I love this time of year. The sunrises are amazing! Each morning I am reminded how important it is to truly be in the moment. I come in to work and open my blinds wide in anticipation of the painting that nature will create for me. It happens and disappears so quickly. The purples that turn into reds and oranges with hints of gold. If I turn away for just for a moment to pick up my tea I can miss the experience. Tomorrow there will be another painting created for me. It may be equally amazing yet it will be different than today and I will be different.
Remember to stop and pause. Be in the moment. Appreciate where you are at this very moment. It all changes so quickly.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
softening
Softening, opening to grace, it is the 1st principle of Anusara Yoga and something that is so easy to skip over in our practice and in our daily life.
Today in my practice we were working on outer spiral in parsvokansana. So many people go into the pose with a negative viewpoint and are hard. They think that it will be easier if they barely square the front leg or they go the opposite root and bend over then try to force the front leg down. One of the keys to the pose is to start by softening. To breath in, to allow the front leg to soften into the hip, to descend towards the ground. There is an immense amount of space that is created by doing this. The pose becomes a real hip opener when this is done (of course with maintaining true muscular energy in the back leg and alignment.) This space allows you to outer spiral the front leg and really open up - open up the hips, open up the torso, open the heart, expand and feel the pose. If we dont soften the experience is no where near as enjoyable, freeing or open.
As I left class I started thinking about how this truly relates to our day to day life and was reflecting on how things have changed for me at work since I began practicing yoga. If we approach what we perceive as a difficult situation with a hardened attitude the experience is usually difficult. If we step back, breath, and then approach the situation we have a very different experience.
Through my yoga I have learned this and have seen what a dramatic difference it has made on how I handle the chaos of the work day. Things that use to get me worked up and crazy now seem so much easier. The constant craze I use to feel is no longer there. When I look at the reports I see that all the numbers are still there. It isn't that I'm doing less (I'm not), its that my approach has changed. There is a softeness. When a problem arises I don't go full force like a bull in the china store, I take time and breath.
How much easier life would be if we all stepped back, took a breath and softened.
Today in my practice we were working on outer spiral in parsvokansana. So many people go into the pose with a negative viewpoint and are hard. They think that it will be easier if they barely square the front leg or they go the opposite root and bend over then try to force the front leg down. One of the keys to the pose is to start by softening. To breath in, to allow the front leg to soften into the hip, to descend towards the ground. There is an immense amount of space that is created by doing this. The pose becomes a real hip opener when this is done (of course with maintaining true muscular energy in the back leg and alignment.) This space allows you to outer spiral the front leg and really open up - open up the hips, open up the torso, open the heart, expand and feel the pose. If we dont soften the experience is no where near as enjoyable, freeing or open.
As I left class I started thinking about how this truly relates to our day to day life and was reflecting on how things have changed for me at work since I began practicing yoga. If we approach what we perceive as a difficult situation with a hardened attitude the experience is usually difficult. If we step back, breath, and then approach the situation we have a very different experience.
Through my yoga I have learned this and have seen what a dramatic difference it has made on how I handle the chaos of the work day. Things that use to get me worked up and crazy now seem so much easier. The constant craze I use to feel is no longer there. When I look at the reports I see that all the numbers are still there. It isn't that I'm doing less (I'm not), its that my approach has changed. There is a softeness. When a problem arises I don't go full force like a bull in the china store, I take time and breath.
How much easier life would be if we all stepped back, took a breath and softened.
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