Hi ,
Have you ever looked forward to that holiday, perhaps a yoga retreat, so you:
- Have some timeout from the regular rhythms of life.
- Have all three meals cooked for you by someone else.
- Just show up and spend time on just you.
But of course when that time rolls around, the reality of that idyllic plan goes out the window and instead it looks something like this:
- Things are malfunctioning on every level with life.
- Huge management decisions are taking place at work.
- Your monkey mind is completely in a high-stress, high-anxiety state.
Yup.
That was me last week.
So when you’re in a situation like that - you have a choice.
Do you wish that reality away with thoughts like “I wish this wasn’t happening”… “If only things were different”… or do you suck it up and just work with what you’ve got. Or at least TRY.
Easier said than done.
I was at Sarah Powers’ level 2 Yin teacher training in the French countryside last week, and I could have chosen to remain in my yoga and meditation bubble since I’d already booked this time off months in advance. But knowing there were important management decisions being made at work that week, I chose to take a few hours out of my yoga training time to spend time with my team (with my teacher’s approval of course).
Side bar: we’re also building a brand new apartment from the ground up, but that’s a different story for another time - just to say - there’s A LOT going on!
Some lamented it was such a shame my break was interrupted, but the way I see it is: these practices are meant to support us through all the sh*t life throws our way.
That “perfect, idyllic situation” is only ever a fleeting moment in time anyway. So what better place to be than that perfect, idyllic French countryside while working through all of the anxieties and challenges that work and life are throwing at you?
Don’t get me wrong. That restless mind was still a constant struggle, and it was one of the more challenging times I’ve had away on a retreat. But I was grateful to have had that timeout from the daily grind, to be aware of just how restless my mind was yet still have the time, space and practices to feel into all of it.
It made me realise:
1. There’s no “perfect”
There will never be that “perfect time”, “perfect plan”, “perfect situation”… that’s all expectations we put on ourselves or on the situation.
2. Allow what is to be what is
Be with that time/ plan/ situation exactly as it is without wishing it was anything other than it is. You’ll get to a place of equanimity much faster, with a lot less internal struggle.
3. This is why we practice
It’s similar to any yoga or meditation practice. We turn up on the mat everyday and work with what our mind or body presents that day, without wishing it was anything other than what it is.
From here, we learn to bring this “no judging, no fixing, no comparing”mind into all aspects of life.
That’s one way we bring our yoga/meditation practices off the mat and into regular life.
Sounds simple, but simple may not always be easy.
Keep going.
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