The mantra of the victim is, “If not for the events and circumstances of the world, I would be happy.” The world is often unfair and unjust, but that alone is not enough to create a victim. Victims believe they lack the power to choose. While you may not always be able to choose the circumstances of your life, you can choose how you respond. Through spiritual practice, we can choose inner harmony even when the world around us is filled with pain, suffering, and chaos.

Can an atheist practice yoga? Can an agnostic sit in meditation? Absolutely! Belief in God is not a requirement for practice. The only requirement for practice is the willingness to accept that you are not God. To surrender tothe possibility that while an all-knowing God may not govern the universe, neither do you.

A bird doesn’t attempt to swim, and a cat doesn’t attempt to fly. Yet both arecompletely content. Their dharma is anchored in instinct. Humans are continually trying to live out of accord with their dharma and so contentment remains elusive.

Each time we come to savasana, we practice dying—we surrender the body to the earth and prepare for our destiny in this life. Facing death and embracing mortality is the key to living. We may fear it, resist it, and spend untold hours dreading it, But our mortality is the place where our human nature comes face to face with our divine nature. In a very real sense, death isour greatest teacher and the one true guru.

A closet is not a prison cell. There are no bars on the windows, locks on the doors, or shackles binding your feet. The closet door is as easy to open as turning the knob. To turn that knob requires the courage to empty your hands of guilt, shame, and self-loathing. Once you find that courage, you will wonder why you waited so long to do it.

To a yogi, the breath is the anchor that keeps the mind in the eternal now. Just as an anchored boat still shifts with the wind and moves with the current, so too will the mind continue to be affected by things beyond its control. Like the anchored boat, the mind will never drift too far from its mooring once it is anchored in the breath.

Every action, whether noble or immoral, is preceded by thought. That thought may be conscious or unconscious, ignorant or mindful. The only way to act from a posture of loving kindness and compassion is to heal the mind. That is why we meditate.

To witness your life—the highs and lows, the times of chaos, and the periods of order—without trying to control or manipulate—is the key to inner calm. This nonjudgmental observation of the world allows us to let go of condition-based happiness and embrace true contentment.

Forgiveness is not something we do; rather it is a process of reminding yourself over and over again that holding a resentment only hurts yourself. Once you embrace that truthfully, forgiveness simply happens on its own