As Benjamin Franklin said, "In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes". Thanks, Ben, that sounds like a real downer even if it is true. Life changes and in response to that and in relationship to our yoga practice, we must change with it. Not only is our yoga practice dynamic, but so is our life...we don't live in a static state but in the ebb and flow, like ocean tides. If we have the quiet expectation that things will remain the same or live in a state of denial that all is temporary, inevitably we will create a deeper sense of suffering for ourselves.
The focus of this week is to address how we react to the dynamic nature of our being, particularly as we age, face injury or illness, or have a major life challenge such as marriage, death, retirement, or financial uncertainty. As I contemplated this ever-evolving and often unpredictable state, two words came up: challenge and change.
When a challenge shows up in our lives, we need to change what we're doing in order to adapt to the challenge. We could do nothing, but that's likely to be a short-sighted choice. For example, if we find out we have arthritis and keep doing the same movements and eating the same foods, it's likely our pain will continue and increase. If we know we now have to be more aware and gentle to ourselves, it can lead to significant changes in our activity. We may do a bit less, or change the amount of impact across the joint, eat an anti-inflammatory diet, or use an alternative method of pain management. The "doing nothing" scenario may eventually lead us to take more drastic measures--stopping activity altogether or getting a joint replacement.
As the challenge presents itself, can we mindfully and in a compassionate way adapt what we've been doing to something that now accommodates this newer and unfamiliar state?
Although it's a bit tough to admit, since I'm a yoga/wellness/fitness professional, I've had my own challenges over the past twelve months. I irritated my knee playing pickleball, then found out instead of it being a torn meniscus, it was osteoarthritis. Subsequently, my foot (on the same side) began to have pain in the plantar fascia (sole of the foot). The result was that I needed to do something that felt uncomfortable...take a rest from one of my regular activities of road cycling. This hiatus from activity challenged the mental paradigm that has been embedded in my psyche from years of training myself and others. The one that says if you're not doing X then Y will happen...if I don't get enough cardiovascular exercise, the "10,000 steps" mantra, then I'll get out of shape, or gain weight, or develop more diseases, or have insomnia. My mental battle was more challenging than the physical one. Letting go of what I thought I needed to be doing to create space for what actually served me was challenging.
The second challenge began around the same time as I had increased levels of fatigue, which felt a lot like depression. Turns out I had a resurgence in the Epstein Barr Virus I've had for many years. During my summer hiatus, it became evident that I needed to do something a bit different as I stepped back into my "regular" world. As a result, the challenge of fatigue and inflammation in my knee and foot led me to a drastic new way of being. Now, I have a firm policy to be lights out by 10 PM and if I don't need to wake up early, I don't set an alarm. I've been allowing myself to sleep as long as needed, and at times, this has meant sleeping through my morning exercise or desk work. And so be it. Sleep became the priority. My return to better health became the priority.
An "advanced" yogi is one who can recognize what they need on a particular day and wrap specific practices around themselves, rather than wrapping themselves around a particular practice. The dynamic nature of being human will be constant and we can evolve our awareness to match our needs to the present moment. The bottom line with all of this is to hold ourselves softly, with kindness and compassion. It's a powerful act of self-love.
We know that things will change, are you ready to go with it?
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