realizing that at our core we are all connected and all subject to the same fears and goals. And this level of seeing results in more understanding, compassion and humility. It is at this point that you are seeing optimally!

 

So, it’s not a matter of the chakras being open or closed. It’s a matter of where their function falls along the continuum of darkness to luminosity. In yoga we call this continuum that ‘gunas’ or the qualities of nature.

There are only three gunas but there are various shades emerging from one to the other in the same way as different colors emerge as one overtakes the other. I’ll give a brief primer on the gunas.

Tamas is at the dark end of the spectrum and represents depression, inertia, stuckness. Rajas is in the middle and represents dynamism, movement, ego. And Sattwa is at the other end of the spectrum with balance and luminosity. These gunas are always shifting a bit from one direction to the other depending on our lives – our conditioned behaviors, our associations, our karmas, our lifestyle. But generally speaking, the vast majority of people are mainly tamasic with some rajas. In other words, most of us are acting without much awareness and as a result of how we were raised. But this will vary depending on the chakra discussed because you may be predominantly rajas in a couple and more tamasic in others.

So now coming back to the discussion of the chakras and re-examining our comfort zone, I will explain how these gunas play out for the chakra most associated with our comfort zone – mooladhara. Moola means ‘root’ and ‘adhara’ means foundation. Our need for security, to feel comfort, is primarily held within this root chakra.

 

To as certain extent, the chakras align with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow was a psychologist and a bit of a philosopher who laid out a series of levels that are required for self-actualization. Maslow delineated the most important needs to be met first are those that relate to survival – food, water, warmth, rest, safety, security. In yoga this is also the first level, the first main chakra, the foundation chakra of mooladhara.

It is also the root of fear when these needs aren’t met because this foundation, this root chakra is about security on all levels. It’s about having enough. Having enough food and water to sustain us. Having enough warmth and shelter to protect us from the elements and other possible dangers. Having enough children to pass on our genetic material. And having enough skills to acquire all of this.

And when you don’t feel that you have enough, and for some, there is never enough, fear and anxiety result. But even if you do have enough, do may live in fear of losing it. This is the influence of tamas.

If the energy that infuses mooladhara is tamasic energy, then you live in fear. You believe the world is a dangerous place and may be hypervigilant. You fear those you don’t know those who look different than you do, those that act different. Because of this fear, you avoid exploring anything unfamiliar. You hold tightly to what you have, both the objects you possess as well as the thoughts because to think a different way creates more anxiety. Actions taken are all about me and mine! Belief systems cannot easily be changed. You are stuck!

But if rajas begins to enter the picture, then you begin to take care of security in a more materialistic, direct way. You believe in hard work to accumulate more money and possessions. You may even use deception and dishonesty to acquire them, continually looking for ways to get more and more! Having more makes you feel secure because your mind engages a lot in comparison. If your friend has the latest iPhone and you are still carrying a model that is several years old, you feel envious and you want it even though your phone works perfectly fine.

This behavior is part of the ego aspect of rajas – to have more than what you need and to let others know it. In mooladhara this can show up as a strong sense of selfishness and opportunistic actions. There is virtually no generosity unless it yields a win/win outcome. There’s always a need to get something from the actions.

Gradually as the consciousness evolves into sattwa, one begins to see the bigger picture. There is still a sense of pride in family, possessions and self that can feed the ego, but there dawns the understanding that possessions don’t provide inner security. There is a realization that you need just a fraction of what you have, and you begin to take actions that benefit others. You realize that when you give you don’t need anything in return other than the inner happiness that you gave.

And when you reach this point an amazing phenomenon takes place. Life starts to fall into place. Your needs become less. Your sense of self is not prideful but authentic. You can embrace your strengths and accept your weaknesses. You can ‘see’ how your actions affect those around you, the environment, your own inner nature. A sense of security blossoms from knowing that you are able to see the bigger picture, and you will do your part in making that picture more beautiful. There is an inner knowing that whatever happens – I will be okay.

At this point I hope you are asking, “How do I get to that point?” The short answer is ‘awareness’. Cultivating more and more awareness. To be able to see your thoughts and question your beliefs, to realize your attachments and acknowledge your fears. This require practice.

To do this you will need to move out of your comfort zone. What!! Why? Why would anyone want to live outside one’s comfort zone? Well, because growth rarely happens within our comfort zones. We have to have a push. Think about some of the best, most valuable lessons you have learned in life? How many happened when life was moving along smoothly and all was well? And how many happened when you were challenged? When you had to find a new way of thinking, a new way of being?

This time of chaos from the pandemic and the political and social unrest may just be the push you need. What security we have had through our normal routines has been challenged. Life is in flux. How are you responding to it all? How much anxiety and fear are you feeling and are you facing it? Or are you falling into the common coping mechanisms of denial and distraction? Where is your mooladhara sitting on the continuum of consciousness evolution?

Personally, I feel my mooladhara is rajasic with a little bit of the light of sattwa showing me a glimpse of a different way of being. Generally, I am not as disciplined as people may think. I lean toward darkness and I tend to be overly busy to avoid dealing with that aspect of my nature. For me this means I need to bring more sattwa into my life - more sattwic foods, a more sattwic connection with my body and the environment around me. A more sattwic connection with my thoughts and feelings.

So to help my evolution, I’m engaging in lifestyle changes that support me more fully – eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, walking with a friend outside every morning and walking on my treadmill every afternoon, getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep every night and doing the relaxation practice of yoga nidra regularly. I’ve increased my meditation practices and joined an advance yoga study group. To engage all of these changes during these last few months, pushes me out of my comfort zone. And you know what? It’s all good. I’m re-examining my dark side, my pattern of overcommitting and taking better care of myself so that I can take better care of others.

I challenge you to experiment with living outside of your comfort zone. I would love to help you find the way. Through 2020, I’m offering free 15 minute clarity calls to support your growth. Just go to my website, swamiatmarupa.com and click on the “meet with Atma” button on the home page to book an appointment.

Start now so with time and practice, you will be secure in yourself knowing that your comfort zone is internal to you and you will always be comfortable no matter what is happening outside of you.