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...
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...
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