How discipline is different from rigidity. As different as love and fear.

The topic of discipline at times diverts to the subject of rigidity, and they are two completely different things. It comes up often enough that I thought it would be helpful to differentiate the two here and open up dialogue about it.

Rigidity is closed. It doesn’t consider circumstance or differences in each other, and it often stems from fear and out of a desire to go on auto-pilot. It doesn't consider the journey and isn't willing to take in new information.

Discipline is open. It knows that circumstances often call for an anchoring into a practice, commitment, and personal values to maintain equilibrium, and is also willing to see something new. It stems from love and presence, and it relishes rituals and conscious repetition (different from auto-pilot). It looks at potential habit shifts - whether we're talking about a shift in beliefs or a shift in one's practice - with honesty and discernment.

When you commit to a daily practice, you are committing to a discipline, not rigidity. 

Discipline doesn’t mean another thing to beat yourself up with. That’s rigidity, which gets punitive. Discipline is self-love. It’s a journey in getting to know what you’re made of, what makes you tick, where your tantrums, strengths, and weaknesses are, and learning to love them all equally. It cultivates patience and compassion, and therefore strength. It allows you to know yourself better, which is everything.

Discipline creates a solid, safe, container to your day so that you can use your energy for expression, creativity, and towards the important conversations that stand before you with the people in your life. It lets your highest self in… or should I say out? It allows you to become flexible and loose because flexibility and looseness requires a good sense of self-advocacy, of being plugged in with yourself. It requires a healthy, playful relationship with fear of the unknown. Which discipline provides. 

Love, Savitree