I recall my first yoga teacher, Fern, being surprised when a few of us talked about feeling over stimulated during the holiday season. She said she loved the energy, the lights, the joy, and would simply put her earplugs in, go to the mall and breathe it all in!
I guess, with or without the physical earplugs, we could all practice this filtering approach – taking in all the good and joyful parts of these next few weeks, while preserving our peace in whatever means we have perfected over our months and years of practice.
Is it as simple as staying inwardly focused? We are often able to achieve that in class – turning off other students’ movements, not focusing on the music when it doesn’t serve or enhance our practice, guiding our thoughts back to the present when we notice they’ve wondered on.
It sounds easy, but I was in a crowded store on Saturday, and felt very rushed – it seemed as if we were risking permanent ankle damage if we didn’t get our cart to a side aisle, and quickly! So, feeling this, knowing this, sensing this – would just breathing and staying focused on my own behavior suffice? What other options are there? Even commenting to my husband seems to direct my energy to the negative versus remaining unattached to these external distractions.
So, I had to remind myself of two core yoga principles in Sutras 1.12-1.16: Practice (abhyasa) and Non-attachment (vairagya). It’s also important to recall Sutra 1.14 – “when that practice is done for a long time, without a break, and with sincere devotion, then the practice becomes a firmly rooted, stable and solid foundation.”
We are fortunate to have many holiday seasons that provide us with these “opportunities to practice.”
Namaste,
Michele
Michele
Jessica
