the space between

Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space lies our freedom and power to
choose our response. In those choices lie
our growth and our happiness

~Steven Covey

One of the fundamental principles of the tantric philosophy of anusara yoga is the idea of Svātantrya - freedom. Svātantrya litterally means self-looming (sva - self  tantra - loom). We are free to choose what we will do, what we believe, how we will respond, how we will engage and participate in all aspects of our life. 

This can be very easy to forget. When people are hovering over your desk. When the baby is crying and the phone is ringing. When a person cuts in front of you on the checkout line of the grocery store.  In every situation it is so easy to just act without thought. To forget that we are free to choose how we are going to respond in those situations and how we are going to let them effect us. 

Within every moment there is a space between what is happening and how you respond to it. It is in this space that you have the free-will to choose how you are going to act. You are Svātantrya - perfectly free.  

I challenge you over the next week  -  before you respond to take a deep breath, maybe even close your eyes, and turn in for a moment. Embrace the opportunity of the space to remember that you are free to choose what you are going to do and how and then,  from that place - act.