doing small things great

We look around a room and see someone in an amazing pose and think "I want to be like that." We hear of a friend going on an amazing trip and think "I want to do that." We see a colleague at work get honored for their achievement and wonder "how do I do that." It is so easy to get caught up in the idea of doing great things or being the best at something that we can loose site of our priorities and the actual joy in doing.

I have been teaching for a few months now and am loving it. Each week gets better and I become more comfortable. I took a class with one of my favorite teachers the other day and was marveling at "how great" she was and wishing I could be like that. I started to compare myself and think about all the things I wasn't doing that she was doing. I then came across the following quote and it helped me re-align my focus.

We can't always do great things, we can do small things great.

As I pondered this quote I realized I didn't need to be great. I didn't need to be the best teacher. I needed to focus on the small things that I could do great while teaching a class which in the end would make the experience great. As I taught class last night I focused my energy on doing these small things with greatness and love. The energy put into the small things made the entire bigger experience - GREAT.

doing nothing

It is so easy to get caught up in "doing." I always seem to have a list of things I need to do (laundry, cleaning, work, dishes, etc..) and a list of things I want to do (run, hike, yoga, ready, cook.) At the end of the day I tend to judge the value of the day by what I accomplished - what I got done.

This Sunday was the most perfect autumn day. I was up early and did a number of things - long walk, made breakfast, laundry, assisted a class. I hadn't taken a morning asana class like I normally do and figured I would go to one later in the day and get that done. After that I would maybe clean the house and then make dinner. I would have a productive afternoon.

I came home from the store and it was absolutely beautiful out. We decided to make a fire outside and have lunch. As I sat and enjoyed the warmth of the sun (and the fire) I started thinking about how much I felt like I still had to do that day. I knew I had already had a very productive (even busy) day at that point yet at the same time I still felt like I had not done enough. I felt like there was still so much to do. I was focusing so much on crossing things off my list, crossing off my daily accomplishments so I could say "I did all of this, look how productive I was" that I wasn't truly enjoying the moment. I realized I need to let go of the voices in my head, my lists, my need to accomplish things and needed to just do nothing. Just be. Be present in the glorious day and just enjoy. For the next hour my husband and I just sat in front of the fire on this most perfect autumn day and did nothing. We did "nothing" yet nothing became the most important something. We just enjoyed. We were present within ourselves and with each other.

Take time to do nothing. Take time to silence the voices and the lists and enjoy the moment and just be. Do nothing, it can be the most important something.

appreciate the moment

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.

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.