The Experience of Extremes

One week I'm picking my way down a steep trail through a rainforest in Queensland as the birds chatter, calling back and forth to each other in a cacophony of their own language. The recent rain has left its trace on the leaves and vines that form the canopy above me. The humidity is higher than what I'm used to and I've got a comfortable sweat going by the time I cross the final bridge over the stream leading me closer to the beach.

The next week, I'm climbing up a sandy hill, navigating my way past prickly cholla cactus and towering Joshua trees as I hear off in the distance music riding through the dry desert air. I'm at Bhakti Fest, a yoga, kirtan and music festival in the high desert. At night, I see stars I don't usually see from my home in Palm Springs...the sky is brilliant and my mood is peaceful. It is during these four days at Bhakti Fest that I think about the experience of extremes.

Life presents us with shifts of momentum. One day we're in a rainforest, the next and arid desert, its complete opposite. One day we're down in the dumps because we have jury duty and the next, we're feeling joyous as they've dismissed us from sitting on a five day trial. We all have highs and lows. The pendulum of life swings from side to side from the day we arrive to the day we depart.

My thought for the week is, how do we find our center...the middle way in the midst of this ever shifting pendulum?

In my younger years, my experiences seemed to be more extreme. The highs were soaring and the lows were deep and seemingly dark. As I've traveled the path of my life the discrepancy between the extremes doesn't seem to be as wide as when I was younger. This is due to two things...life experience and my yoga practice.

The essence of yoga is "to unite"; "to bring into union"; "to find balance". We do so through using its many tools of breath, movement, awareness, on-going study, stillness and a surrendering to a source that is greater than us individually.

As we undergo its practices, we begin to get better at recognizing that everything is in transition, nothing is permanent. We begin to connect to that place within us that is deeper and all-knowing. It is always there, its presence never leaves us. It's that third piece of the body-mind triad...it's our spirit. Just as we recognize that our thoughts effect our physical selves, they also effect our inner soul. Having this growing awareness of the oneness between our body-mind-spirit, we begin to recognize that no matter what calm or chaotic situation is sitting before us, we know and can connect to our own middle path.

My question for this week is "what are you doing to stay connected to your center so no matter what situation arises, you don't lose sight of it?"