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The Trance of Scarcity is a book to read in the beginning of the day. It sets the tone for greatness.
BY MAGAZINE COLUMNIST TALI KOZIOL
You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief
that you can’t have it.
-Robert Anthony
I love this quote and when I read it the first time I thought “Yes! This is what the Trance of Scarcity is all about.” I first read Victoria Castle’s book prior to my first teacher training. I am so delighted that it was part of our reading list for The Conversation, too. The first time I read it, I thought it was smart but I didn’t connect with it. After going through the foundational training and beginning to teach I wondered whether or not I was “enough” more times than I can count.
When you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up they rarely craft a simple answer. They want to be a mommy and a teacher and a doctor and an actress and an astronaut… the list goes on and on. They don’t question whether or not they’re “good enough” or “smart enough” or “pretty enough”. Questioning our “enoughness” is a learned trait and just like any other learned trait it can be unlearned.
Castle delivers a beautiful text that serves as a workbook to unlearn self limitation.
The Five
In what way does this book connect to everyday life?
I know that when I am feeling doubt, or my friends and family are, the root is always a feeling of “not enough”. Whether it’s not enough time, money, beauty, intelligence, we all face the question of “enoughness”. The terminology may be more familiar to those in the yoga community but this book is accessible and relevant for anyone.
What three things will stay with me from reading this?
1. If I can’t get past my past, I can’t expect anyone else to.
2. I am the author of my own story.
3. Look for the abundance, not for the scarcity.
Is this a breakfast book or a dessert book?
Fruit, yogurt, granola and tea. That is the perfect meal for this book. It’s nourishing yet energizing. This is a book to read in the beginning of the day. It sets the tone for greatness.
What questions did I find myself asking after I read the book?
Any time I read a “self-help” style book I ask the same thing: Is this sustainable? Knowing and doing are so different. Will I really be able to use these tools and shift my life, write my story to be one of abundance?
I think like all good plans the changes will have to be subtle, take it one day at a time as it were. More specifically I will need to start incorporating this shift from feeling inadequate or out of time and energy into different areas of my life, one at a time. I have already seen a shift in my yoga teaching and my consulting business. Now I will have to slowly start weaving it into the other parts of my life. I am not sure if it will hold, but it has worked so far.
If I could ask the author one question what would it be?
I would love to know if Victoria Castle could choose one public figure to read her book, who would it be?
Live. Breathe. Love.
We may publish any content, comments or ideas sent to us.
Name may be withheld by request.
© 2011, The Magazine of Yoga, LLC.
