This week, arguably, begins the holiday madness. I've always found it odd the way this time of year is anticipated. It is enjoyed by so many and yet creates so much stress; even in those who love it. Of course, I haven't always felt this way. At one point, I was a child.
This is the perfect time, now and for the next several months, to take an hour or so for yourself and prepare with a yoga class. I know that sounds like a shameless self promotion, but it isn't. Take any class that helps you feel grateful and at ease. If you can manage to cultivate one, the other is much easier to have. It is when you take a step back from extra activities because you're stressed and overwhelmed that yoga can be most valuable. When you commit to a regular practice, even if it's for 10 minutes at home, it can have a wide sweeping impact on your mental, emotional, and physical well being. It is when you are trying to take care of so many things that it becomes most important to take care of yourself.
One of the talented women I have been fortunate enough to meet in the advanced teacher training I am currently in, is Jennifer Venditti. She is opening a yoga studio in Glenville for those in the area, Lilananda Yoga . On her home page she has written words that get to my point : "One of the greatest things about yoga is that it will always be there for you. It's kind of like having the best friend you could possibly imagine. Always there ready to accept you and hold a space for you no matter where you are or where you're coming from. Whether you've never practiced before, if you haven't been on your mat in a very long time or if you practice every day, your practice is always there for you!"
I looked up the definitions of gratitude and appreciation because words said so often can sometimes become less meaningful. According to Google, gratitude is "the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness". The idea of returning kindness is what struck me here. I didn't know that was part of the definition and feeling behind the word. Most appropriate. And there's appreciation, which is "the recognition and enjoyment of the good qualities of someone or something".
I am grateful for many things in my life. One of them is when Izic gave me the list of things he's grateful for this morning, his family was the first thing and his video games weren't. I am so blessed to have such amazing people in my life. My love took care of me and everything over the weekend while I recovered from oral surgery. My daughter makes me smile and laugh every single day. She is amazing. Izic has been my teacher from day one and I can't imagine what my life would be without his having been in it.
As I have continued on my path of self exploration through a practice of yoga, I have been fortunate enough to have met some wonderful, inspiring yoga practitioners. I have spoken before of my teacher, Lauren Toolin. She said this once during a class and it has stayed with me: "Be grateful for everything in your life that has led you to this moment."
Everything. Who you are isn't just what you consider good things about yourself. You are not less for what you consider bad things about yourself. Let's try for grateful for everything. Let the lessons you learn in life inspire you to live better.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Monday, November 18, 2013
It's All Relative
Last week I was visiting my grandmother when she said, "Vanessa, you have your whole life ahead of you." I said, "Well, so do you." She meant it as a way of suggesting that I have so much time ahead of me that I can do anything with it. But, really, it is true of everyone. I had never thought of it that way before. You have your whole life ahead of you. This phrase has typically been reserved for young people, but if you can find space within yourself to accept that you really do still have your whole life ahead of you, you begin to increase your possibilities.
I've been spending so much time in the car lately, that I've been having most of my contemplative moments there. Last week, on my way to work I noticed, not for the first time, that people have the tendency to glob together when they drive. I've noticed this so many times before, and maybe you've had the experience when being passed by someone of speeding up without meaning to, or slowing down without realizing it. I think it interesting the extent to which we can become emotionally invested in other drivers. We have those moments of unaware speed changes because we drive relative to one another. We have been taught to drive aware of what the people driving around us are doing, because their decisions are based on what we are doing. So when we are trying to drive at a consistent speed, we use the objects around us to do that. When someone comes along who is driving much faster than ourselves, we will speed up without meaning to, because that car has become part of our relativity.
While observing my own driving relativity, I globed with two other vehicles. The choices to break the pattern are either to speed up or slow down. Speeding up can potentially lead to a race, so I slowed down. In a minute, we were all in our own space, at enough of a distance that I could resume my previous speed without the danger of getting globed with the same cars again.
This idea of relativity applies in other areas of our lives. Sangha is a yogic concept that means community. There is a great deal of importance placed on a gathering of like minded people, because we live relative to one another. Think about the people you are close to. Sometimes we must deal with people we don't want to because of certain circumstances in our lives. Some people we choose, for various reasons. Either way, who we associate with regularly will have an effect on our thoughts and behavior. Have you ever been around someone long enough to start picking up their verbal habits? We rub off on each other, whether we mean to or not.
You live your life relative to the time you have on this planet, in this form. You can look at the dwindling amount of years you have left and be daunted, allowing this vague knowledge of the "end" bog you down and prevent you from living fully. Or you can choose to look at the rest of you life as your whole life ahead of you.
This week we will practice with the intention of understanding that we live relative to everything, and opening up enough to be ourselves within that relativity. As we open to ourselves, we open to each other. Then we won't have to be daunted or upset by the passage of time, or even the movement of traffic. We will move with purpose through our lives by gradually becoming more and more aware of ourselves; taking decided action instead of mindless copying.
I've been spending so much time in the car lately, that I've been having most of my contemplative moments there. Last week, on my way to work I noticed, not for the first time, that people have the tendency to glob together when they drive. I've noticed this so many times before, and maybe you've had the experience when being passed by someone of speeding up without meaning to, or slowing down without realizing it. I think it interesting the extent to which we can become emotionally invested in other drivers. We have those moments of unaware speed changes because we drive relative to one another. We have been taught to drive aware of what the people driving around us are doing, because their decisions are based on what we are doing. So when we are trying to drive at a consistent speed, we use the objects around us to do that. When someone comes along who is driving much faster than ourselves, we will speed up without meaning to, because that car has become part of our relativity.
While observing my own driving relativity, I globed with two other vehicles. The choices to break the pattern are either to speed up or slow down. Speeding up can potentially lead to a race, so I slowed down. In a minute, we were all in our own space, at enough of a distance that I could resume my previous speed without the danger of getting globed with the same cars again.
This idea of relativity applies in other areas of our lives. Sangha is a yogic concept that means community. There is a great deal of importance placed on a gathering of like minded people, because we live relative to one another. Think about the people you are close to. Sometimes we must deal with people we don't want to because of certain circumstances in our lives. Some people we choose, for various reasons. Either way, who we associate with regularly will have an effect on our thoughts and behavior. Have you ever been around someone long enough to start picking up their verbal habits? We rub off on each other, whether we mean to or not.
You live your life relative to the time you have on this planet, in this form. You can look at the dwindling amount of years you have left and be daunted, allowing this vague knowledge of the "end" bog you down and prevent you from living fully. Or you can choose to look at the rest of you life as your whole life ahead of you.
This week we will practice with the intention of understanding that we live relative to everything, and opening up enough to be ourselves within that relativity. As we open to ourselves, we open to each other. Then we won't have to be daunted or upset by the passage of time, or even the movement of traffic. We will move with purpose through our lives by gradually becoming more and more aware of ourselves; taking decided action instead of mindless copying.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Contentment (or at least calm)
While driving to work recently, I realized I was feeling content and calm. It is a rare experience for me to exist without wandering around in my mind. I examined the experience and realized I could have it because I wasn't preoccupied with problems. Several things that had been weighing on my mind had been cleared up and therefore my ride to work was unburdened. I went into the day without any preconceptions of what it might contain. I wasn't dreading anything, nor was I anticipating anything.
Expectation and anticipation reared their ugly heads two days later at work. I encountered a patient that I expected something from and was disappointed when the situation turned out to be very different. It was with my expectation that the problem lie. The patient was as she was. I brought my preconception to the situation and had a negative emotional reaction because she didn't live up to it.
In addition to expectation and anticipation, going back in your mind to review something you experienced will prevent you from being present, and therefore rob you of any chance to be content. As I thought about why I was able to feel calm and content, I was taken away from the experience. As I move mentally into the past, I am subject to the emotional reactions of the past. As I relive those emotional reactions, I strengthen them, and move even farther from contentment.
Recently I have asked you at the beginning of class to notice and honor whatever you brought into the room with you. Your experiences and how you feel about them will color your practice. This is also true of any encounter in your life.
Sometimes we have emotional reactions that are so deeply ingrained that we are not really sure why we have them. I spoke a couple weeks ago about the idea of judgment versus discernment. Those ideas are operating at a level of aware decision making. But sometimes we have emotional reactions that are not so easily seen and understood. We have lower levels of mind that are functioning all the time and reacting to stimuli. So, not only do we react on the level that is related to our experience and memory but also on a level that is more instinctual; more guttural. I noticed it when I worked this weekend for people I had never met before. There were those who made me feel at home and those two made me feel like a stranger. It's not that anyone was unwelcoming or unkind but that there was a reaction in myself, probably set up when I was a child, to what I consider comforting and warm and what I don't. So even when we don't mean to, we walking to a given situation with a level of pre-programming that is going to affect the way we perceive; the way we feel in that situation.
We aren't always going to feel content. I noticed a couple days after I had that brief and lovely feeling of contentment that I left the house with a weight, so I was unable to have contentment. And I encountered things that were upsetting. But the mark of a regular yoga practice is, in part, your recovery time. When you're taken away from calm, how quickly can you return to it? Our practice this week will give you some tools that you can utilize when you're feeling upset to bring yourself back to that place settled, centered calmness and hopefully move you closer to contentment. We will practice a slow flow, without any anticipation, expectation or preconceptions to color the experience of the practice. Keeping the mind centered on the flow the breath while matching the movements of the body to that flow will allow us to be calm and centered, acting as a cohesive unit.
Expectation and anticipation reared their ugly heads two days later at work. I encountered a patient that I expected something from and was disappointed when the situation turned out to be very different. It was with my expectation that the problem lie. The patient was as she was. I brought my preconception to the situation and had a negative emotional reaction because she didn't live up to it.
In addition to expectation and anticipation, going back in your mind to review something you experienced will prevent you from being present, and therefore rob you of any chance to be content. As I thought about why I was able to feel calm and content, I was taken away from the experience. As I move mentally into the past, I am subject to the emotional reactions of the past. As I relive those emotional reactions, I strengthen them, and move even farther from contentment.
Recently I have asked you at the beginning of class to notice and honor whatever you brought into the room with you. Your experiences and how you feel about them will color your practice. This is also true of any encounter in your life.
Sometimes we have emotional reactions that are so deeply ingrained that we are not really sure why we have them. I spoke a couple weeks ago about the idea of judgment versus discernment. Those ideas are operating at a level of aware decision making. But sometimes we have emotional reactions that are not so easily seen and understood. We have lower levels of mind that are functioning all the time and reacting to stimuli. So, not only do we react on the level that is related to our experience and memory but also on a level that is more instinctual; more guttural. I noticed it when I worked this weekend for people I had never met before. There were those who made me feel at home and those two made me feel like a stranger. It's not that anyone was unwelcoming or unkind but that there was a reaction in myself, probably set up when I was a child, to what I consider comforting and warm and what I don't. So even when we don't mean to, we walking to a given situation with a level of pre-programming that is going to affect the way we perceive; the way we feel in that situation.
We aren't always going to feel content. I noticed a couple days after I had that brief and lovely feeling of contentment that I left the house with a weight, so I was unable to have contentment. And I encountered things that were upsetting. But the mark of a regular yoga practice is, in part, your recovery time. When you're taken away from calm, how quickly can you return to it? Our practice this week will give you some tools that you can utilize when you're feeling upset to bring yourself back to that place settled, centered calmness and hopefully move you closer to contentment. We will practice a slow flow, without any anticipation, expectation or preconceptions to color the experience of the practice. Keeping the mind centered on the flow the breath while matching the movements of the body to that flow will allow us to be calm and centered, acting as a cohesive unit.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Fall Clean Up
We're moving into the long dark and cold of winter. A time of year when it is easy to wallow in any baggage we insist on carrying around. So we will practice twists and forward bends with the intention of freeing ourselves from emotional and physical toxins that have built up.
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