Right-Side Upside, Inside Out

Turn it around, so your head is lower than your heart, and see what happens.

Take some time in an inverted pose, whether a sustained headstand (Sirsasana) or a simple forward bend (Uttanasana), and let it happen.  I don’t know what “it” will be, you’ll have to wait and find out for yourself.  Follow your breath as it moves in a different direction, inhales growing toward the sky and exhales flowing toward the ground.  Work through any uneasiness, while staying safe in the pose, and watch what occurs in your mind and body as the uneasiness fades.  What replaces it?

One of the gifts of yoga is an increased awareness of your body and how it speaks to you.  Turn it upside down and listen.

Grand Opening

Open yourself to the world around you.  Interact with people in line at the grocery store, smile at the person you pass on the street.  Hear the sounds around you, birdsong and train whistle.  Open yourself and take it in, fill yourself with warm feelings and lovely sounds, beautiful sights and delicious smells; then close your eyes and be still, letting it soak into your cells and become a part of who you are. It is there you will find peace. Om shanti shanti shanti.

Accepting/Taking

The Universe provides everything we need. It offers air to breathe, food to eat, energy, warmth, and infinite  Love.  The key to the Universe is learning how to accept what is given to us without taking more than we need.

            Our Earth gives us food, but we should not be gluttons.  We are offered fuel for our cars and utilities, yet we should use it with restraint.  Energy bounces around and through us, zipping around stars and through cells, and we must learn to absorb and use this precious gift to its fullest extent, for peace and not for personal gain.

            Accept what you are given, and take only what you need.  

Choices

We make choices every day, many times a day.  Chicken or fish; Shop-Rite or Stop and Shop; Harvard or Yale. Some of our choices will affect us deeply and some choices won’t matter in a few minutes. 

            Some choices we make with our heads and some with our hearts.  Through the practice of yoga, we also learn to make choices by listening to our bodies.  Is it a backbend sort of day? Will I choose Sarvangasana (shoulder stand) or Viparita Karani (legs up the wall) as my inversion?  An inquiry into our body’s desires will provide information so we can choose the best asana for right now. Perhaps if the same choice was presented to your logical mind, you would decline an active pose because you had been feeling tired that day, yet the active pose might be just what your body is crying for to chase those cobwebs away.

            Make a choice, take a stand, decide.  Use your head, keep an open heart, and listen to your body.  It’s a gift from yoga to you. 

Rain

         It rained yesterday, and is raining today.  The dry, dry earth is slurping it up, and the world is poised to return to green.  Dust has settled and flowers lift their heads.  Farmers and gardeners rest their hoses and watch as their rain barrels refill.

It will rain again tomorrow.  Hair will stay frizzed and wool rugs will start to smell like wet dog as the rain sinks deeper and the trees drink it up, their roots like straws.  I look forward to the sun coming out again, and believe I will actually hear the crackle of late-summer growth as the parched brown earth rejuvenates itself.   It may look gloomy outside, but really, it is a joy.  If it seems too dark, just close your eyes and listen for the joyful music.  Rain.

Om shanti. Peace.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Turn it around

Instant access to current events and unbridled sharing of personal information often bring instant access to negativity.  I have a Facebook “Friend” whose status updates are, six times out of ten, about the bad things happening to her.  She laments, Why do bad things seem to find me so easily? and I hate waiting, and I feel completely run down.  Interspersed are happier thoughts, mostly about her children, and comments about how she plans to spend her day. 

Moaning and groaning may get you sympathy, but harboring negative thoughts – and even worse, putting them in writing -- about yourself and others, is a sure way to keep yourself down in the dumps.  Some people advocate writing down 3-10 positive thoughts every day, either first thing in the morning or last thing at night.  A good idea, but too easy to skip.  I say,

Catch yourself in a put-down of yourself or others, and immediately turn it around in your head.

As a trite example, “My thighs are huge!” morphs into, “My thighs are strong and get me places with ease!”

Try it.