Two days rest and I was back at
it. It took almost two days of travel from Rishikesh, India back to Palm
Springs, CA. Long flights, long lay overs and airplane food were my way of life
for two days straight. Oh, the glory of
travel!
Thankfully, I had a few days of down time before making the trek back home. I didn't have much of an agenda...morning yoga, perhaps a talk on Vedanta philosophy, a trip into town to shop and explore the bustle of a small Indian city. It felt good to have no firm plans, my appointment book or class schedule.
Then, just as though it never happened...I'm back at it. Has anything changed?
Granted, I have returned to what is typically the busiest time of year known as "the season". It's the time of the annual snow bird migration, with flocks of Canadians and people from the Pacific Northwest spending weeks and months in our warmer climes. And who can blame them with a steady stream of sunshine and an abundance of golf, tennis, events and galas to be had. I see an influx of yoga students in classes and I take many more enquiries than at other times of the year.
So after three weeks in India where the cultural experience is quite extreme to the desert, I step off the plane in Palm Springs and take my first deep breath of non-polluted, cool, crispy clean air. Ah! To be home in the peacefulness of the desert. I feel the same things as the snow birds; warmth, calm and relatively light traffic.
I've tried with great consciousness to avoid over-doing and over-committing now that I'm back in town. But it's truly a challenge. People who have small, local businesses such as myself also, share the mantra to "make hay whilst the sun is shining". As a result, I tend to get busier than my inner peaceful self would like but my outer entrepreneur feels satisfied.
My thought for the week is to stay mindful of being comfortably busy rather than crazily busy. I recently heard yoga teacher, Ragunath, talking about being SO busy, that we're "busy until death". We fill up our time with many things that simply keep us occupied, that looking busy is a treasured norm in our culture. Our to-do lists are so long, that we're too busy to write at the top of the list "slow down and have some quiet time". As a result, we're too busy to savor the sweetness of life and then...we're dead.
Before I left for India I was in that crazy busy category. It seemed as though there was so much to do before I left that I got on the plane already exhausted. So it's no great surprise that my down time in Rishikesh seemed just a little too short. My deeper self was saying an inner "FINALLY " as I had no agenda. The trick is, can I stay connected to that voice asking for a bit of self-care and breathing room?
Busyness till death...ok...I hear you. My intention is to simply be in the quiet moments. (And I think I just heard my inner voice whisper, "thank you"!).
Thankfully, I had a few days of down time before making the trek back home. I didn't have much of an agenda...morning yoga, perhaps a talk on Vedanta philosophy, a trip into town to shop and explore the bustle of a small Indian city. It felt good to have no firm plans, my appointment book or class schedule.
Then, just as though it never happened...I'm back at it. Has anything changed?
Granted, I have returned to what is typically the busiest time of year known as "the season". It's the time of the annual snow bird migration, with flocks of Canadians and people from the Pacific Northwest spending weeks and months in our warmer climes. And who can blame them with a steady stream of sunshine and an abundance of golf, tennis, events and galas to be had. I see an influx of yoga students in classes and I take many more enquiries than at other times of the year.
So after three weeks in India where the cultural experience is quite extreme to the desert, I step off the plane in Palm Springs and take my first deep breath of non-polluted, cool, crispy clean air. Ah! To be home in the peacefulness of the desert. I feel the same things as the snow birds; warmth, calm and relatively light traffic.
I've tried with great consciousness to avoid over-doing and over-committing now that I'm back in town. But it's truly a challenge. People who have small, local businesses such as myself also, share the mantra to "make hay whilst the sun is shining". As a result, I tend to get busier than my inner peaceful self would like but my outer entrepreneur feels satisfied.
My thought for the week is to stay mindful of being comfortably busy rather than crazily busy. I recently heard yoga teacher, Ragunath, talking about being SO busy, that we're "busy until death". We fill up our time with many things that simply keep us occupied, that looking busy is a treasured norm in our culture. Our to-do lists are so long, that we're too busy to write at the top of the list "slow down and have some quiet time". As a result, we're too busy to savor the sweetness of life and then...we're dead.
Before I left for India I was in that crazy busy category. It seemed as though there was so much to do before I left that I got on the plane already exhausted. So it's no great surprise that my down time in Rishikesh seemed just a little too short. My deeper self was saying an inner "FINALLY " as I had no agenda. The trick is, can I stay connected to that voice asking for a bit of self-care and breathing room?
Busyness till death...ok...I hear you. My intention is to simply be in the quiet moments. (And I think I just heard my inner voice whisper, "thank you"!).
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