Posts Tagged ‘pain’

A New President!

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

Every four years the country gets a ‘do-over’ or not, depending on your point of view, your current status in life. We get to determine who we would like to lead us on a  path that takes our loved ones, families and friends down that road of life that is so full of potential.  We hope that the ‘country’ will provide us with all the tools necessary to bring us security, prosperity and at least the hope of health.  We are fortunate, we are blessed.  And as someone who has seen misery and poverty up close, it cannot be stressed enough how blessed we are.  With the amazing amount of resources at our disposal, it is a shame that ALL of us cannot have whatever we need or desire.

But I guess that isn’t the plan…the plan is that whoever has the drive or the motivation to go out and get what they want or desire, has a better than average chance of succeeding. If you are the one lying around perishing on your doorstep, feeling anguish over your neighbors latest flat screen when your latest accomplishment was acquiring a color tv, then it is certain that you shall continue to perish in that comfortable anguish.

We all have the power to take into our own hands our health and destiny. It is not pre-written, it is not preordained. Yes, your circumstances are preordained, but what you do with them is your choice. Everyone is given faulty circumstances, in one way or another. We must strive and climb our way to our success.

Our health is on our hands, our peace is in our hands, our outlook upon life is in our hands. And again and again, it becomes evident that those with the most positive outlook in life are the ones that find their success. The answer to almost all of our problems lies in our ability to free ourselves from the cumbersome burdens that bind us to this planet. Yes, those pesky ‘things.’ Not that we should give ‘things’ up, but we can certainly view them within the parameters of their usefulness, rather than allowing them to define us.

This frame of mind is actually not that difficult to come about, for as I said, it is within our hands, and feet, and torso, and spine. Okay…I’ll say it plainly, Yoga. If you aren’t already doing some meditation or mind-body exercise, then start. Today. Now. Allow yourself to feel that happiness of you giving yourself up to something more powerful than yourself. Realize your own potential, and become submerged in the world of happiness. it is right there, for all of us to access and reach.

It has nothing to do with who our president is, or nothing to do with what you or your neighbors own, or nothing to with the fallen economy. Your surroundings are in your control only to the extent of whether or not the dishes are washed. The rest we can only try to influence or make better, and we may succeed, or we may not.

But we always have a better than average chance when our body is working properly, and our mind is at its most productive. That is our gift, a creative mind with the potential to be our most powerful ally in life’s journey. Meditate and free your mind, do some asanas and free your joints from pain. Allow the oxygen to flow freely through your muscles and organs. You will be free, you will feel the strength that comes with good health. You may discover other things that you can influence, or some that you just can’t. But we learn to accept what cannot change, and we learn to subtly nudge other things into place. There will be more smiles, and more peace. Congratulations on a new President!

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I Admit It, I’m Not Perfect

Friday, December 5th, 2008

I stand in front of a class everyday, or almost everyday, and wonder why anyone would choose to listen to what I say.  Its like playing Simon Says…and I’m Simon, and even scratching my nose becomes something to imitate. Its a pretty intimidating place to be, when all of your actions and movements are something to be copied.

uh….no, please don’t stand bend like that, it looks painful…

It doesn’t matter how many times I say ‘please bend your knee in this asana, it will help straighten the spine.’  Someone  always wants their body to stretch the same way as mine, or their neighbor, or that really cool acrobat in Cirque Du Soleil.  And there they stand, awkwardly stretching themselves forward, their shoulders curled, their chin reaching desperately foward, their belly caved in.  Ouch!  It doesn’t look good, it doesn’t feel good, it isn’t doing ANYONE any good.  Ease off and breathe.  That is what it is all about.

Now I don’t stretch to my full length as I instruct, I stretch only as much as the least flexible person in that class.  I wobble incessantly during a balancing pose (and sometimes without even trying) and I loudly announce all the strange sounds my bones and muscles make while I move through an asana. I’m not perfect, okay, I don’t have the ideal form, and possibly I never will. But I sure do feel good, and I smile a whole lot more than so many others I know.  And if you can do that, smile, I mean….then you’ve got good form. Perfect form, in fact. Its the smile that’ll give you away as a true yogi or yogini.

I have perhaps wandered along different streams and paths, but I’m on the same journey as the rest of the world.  So don’t copy my form, don’t try to look like me, just listen to my words. In my words I share the wisdom of all my teachers and gurus and guides.

Journey on…just don’t let it pain!

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