I have a story to share with you today. About resentment and….. potatoes.

I haven’t blogged a lot of ‘soul inspiration’ lately and my intuition told me I needed to get this out there!

Self work is something I believe to be so important to a healthy lifestyle. Unresolved issues, anger and emotions can make us physically sick. Oh boy, have I been there!

We are all works in progress.

One area I struggle with is resentment towards those who have wronged me. I find it hard to forgive and let go. I nurse the hurt. I am indignant.

I read this story and it was like a huge lightbulb went on in my head!

I hope you find this story as helpful as I did. It’s from one of my favourite books of all time (more on that later).

I am re-telling it in my own words.

 

A high school teacher told her students to bring to school a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes. The students are asked to think of all the people who have wronged them, every person that they have judged, every person they could not accept. The names of these people were to be each written on a potato and put in the bag.

 

Most students had bags that were full and overflowing. They were instructed to carry the bag everywhere with them for one week – including taking into their bed at night. They were never to let the bag out of their sight.

 

By the end of the week, the students were sick to death of their bag of potatoes. It was annoying having to lug it everywhere. The potatoes started to fester and go mouldy and stinky. The bags were heavy and awkward, weighed the students down and made them miserable.

 

The teacher told the students the significance of carrying the potatoes. It was a way to understand the price we pay for holding onto our resentments.

 

Fortunately, when the week was over, they were able to put the down their bag of potatoes and get rid of it. The lightness, relief and freedom at doing so was only a taste of what they could feel of letting go of the resentments that each potato represented.

 

*lightbulb*

 

What do you think? Do you have some potatoes you could let go of? Are they festering? Getting stinky? Weighing you down? Making you miserable?

This story is from a fantastic book called ‘The Eight Human Talents’ by Gurmukh. My yoga teacher did an exercise from it one night in class. The Natural New Age Dad and I were blown away and as soon as I got home, I jumped online and I ordered myself a copy. We have since ordered many more copies to give to our friends that are suffering and struggling.

Gurmukh is a Kundalini yoga teacher with a powerful message to share. She links eight human talents (acceptance, creativity, commitment, compassion, truth, intuition, boundlessness and radiance) with each of our chakras. She says ‘the use and cultivation of these eight talents are the keys to happiness’. She goes through the talents one by one in each chapter and gives information, stories, advice and exercises to unblock each chakra and to cultivate the talent. The exercises use yoga positions, mudras and mantras all combined and repeated.

All I can say is that these exercises have been life changing. Now, I don’t want to get evangelistic on you.

But, it really has changed me. It has changed my husband. We love this book.

You can get the book through my Fishpond affiliate link here.

What books have changed your life?