Being vs. Trying to Be

Just this morning, I received an interesting email from a friend. He is a pitta dosha type, I am a vata. (Ayurveda says there are 3 body types, or 3 doshas: vata, pitta, and kapha each with their own unique characteristics). He is telling me, in a concerned fashion, to stop being a vata.

To try and stop being a vata is like trying to stop being a woman, or to stop being Blood Type B. It's that difficult! But maybe he is trying to tell me to heal the vata imbalances? I don't know... and for now, I am not going to try.

It's the classic case of Being vs. Trying to Be.

Being is yoga. Just relax, breathe and be.

Trying to be is struggle. Trying to hold a difficult yoga asana. Trying to be another person. Trying to be successful, etc.

I think a problem with our societies is too much pressure and emphasis is put on "trying to be". Try to be slim, try to be successful, try to be pretty, try to be charming and witty. It is exhausting! It's hard enough to live right and "be" rather than trying to be.

So, to my friend, thank you for your concern, I hear the underlying message, that I should heal the imbalances, and I will. But for now, thanks, but no thanks! I am happy being.