Trade in Your To Do List for a Ta-Da List!
To Do List
How to Celebrate Your Wins Instead of Berating Yourself for Your Losses; A Svādhyāya Practice
I know you’re familiar with that old dinosaur the “To Do” list. Truthfully, I used to think To Do Lists were my best friend. In reality though, the satisfaction of checking something off of a list is easily outweighed by the disappointment, frustration, and guilt we can feel over the unchecked items.
Enter: The TA-DA List. That’s right. Just like a gymnast sticking a landing or a magician performing a skillful trick, you have the choice to sit down at the end of your day and say, “Ta-Da! Look at all I did today!” Yours doesn’t have to be as fancy as the image on here, but why not decorate it if you want?
See how it feels to practice this for a week or two. At the end of the day, pull out a journal dedicated to your Yoga practices, and write down a few things that you accomplished that day. If you are healing from trauma or having a challenging mental health day, that might look like:
I got out of bed!
I ate enough today!
I texted a friend!
(Exclamations optional.)
If you are feeling well and able to have a more active day, maybe your list says something like:
I answered 5 emails!
I went for a walk!
I made dinner!
This doesn’t mean you need to give up your To Do List altogether. Instead, take this opportunity to ask yourself if writing a To Do List (especially a long one with which you have trouble keeping up) is more helpful or harmful right now. If it feels helpful to keep it, review your To Do’s in the morning, and celebrate your Ta-Da’s in the evening!
Svādhyāya is part of the practice of Kriya Yoga that invites us to reflect on on our tapas (an action aimed to refine us). Traditionally, you would compare your lived experience with sacred yogic texts. In the process of celebrating your Ta-Da’s, consider visiting Yoga Sūtra-s 2.1, which introduces Kriya Yoga. The next step in the process of Īśvarapraṇidhāna- to release any attachment we have to the outcome of a practice.
What makes you want to say “Ta-Da! I did that!” today?
