No more multi-tasking!

It’s a crazy, busy life we live. Most of us face dauntingly long daily task lists (even if we don’t actually write them down) – from the moment we open our eyes in the morning until we finally flop down in a tired mess again at night. In my life (and I’m guessing in yours too) Murphy also loves to dish up the odd surprise or two as the day progresses – just to keep things interesting. So we end up multi-tasking – especially us as women. We don’t find any abnormality in answering the mobile phone (pinched between shoulder and ear), chopping up a nutritious salad, helping Johnny with his homework, shouting at the dog for chewing up hubby’s slipper and half-listening to your youngest daughter’s plans for her birthday – all at the same time. We’re women, right? We’re strong that way, aren’t we? We pride ourselves in our ability to multi-task. We can do this.

The attitude of yogic gratitude

After a little over one week of missed yoga asanas (due to time constraints – though I did ensure that I began each day with 15 minutes of meditation), I entered back into my practice with full force. I was guided through gracefully ass-kicking flows (oh, sweet irony! And how blissfully sore I now am!) from dear friends of mine, Andrea and Jeffrey, who own a yoga shala (www.satsangyogasc.com) in Charleston, South Carolina. They are two of my greatest, most beloved teachers, not just in yoga, but in friendship and in life.

What is it that makes their space so full and precious and sacred, aside from the chanting, readings, and satsang?

Back home, in Los Angeles, there have been people I’ve practiced next to for years whose names I still don’t know. I say this not to lay grievances at the doorstep of my yoga studio. It’s only an observation.

At my friends’ yoga studio in Charleston, at least one person introduced him/herself to me each class. After practice, they would greet me again by name, bow in Namaste, and thank me with genuine, smiling kindness.

I wondered for a brief moment why they thanked me. I can’t recall even exchanging eye contact during the last hour and fifteen minutes, much less assist with any discernible moral or physical support. Yet I noticed that I felt thankfulness towards them, too. I was grateful to simply be in their presence.

I realized that there needn’t be a specific, concrete reason to practice and express appreciation to another. There are a multitude of them to choose from. For showing up. For sharing spiritual energy and oxygen and sweat. For communal laughter, meditation, and breath. For walking this earth together, even if we are so much more often than not miles and states and countries apart.

Gratitude doesn’t need to happen after receiving something. In my humble opinion, it is a delicious feast best served when it is cultivated without expectation. It may not always be easy to offer up such a meal, but perhaps that’s why they call it a practice. 🙂

The following are a few lessons that have recently popped up in my life, gentle and perfectly placed reminders of simple ways to practice gratitude:

 1. Upon waking, make your bed and think of two things you’re grateful for. (This I learned from the director of a week-long special needs camp at which I served as art therapist.)

2. Instead of asking, “What can I gain?” ask yourself, “How can I serve?” (This I learned from the hugging saint, Amma, from whom I received a hug. And a mantra!)

3. Smile at someone else before they can smile at you. (This I learn from my best friends’ children 🙂

4. Watch the clouds go by. (This I remembered from being in the midst of them on a recent plane ride.)

Just sit with it…

Have you ever been stuck in emotional and mental discomfort, or even outright pain? Of course you have. Being human means that we are going to experience the full spectrum of emotions… the “bad” ones too. But what are we to do when we experience any kind of emotional discomfort or turmoil?

Time to Face the Change

For someone who, for the last few years at least, is often throwing herself into capricious situations – of the travel, work, and romance variety, to name a few – I’m quite the scaredy cat when it comes to change. Where others might discover excitement and thrill in the prospect of newness, I’m more prone to anxiety and fantasizing about hiding under the familiar safety of the covers in my childhood bedroom.

Big Magic!

There aren’t many things in life that I find more delightful than reading a really good book. I’m also a big sucker for self-help books. Hmmm… maybe I should call them insiprational books… because it is not exactly the same as a self-help book. Self-help books too often reek of being written purely for monetary gain, and they’re often infused with clever things that a dozen other authors have published before them. Nothing new. Inspirational books, on the other hand, ooze with timeless wisdom, personal encounters of “normal people” of infinite inspiration and the feeling that you can make great things happen in your own life.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert is a book that ticks all the boxes for me.

Mindfulness matters on the mat

Mindfulness is a key principle in yoga as a lifestyle. In simple terms, it means being present in any particular moment – whether you’re washing the dishes, helping your teenager with homework, standing in line at the supermarket or having a conversation with your best and dearest. It is a simple thing to do, but certainly not easy.

Fix your chaturanga

Your yoga teacher is instructing the first sun salutation of your Monday night asana practice. You’re in a nice high plank, and you’re quite chuffed with the straight line of your body. You hear her voice from the front: “And from high plank, exhale down into chaturanga”. As you start lowering your body towards the floor, you feel those elbows doing more than just bending… they’re just about to collapse; as is your entire trunk. You feel the strain between your shoulder blades and your deltoids are protesting profusely. And there is a very uncomfortable arch in your lower back. Damn, Daniel! When is she going to get to upward facing dog and downward facing dog?

Calm in the chaos

 

I often find myself daydreaming about living in a quieter, slower era. I’m not exactly sure which era, but I keep imagining a serene English countryside. A simple existence on a small farm would have done just fine. Early mornings would see me fetching the eggs from the chicken coop and milking “Butter” and “Cream” – the two family cows. After breakfast I would kneel in the soft soil of the vegetable patch to tend to the carrots, tomatoes, peas, spinach and herbs. Lunch would be a good and proper hour – maybe followed by a little nap under a big old tree next to the house. My daughters would run around merrily in their hand-sewn frocks, playing with their handmade dolls. Evenings would be a cozy family affair around a simple meal at a scrubbed kitchen table. After dinner, hubby and I would tuck the children in before settling in our chairs before the fireplace. He would work on his woodcarving while I crochet a blanket for our bed. It would be lovely, and peaceful, and slow.

Working the gratitude list

A few months ago I started a gratitude list. I was feeling particularly blue and down that day; really quite sorry for own sorry arse. A fellow student at the Yoga Teacher Training course picked up on my bad vibes, and offered some really good advice: write down everything that you can think of for which you are grateful.