Things have a way of working out. 💚🙏
As much as we stress and toil over what happens around us and "to us"... We can really get caught up in a whirlwind of ... "why is this happening to me?" ... but,..
If we are really looking - Did something happen TO YOU? Or, have "things" in your life come to a point that the decisions and habits and patterns of your life are simply revealing the truth of your choices over time? The teachings of Yoga are SIMPLE... Did I say 'EASY'? no,.. not EASY. But, we are taught in the sutra - (chapter 2 specifically ) about practice and that we must find ease and be steady. We must practice with effort and ease. In recent study, I had an even deeper understanding of this teaching. The EFFORT, the steady part of this teaching has to do with our connectedness to the earth. How are you on the earth? WHO are you on this earth? One of my favorite quotes, teachings,... is something I learned while studying Anthroposophy, steiner and Waldorf Ed. - "BE WORTHY OF IMITATION"... It is a principal I lived in my daily life as a Waldorf teacher and something that I TRY each day to practice as a mother. How are you? When no one is watching? When you are talking to yourself? Are you kind to yourself? This week, we are practicing AHIMSA. Ahimsa is non-violence. Not harming yourself or others - We look through the lens of non-harming with what we eat, how we speak to others, as well as to ourselves and in how we care for the earth. Another word that I learned in Waldorf study is REVERENCE. My favorite story to share is handing out crayons in 1st grade, in the classroom that I held. 20 first grade students - a beautiful mix of boys and girls, all walks of life... In the mountains of Arizona. In this classroom, the way that we approached caring for "gifts" in the classroom was with REVERENCE. So, on a special day... I told a story about .. the bright bold sun and how much life she offers, the brilliance, the boldness - the glowing light. The gift of light and warmth and how the sun listens and gives. How the animal kingdom and plant kingdoms benefit, the yellow of the flowers and on the bees body. A beautiful story told to the children. At the end of the story, I walk around the classroom with a special basket filled with brand new YELLOW crayons - the wax shared from the bees - A huge GIFT! As I would approach each child, their eyes would be wide and their lips sealed - lovingly looking at this special and beautiful gift. First graders in the waldorf school begin with block crayons, therefore this beautiful yellow block of pure color is coming their way. The child, as if asked, opens their hands, ... forming a chalice to receive this offering. The child gazes at the crayon- imagining parts of the story told and also imagining that they will create a beautiful image on paper of something from their heart. The child closes their hands around the crayon and feels the texture, noticing the rectangular shape and says, "THANK YOU". THIS is reverence. Throughout the year, the children take good care of their crayons, their gifts,... they have special hand sewn crayon holders and they clean their crayons and use them in a way that preserves their beauty, they also share them if need be. Are you treating your life with reverence? Are you steady and at ease with the earth and yourself? Are you offering effort without worry of attaching to the end result? Are you doing these things with truth, without taking from others? Are you disciplined and do you feel content in your life? Are things messy and out of balance in your life or clean and pure? Are you holding too tightly to a person or "thing"... There are many ways to study Yoga,.. many paths that take us on the journey. The journey is inward - The journey is to the true self and sometimes the road may not be EASY... but the yogic teachings, in my opinion, are simple and if we are steady and at ease... if we practice principles like non-harming ( ahimsa) then we are more open to seeing that things "have a way of working out".... We feel less like " this is HAPPENING TO ME" and more at ease and steady,... connected to the earth below us. If we have reverence and practice aspects of yoga like - non attachment, there is a peace within that reveals itself. Take a breath... right now,... JUST CLOSE YOUR EYES,... take a deep breath and just sit for a moment. LOVE.
