Expectation v stillness

Yoga blog May 2025 Societal expectations vs. stillness

This blog will discuss the ways society impacts a person who studies yoga and how stillness can help calm expectations.

Peace be still, and stillness be peace. Be present in the moment. From a young age, going to school, we are taught the norms of society through rules in school, hanging out with friends, and listening to social media. While some norms are for our safety, others are there as excess. When you stop and examine the norms of society, who set them, why were they set, and do we have to obey them? We are divine spirits in the human experience, learning to navigate the world through the lenses of perception and interpretation. Two people can look at the same thing and have a different experience.

Think about the expectations that go into a single day. I must get up, eat breakfast, shower, and attend school. I should say hi to people. I shouldn’t stare at someone in an elevator. I stopped the ongoing list as it is endless for a day. With this many thoughts on what is expected, it is no wonder our brains are overloaded, we lose our self-compassion for ourselves and think we are less than. Calming the mind helps prioritize what is important to you, your success, and your being. Slowly sitting and allowing the massive amounts of thoughts to settle brings you to primary issues or expectations. I do need to eat. I do need to go to work. I need to be more forgiving of myself. I am whole. This concept is no different than a hurricane blasting wind, rain, and debris everywhere, similar to society at times versus the sunrises. The world is quiet, calm, clear, concise. There is no judgment on the morning, it just is.

I have taught for years that we should have a meditation practice in the morning that focuses on stillness. Allow yourself to prepare for your day. When there are too many things, or we are feeling stressed, we return to mindfulness and meditation to help bring back the stillness. Notice when you are still, there is clarity, certainty, and peace. How can I reduce the amount of societal exceptions? The question comes at a time when the news constantly sends negative information, rumors, gossip, and a lack of general respect for each other. If you must watch the news, skim the headline and move on. For rumors and gossip, that is what it is. Think about living in a world of facts and peace.

When you see someone that needs help, or you want to pay it forward, these are acts

of kindness that go a long way. We choose how we interrupt the world. We can live in it with all the stress and expectation, or we can find stillness daily, reset as needed, and truly begin to enjoy the human experience.