Bumps In The Road

Ever have one of those days? You know, the one that seems to have a string of events where you think, "geez, when it rains it pours. One more bad thing and I'll have to call it a day".



I had one of those days this past week where it all began with a lousy night of sleep, followed by a dog with malaise, rejected credit cards (unknown fraudulent activity alert), phone calls to the bank, clients canceling appointments and blah, blah, blah. On and on it endlessly unfolded. By the time I sat down at the end of the day, just before teaching an evening class, I said to Ed, "it's days like these that I appreciate getting on my yoga mat even more...". We agreed that when we look back, we won't remember the details only that we had some bumps in the road.



Life does cycle through highs and lows. It's as though all of our experiences are a pendulum swinging from one side to the other. What our yoga practice teaches us is where to find the middle, rather than to inhabit the extremes. I once heard a quote that went something like this, "when we can see both sides of a situation with neither of them being right or wrong, it's called wisdom."



In recognizing that both sides exist; joy/sorrow, hope/worry; hot/cold; happy/sad; satisfaction/frustration etc, we can fully appreciate where we are at and realize that life isn't static, but always changing. It assists in helping us to appreciate the present moment, to know that if this moment feels lousy, I know potentially the next may also feel lousy, but it may also shift into feeling better, even glorious. What keeps us coming back to the full experience of the moment is easy...it's the breath. There is nothing more present than the breath you are in the process of breathing.



So, when things seem more challenging than usual, know that this too shall pass. That we can connect to our center by paying attention to our next inhale.



Now...breathe in and ahhhhhhhhhh!

Have You Been To The E.A.C.?

E.A.C.=East Australian Current...what you may be asking has that got to do with yoga?



I've just had my anniversary. It was five years ago this month that I began a relationship with my inner self. A formal commitment of sitting on my meditation bench or cushion every day. In the beginning, I had some resistance to getting up a half an hour earlier than my usual early morning rise. Sleep was such a tempting companion. But, I promised myself that I would stick by my vow to sit in quiet everyday.



Five years later I can report that not only am I still in this daily courtship, but it's gotten better over time. In fact, I am now aiming to lengthen my sessions aiming for a minimum of 45 minutes each morning. It seems I have once again been inspired to do so through reading Sally Kempton's book, "Meditation For The Love Of It". Now she doesn't talk about the E.A.C., but that's one of the things I thought of through her teachings.



The YouTube Scene above from the movie, "Finding Nemo" is where Marlin, Nemo's Dad, meets Crush, the sea turtle. Marlin tells Crush the story of how Nemo was taken to Sydney and he's on his way to rescue him and needs to find the fastest route which is the E.A.C. Crush, the Southern California inspired surfer dude turtle, tells him "Duuuude, you're in it" and to hold on tight. I thought of this scene as a representation of the flow of universal energy that is present and within all beings.



When we allow ourselves time to settle below the surface agitation of our thoughts, we begin to connect to this current of energy. The energy is subtle and is always present, but as we live our busy lives we often pile layers and layers of distraction on top so we forget it's even there. We might have glimpses of it as we play or listen to music, walk in nature or see the adorable face of our pet. Wouldn't it be amazing to know this feeling always?



Putting our backside on the meditation cushion is a practice that offers daily chances to experience this deeper, more subtle and sublimely opulent aspect of ourselves. It's the time where we touch "spirit" and begin to know who we truly are, not defined by what we do or the roles we play, but our true selves.



Before my commitment to my meditation practice, I was a theoretical meditator...I had read about it for years but rarely practiced. The most recent discovery I've had through my practice is creative inspiration coupled with a drive to put things into action. Fear is always part of the equation, but as I recently read, if you have more love than fear, you can do anything. And being at 51% love and 49% fear, still works.



If I add up five years of seated meditation it equates to 912 plus hours of getting to know me. And just think, I could have spent that time doing something else, like purusing Facebook or watching TV.



It's an adventurous ride, find your current and as Crush would say, "Dude...hold on tight!"

Me? I'm Too Busy...

Do you save relaxation time for when you go on vacation? If so...read on.



This past week I was introduced to a new group of women who had a great assortment of backgrounds, professions and interests. A couple of them asked me what I did and I replied, "I work as a yoga therapist within a medical practice." The next question was, "what do you treat most often?". I hesitated for a moment to sum up the many challenges that come into the studio and I said, "What I see the most is women who don't make time to look after their own needs". Both women had a momentary pause and then began shaking their heads, agreeing in unison.



My restorative yoga teacher, Judith Hanson Lasater recently said, "There's a difference between sleep and rest. And you need both every day". Have you ever caught yourself saying, "I'll get rest when I__________...go to bed; go on vacation; finish the housework; write my novel; balance the check book etc...."



Is during sleep the ONLY time you rest? What if your sleep is interrupted or shorter than usual? What if this happens on a regular basis? If this is the cse, you are missing out on two key ingredients to balanced living---sleep and rest. It's during our down time that the body literally catches up with itself. It's able to process all that it's been exposed to throughout the day...cellular metabolism and breakdown, digestion, thinking, feeling, reacting and reading are just a few. If we neglect putting the brakes on to allow the time and space to regenerate we run a greater risk of breaking down...you can run from it, but you can't hide.



So this week I would suggest increasing your awareness of how you spend your time resting. When I was in kindergarten, I had a snappy napping mat, blue on one side, red on the other and edged in white piping. We had time-outs given to us during our half day at school, not because we misbehaved, but in order to recharge our batteries. Lights low. Quiet. No talking. No doing. Simply hanging out on your red and blue mat.



As adults we can do the same thing. Go into a quiet place. Lower the lights. No talking. No doing. Simply hanging out. If I could manage it as an extremely active five year old, I'm thinking you could as a grown up.



Get out your nap mat. Or better yet, take a restorative yoga class.

Choice

With Independence Day approaching here in the United States, I was reflecting on what it means to me. What came up was having the ability to choose.



I remember an experience I had when I returned to western culture after spending 6-months in Africa. I was in London and headed to the supermarket to buy some basics. As I stood in the brightly lit and wide aisled store, looking at the enormous selection of cereals all I experienced was the feeling of being completely overwhelmed. There was just simply too much to choose from and my next reaction was to leave.



Yet at the same time, I was struck by how much we take for granted, particularly as it relates to the number of opportunities we have to choose from. In less fortunate countries, there may be only one cereal choice, if any at all. You might go for days and only subsist on bananas and maize meal. In the developed Western countries, we have created abundance and much of this began when people left their countries seeking other places in which they had more choice, more opportunity to live as they wanted and not as they were told.



The Fourth of July reminds us that we wanted to be able to create our own utopia with freedom to practice speaking, praying and expressing ourselves without oppressive censorship. It took a collective courage to realize the need and seek a path of creating a way of life that supported this ideal.



Our yoga practice is a way of seeking our own liberation and manifesting it into something that is greater than ourselves. But, we must first know what it is that we need to connect to, our own inner freedom and then trust the ancient methods that have been passed down through generations.



The Buddha said that suffering is a given in life and through making particular choices about how we undergo our daily existence we can move further away from this suffering to liberation. Brené Brown, Ph.D., L.M.S.W a research professor of Social Work (author of the book, "The Gifts of Imperfection") found that we can only love others as much as we love ourselves. Thus, if we have difficulty in tapping into our own hearts, how can we fully connect into the heart of others? By uncovering our own deeper need, one of which is love, we can begin to not only better our own lives, but more fully engage in other peoples lives...you know...spread the love from the inside out.



As we engage in the process of discovering what we need more of in our lives (peace, knowledge, freedom or socks), we can then begin to set in motion our plan of striving to reach it. Just as our forefathers knew they were suffering and sought freedom, we too can look at our own lives from a similar perspective.



This brings me back to cereal. We have so much opportunity sitting within reach. We have so much (sometimes way too much) to choose from that we often forget that having choices is a result of having freedom. For those less fortunate, they can still find freedom in their hearts and spirits. For us, we have the chance to not only choose between the high fiber/gluten-free granola or Captain Crunch but also how we choose to be in a relationship with ourselves, other beings and our planet.



I am grateful for being able to live in a country where I have the power to choose. Happy Independence Day to all!



Now let's go check out some fireworks!