1) Whatever you do in life ..... Breathe... Breathe deep... Inhale.... Exhale.... Repeat
Might sound so easy. Right? I mean if we didn't do it we wouldn't be alive. Except I wasn't breathing. And in many places I had ceased to live. Really live... Really Breathe
I couldn't remember when the last time I had stopped and taken a purposeful breath, or when had I paid attention to how shallow I was breathing.
SO right now. Pause.... Pause right now.. Get into a comfortable position. Sit. Sit still. Still your mind and your body. Wait a minute.. OK.. at least 30 seconds..
Now .... Now take a deep breathe in from your nose... Hold it..... Slowly let it out...A teacher of mine would say that one is to breathe deeply and intentionally 3 times every 31 minutes. I might not make it every 31 minutes, but throughout the day; I stop, pause, and take three deep breaths. If something is stressful or I am not sure how I would really like to respond... I stop, pause and take a few deep breaths. My mind feels clearer. My soul feels steadier. My body feels more at ease.
2) Seriously now... After breathing... Here is the number 2 absolute favorite thing yoga has taught me.... When things get hard........................... Smile ........ Smile big ...
I hear it in my head now and this I have to say has revolutionized my life. When I remember this one (maybe even more than breathing..lol) my life is soooooo sooooo sooooo much better.
On the mat... when the pose gets hard and my ego wants to get it right, and get it "right" without having to make any modifications... oh the ego dies hard. I take a deep breathe in and I put a smile on my face and even let myself fall out of my attempt. I give myself a break. I smile. Take myself less seriously....Surprisingly enough... actually once the smile is on my face, the posture is seemingly easier...
Off the mat this has been amazing for my soul and for my daily life. I feel like a different person. I will actually just use the word "smile," as a mantra on some days and it is AMAZING at what that does.... Well, Mims what if it isn't a "smiling" kind of moment. Oh, there is an essence to this that transcends what the moment contains.
For instance, it is August 8, 2015... On August 8, 2014, I was in Rhode Island. On that day I was sitting next to a most precious person to my heart and my life. I could touch her still. I could look at her face. I could hear her voice. On that day, while days were slipping away, I did think we still had many more days.
Today has been a hard day.
This morning I sat and thought that in less than three weeks, I will touch a day that will mark the one year passing of my most beautiful auntie. A woman who was my person. A woman who could make you definitely smile and certainly calm your heart. She was a strong and beautiful and immense human being. Her absence has stolen my breath and knocked me in the gut pretty significantly.
But this morning as I sat, and I breathed .. exhale one... two.. three.... four.... inhale one... two... three. four... Tears would slip down my face but a smile would emerge as I looked up into the clouds and closed my eyes and let the smile sooth my soul.
Smile... Smile when the posture is hard, smile when life is hard... smile. It is a stance that as I have brought into practice I have been stunned by the transformation of self. I am more at ease in my own skin. I am less tightly wound. There's something about it....
Don't take my word for it.... Put it into practice...ON and OFF the mat... Smile more... Walk around with a gleam in your eye and a smile on your heart and face. Watch what happens inside.
3) It isn't always hard... "Lie on a bolster and breathe." Sometimes you have to go easy on yourself... This is good for you.. And very good for your ego. (OK.... very good for my ego) and my body and my soul and my mind .... you get it... :)
There are a couple classes that I make time for during the month even if I can't weekly. They are what I affectionately call.... "Lie on a bolster and breathe class".. aka Restorative Yoga.(So excited for this to be my next modular of training.. I believe in this modality of yoga practice.) There simply are not the words. I won't even try to explain what this one hour does for me. A) I don't leave feeling like I worked up a sweat = ego thinking if schedule is tight it is the class I can miss. (FYI ego is wrong... If life schedule is tight this is the one class I shouldn't miss!)
The body, the mind, the soul... needs to lie on a bolster and breathe and feel supported. Give yourself a break.
4)When you want to look to the left or to the right and compare.. close those eyes... This is your practice.. aka your life... Live and enjoy
Perhaps one of my favorite statements in yoga class. "This is your (YOUR) practice." It is mine! Compare not... There will always be someone whose body is more fit, there will always be someone whose body is less fit, there will always be a yogi/yogini in class who can move their body in the most magnificent of ways, there will always be a first time student or a beginner or someone just trying to do their best.
Close your eyes if you have to... this is the moment where it gets to be about you... MAKE SURE YOU TAKE THIS ONE OFF THE MAT!!!!! Make moments where in life you live your life. Compare not. It is deadly. That stinking thinking will only mess with your heart and your mind and everything else. Find a mantra... Oh, I know! How about ... "SMILE!" Just that as your mind wanders as it will as do your eyes... close eyes and repeat after me... "SMILE!" "SMILE!" "SMILE!"
5) Sometimes you just can't do something... modify..... There's always a way.. Give yourself options.. Modify!
I'm pretty spoiled. I have great teachers who know all kinds of tricks. Whether it is using a prop; such as a strap or a bolster or a block or a blanket modifications rule. Not to the ego but that thing needs to go anyway.... It has taken me a while to be really ok with when I need a block or a strap. Oh, I've used it.. BUT my mind and those gremlins. Except that is what modifications are for... and I wish that in life grabbing a block or strap or some other "prop" would be so easy.
When I just can't do something.. a question, that can be substituted into my being instead of berating myself, is what can I do? And is there something that can help me? Find the something or someone and ask... Ask for help...
My yoga training had a lot... and I mean A LOT of Breath of Fire... and I sucked at it... So finally I just spoke up... A) I wasn't the only one who had questions and B) it felt exposing at first and amazing after I got over myself.....
When in life something just can't be done ... ask yourself what can and go do that.... and ask for help and support along the way.... Blocks and bolsters and straps and blankets come in all shapes and sizes... Friends and family and teachers and peers and therapists.... You might have to ask or get up and go get one from the "prop" wall but make the effort (both on and off the mat) it does wonders.
I might spend hours in the studio but I live off the mat.... That life on and off is expanding and I am full of joy and wonder and awe ... OH... and smiles and breathe and new friends and loads of support......
When unsure... When full of questions...
Breathe....Lie on a bolster...Get Support, Smile.... Relax and breathe..........
No comments:
Post a Comment