Peace

This past week was marked by the International Day of Peace, an idea placed on the calendar by the United Nations. We also passed through the equinox, the autumnal equinox in the northern hemisphere and the vernal equinox in the southern hemisphere. The equinox is the day where the earth is at such a tilt that daylight and darkness hours are equal. In the northern hemisphere, we are heading into fall and our days are slowly growing shorter with the opposite being true for my southern hemisphere friends-spring has sprung and you're heading toward summer.

I used the theme of peace this past week in my classes and its connection to the equinoxes as it's about finding harmony, equality, and balance. As I contemplated the concept of peace, many thoughts began to arise. What does peace mean to me? What does it look like in my life? Through the work that I do and through setting the intention of peace for my life in general, I wonder if I will ever truly see peace in my lifetime. Sadly, I don't think I will. In fact, nobody has seen peace in their lifetimes as we have been warring with each other for at least a couple of thousand years. In the yoga teachings, a time is said to have existed called the "golden age" where people lived in harmony. However, we have cycled away from those times to what is now called the "Kali Yuga-the dark ages". It is thought that we have the potential to find another golden age, but only if there's a rise in the collective consciousness of humans to shift into that direction.

I don't think it's a coincidence that there's been a huge up-tick in the number of people who participate in yoga. Last I heard, the count was around 20 million in the United States alone. People are looking for a way to connect to greater ease in their lives and yoga is one road to take. In thinking about peace and bringing peace into the wider realm of the world, we need to begin within. How can we find peace in the world if we ourselves are not peaceful? Part of our practice is to make peace with our body; to make peace with our thoughts; to make peace with where we are in life. When we begin to connect to the inherent peacefulness that resides within, something magical begins to happen-it starts to ooze out of us and begins to positively influence our relationships, our connections to people in our larger communities and eventually to all beings everywhere.

We know that one path to this inner peace is the path of meditation. Sitting quietly, observing the present moment from a state of non-judgment and equanimity. Yes...it takes practice on a regular basis. But for me, this commitment isn't just one to myself and my own essence of life, but hopefully part of a legacy that I will leave as my own footprint once I've left this earthly realm. I wish for peace in my own life, but bigger than that, I wish it for my grandchildren's lives. If I can be part of that growing wave of a positive and peaceful collective, then I will absolutely do it.

My wish is the wish of loving-kindness. May all beings be safe. May all beings be healthy. May all beings be happy. May all beings find ease and live with peace. May we step along our own path of peace, gently kissing the earth with our feet as Thich Nhat Hahn stated. Let's walk this walk together, supporting each other in connection rather than separation. And may we be part of the ushering in of the golden age.

Om shanti, shanti, shantihi.

Positivity

This past week I've taken a different kind of journey. An inner one rather than the one I've just returned from which included planes, trains and buses. For those of us who have traveled through different time zones, we realize that arriving back home can be a challenge. We physically landed home last week, but I didn't feel like I had actually arrived until six days later. My body was here, my mind was experiencing some cultural readjusting and I felt as though a schism had been created in my whole being. I was just that little bit off.

What I noticed in that state was that anything that was challenging, hard, disappointing or generally negative, got really loud and anything that was easy, loving and wonderful, shrunk next to it. I was grumbling and I could feel like my heart space was closing down. I'm thankful for the many years of being in practice, recognizing more quickly that things were off-kilter. In the past, it would've taken a major breakdown to recognize things needed to be re-wired. Fortunately, I had planned on going to BhaktiFest, a yoga and music festival held in the nearby high desert of Joshua Tree. This festival has been happening for eight years now and I've not only been to BhaktiFest for most of those eight years but also have enjoyed ShaktiFest which is held in May.

As I settled into being at the festival an amazing thing started to happen. I began spending quality time with friends I hadn't seen for a while. I participated in a couple of yoga sessions (and a hooping session!). I chanted the 40 verses of the Hanuman Chalisa early in the morning and listened to several kirtan artists throughout the day and into the late hours of the night. As I stepped into this community, things began taking on a more positive feel. I had an incredible experience at the end of a practice with Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band during savasana. We had been in a storytelling based practice, laughing, breathing and moving. As we lay in stillness in our final relaxation pose, Sean and his bandmate, Gwendolyn, started to sing. As their voices moved through the stillness of the hall, my heart began to not only open but to grow bigger and bigger. I felt as though a part of me was remembering what it was like to be in love. It flowed through me and out of me.

This feeling amplified throughout the weekend feeling as though so many of the people I was hanging out with were holding up mirrors, reflecting love back to me. It felt like this two-way channel was being blown open. My insight was to hang out with people who light your fire. Those who hold you in a space of love and non-judgment. Those who truly look you in the eye as you are either laughing or crying. It was magical.

Another great moment happened when I was in one of the stalls in the women's bathroom. I heard two women chatting and when I exited, I realized I knew one of the women. We hugged as we said hello and I said to her "I haven't seen you" to which she replied, "I saw you, but you were hugging someone else!" That statement epitomized the lifting and shifting of my energy. It reminded me that when I feel out of balance that I have the tools and choice to shift back into balance. Being part of a loving and supportive community is one powerful way in which to do that. Over the weekend I was able to shift into a state of positivity. It wasn't that things were wrong with the world, it was how I was perceiving things and needed to shift what was happening within me. As Gandhi has been famously quoted, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." I know that the bah-humbug state wasn't serving me or anyone I was coming into contact with and, thankfully, the residue of hanging out with uplifting people has been sticking with me all week.

My heart is filled with gratitude for those who knowingly or unknowingly nudged me back into balance. My heart is open once again.

Show Up

We have just returned from an overseas trip which took us first to Australia and then Japan. The time away was filled with many flavors, different experiences and a true unleashing of connection to my everyday life here in the desert. It was a much needed and welcome break. We landed back into Los Angeles at 11 am and were back at home by 3 pm. When adjusting to the time change, my strategy is to get on the local time as quickly as possible, which meant staying awake for what seemed like hours. After two loads of washing, unpacking and a trip to the grocery store, I fell into bed and slept soundly for the next several hours.

Then it was back to work the following morning and I said to myself that the first thing I needed to do was to simply "show up". And so I did and, thankfully, so did some of my regular yoga students. It got me thinking about what it means to show up. It's often the first step we take into what's next, even if we are pulled to want to do something else (like sleeping for me, which would have been my preference on that first morning back) or when we don't know what will happen next. It's a practice of finding ourselves in the next present moment. For me, it meant following a familiar pattern of arriving at the studio, setting up the space and waiting for students to arrive. What unfolded was a beautiful return to teaching, refreshed and ready to be radically present in the process.

It made me think of the time when I had decided to leave gymnastics. It had been a major part of my life as both a gymnast and later as a coach. I ate, slept and breathed gymnastics for years on end and knew I had come to the time when it was the end of that chapter. I remember giving myself permission for the next 12 months to say "yes" to anything that came across my path that seemed reasonable. I gave myself permission to try stuff that perhaps I otherwise would have said "no" to. In that year I worked at a restaurant, taught aerobics classes and began working at a pub where I eventually took up a role as a cook in their kitchen. I was basically being taught how to cook and getting paid at the same time. It was vigorous and often hectic work, but I loved it! I was learning a new skill and hanging out with a group of people who were fun loving and working just as hard as I was. At one point I thought to myself, "maybe I'll go and become an actual qualified chef" but that thought ended as it was overpowered by my desire to travel the world instead. Which I did...for 20 months away from Australia. 

Again, I just showed up for what was next and had no great plan as to what that would look like and it resulted in an unexpected chapter in the story of my life. It was wonderfully freeing.

Sometimes it's like that in our practice of broadening self-awareness and practicing self-care. Even on those days where something is tugging you in another direction, sometimes we just have to show up on our mats and let go of what happens next. It's part discipline and part surrender. How many times have you shown up to something when you felt that perhaps you didn't want to? And how many times has that turned into being a surprising and wonderful event?

So my thought of the week is...just show up. See what happens. You can always go back to bed later...