Skillful Gardener

Last week I developed my Solstice class. I was feeling really good and in awe of the miracle of life. Then I went outside and weeded an area in which lilys are growing. That gave me pause. It was a contradictory action from the way I was feeling. To have such a feeling of reverence for life then rip a whole bunch of living things out of the ground was jarring. I thought about the value of the flower over the weed. The weed isn't any less valuable, but the flower enriches our lives with beauty. At the very least it is aesthetically pleasing. The weed, if given free reign, will take over and choke out the flower. A skillful gardener discerns which plant to pull and which plant to leave.

In our lives, yoga helps us to become more observant and discerning. We may start our yoga journey full of uncertainty, but as we commit to the practice, we become aware of those traits we need to let go of and those that can be cultivated. Those thoughts and behaviors that lead to growth become more recognizable when you can hone your awareness. When you become increasingly aware of how certain foods, people or places make you feel, you will eventually be surprised at your past self and all the damage you could do.

As someone who has recently become more firm in her belief of her own self worth, it makes me sad to see and think of all those who behave habitually and hurt themselves because they don't have a sense of their own value. I remember well the days of chemical intervention; of filling a void with unhealthy food or people. We live in a world of constant comparisons and if you buy into the idea, you'll drown in it. The thought that I am right and they are wrong is subtly fed to us everyday. Even worse than the idea of right vs wrong is the stubborn view that because I'm right they have to be wrong. There is no room for the notion that both points of view are simply that: points of view and are inherently without value. We judge. We drive ourselves crazy by needing to be accepted and liked by the world.

Yoga gives us tools to open our minds beyond the petty demands of egocentric thinking. While we may continue the habits we've grown into, with a mind more able to concentrate, gradually more able to sustain that concentration, we can see the truth that the material world is a fleeting pleasure. We will find more space within ourselves than we ever thought possible.

Practice with consistency and become your own skillful gardener.

Celebrate Life

Izic went to the Farmer's Museum in Cooperstown with his class last week. He came home with what he called a beanie baby. It was a dried bean and a wet cotton ball in a little plastic baggie on a string. They told him to wear it around his neck so it would stay warm and blow into it because the carbon dioxide in his exhale would help it grow. It took 6 days to sprout.

Take a moment to consider how amazing this process is. Stored within this tiny (relatively speaking) seed is all the energy and information needed to create life. That is a miracle. With the right set of conditions, warmth and water, something stirs internally, and in a matter of days you have a living, breathing being. It's magic. Now there's a scientific explanation for all of this but that doesn't make it any less amazing or magical.

Our practice this week will be in celebration of life: our lives, our loved ones lives, our own potential to make life. The Earth's capacity to sustain life, along with the sun and water, without which the Earth's potential to carry life would remain potential.

Practice today in awe of life and with gratitude to be a part of it. Contemplate the circumstances in which you were an eventual possibility. Let it infuse your being with joy. Then, at some point this week, take a minute to connect with another living being. Honor and celebrate them.

Go With the Flow

This week's class will be a flow class focused on the intention that sometimes we can't change the circumstances we're in, so we have no choice but to go with it. Well, we could choose to be angry about it, or upset in some way, but that is counter to a life led mindfully. Feeling anger at a situation isn't inherently bad or wrong. The beauty of a regular yoga practice is noticing those initial reactions and understanding why they arise. Then you will not have to spend your entire day (week, life) in a funk.
The weather is a perfect example. It has been less then ideal lately. But it doesn't have to ruin your day. Or month. Let's practice going with the flow and gaining some perspective.

Trust the Ground

"You're running and you're running and you're running away
  you're running and you're running and you're running away
  you're running and you're running, but you can't run away from yourself..."   Bob Marley

We love our stuff, don't we? We love to reminisce about the "good ol' days", relive tragedies, and erect elaborate defense mechanisms to prevent future hurt. But what good does this do us? If we can learn from our mistakes, the past is not a waste, but if we insist on carrying the past around with us we'll just end up sad and tired.

Today's practice is centered around the idea that having a solid connection to the earth will allow us stability, and with that stability the confidence and trust in ourselves to be able to move with surety through our lives. Life doesn't have to be a heartbreaking struggle. It may be sometimes but it is not the ultimate of living experiences. If we can learn to trust and rely on the ground beneath us we will walk taller, relax more deeply and be more spacious.

We will connect to the earth today and commit to it the baggage we think defines us. As we let it go we will be amazed at the freedom we can feel.