I was lying in bed the other day in what I call the “half-in” state, where you’re not completely asleep but not quite awake, just conscious. I thought about the concept of guides– you know, spirit guides. Even as a kundalini yoga teacher I sometimes balk at things that are too “new agey.” There are a lot of traps in spirituality and so I often examine everything very carefully. At any rate, I could actually sense these guides in this half-in state. 
Maybe it was simply the formless infinite intelligence to which we are all connected, but nonetheless I felt ’em and figured it was a good time to get some answers, so I started asking questions. It was a good one. The first question that came to mind was,
“Why are there some people that really bug the shit out of me?”
The answer that came was like an impulse and the thrust of that impulse was the idea:
“Sideways.”
I let that float around me– not thinking but feeling it and then a rush of understanding came in. People who are in your life on a regular basis, that bug you for no apparent reason whenever you come into contact with them are, “Sideways People.” Sideways people are those individuals that for whatever reason cause you to stop your forward movement and essentially turn you sideways while you stew about them. Sideways people stop you in your tracks. You can be going along fine and you either see them, someone mentions them, or a thought of them floats into your mind and then you’re stopped for a spell. The great thing about this realization is that whenever I now think of the sideways people in my life, the next thought immediately goes to:
“I don’t want to go sideways, I want to keep going with the things that matter.”
The second thing that came after “sideways” was: “Support.” And the whole answer to that impulse was, that instead of turning sideways and getting stopped by these people you should ask yourself how you can support them? That’s odd, isn’t it? Why should you support people who bug you? This is a tricky one because some sideways people should absolutely be left alone. Just because you’re leading an enlightened life doesn’t mean there aren’t assholes in the world that you don’t need to be involved with whatsoever. Wherever possible, though, you should try to have an attitude of love and support toward sideways people instead of damning them for turning you sideways. If you can turn it around and have some form of gratitude for the experience of these people, you’ll win the day. It’s like a martial artist who moves with the opponent in order to redirect the opponent’s energy back at them. Support can be as simple as just silently blessing them in your mind and continuing to move forward. Oftentimes, the sideways person doesn’t even know that they’re bugging you. They’re likely just being themselves.
Accept the sideways people in your life, support them where you are able and keep going.
