Happy Monday!
For those of you that have practiced with me before, you may know that I don’t plan my classes. I planned my first three classes when became a teacher 10 years ago and had to throw out the script two out of the three times. The first class I ever taught I expected a small class but my friends and fellow teachers in California showed up to support me. Talk about intimidating! The other two classes the students that showed up either needed a softer or more challenging class than I had planned or the energy of the day didn’t suit the script! I had to trust my intuition.
How often does that happen in life? Where what you plan doesn’t always align with how things feel in the moment. Were you the kid that laid out their outfit for school the night before? I was, but when I woke up my mood didn’t always match the outfit. It’s a silly example, but it’s important to remain flexible in our minds and to flow in alignment with the present moment. Even an outfit can both reflect and strengthen our inner power for the day. Colors coincide with our energy centers (chakras), which represent different mental/emotional qualities. So when you are called to put on that yellow shirt trust it. Maybe you need a boost in confidence that day or maybe you want to share that inner power that is shining bright inside of you. Or red…maybe you are called to ground or root your decisions or want to connect more deeply with your family or tribe. Green, feeling into a deeper sense of love and compassion, or overcoming grief, etc. If blue calls to you that could be the need to express ones truth or creativity, the color could support you with public speaking or performance. Trust your intuition with the simple decisions/choices in life, and you will learn to trust yourself with the bigger ones.
When you feel like you are paddling up river, maybe there is a way to reach your goal that flows more easily and freely. Do you need to work so hard? When things feel unclear or forced, maybe you need to pause. Perhaps there is another pathway more aligned to you. Today we had a very focused and strong practice which kept us in the flow. My teacher Diana Christinson used to say, “no dinking around.” This meant to stay focused on your breath and take control of your mind by not allowing your thoughts to wander and take you out of the present moment. It was mental training.
Today, when we began, I was challenged with not knowing where to lead everyone both in inspiration and in the flow. Instead of fearing this, I chose to trust intuition because it always works out. In fact, it usually works out better because I surrender my mental body and allow to moment to guide me which meets the broader needs of the group beyond what I think.
When we started practice, I noticed a spider in the corner joyfully bouncing up and down on its thread. It made me laugh and surrender into trust more deeply. With that inspiration, the children’s story “The Very Busy Spider,” came into my mind. This is about a spider at a farm who was building a web. All the farm animals wanted to meet the spider and each offered her an opportunity for a fun distraction. The spider never answered, she was too busy spinning her web. Of course by the end of the book, evening arrives, the web is fully spun with a fly caught in the center and she was resting.
Here is the link:
On Friday we talked about having fun, but doing so from a mature and grounded space vs. a space of avoidance or distraction. We have our moments to work and our moments to play, with mastery being to have fun on the journey and allowing even work to be play. Today we focused our energy more on building that web and not getting distracted but remaining in the flow. At the end of practice our web is fully spun, we put in our work, and now can rest and our needs will flow towards us and stick to our web. This of course is our metaphor for how yoga transfers off our mat and into our lives. The inner work we do sets us up for a life that flows more freely and easily.
Trust your intuition, put on that red dress, blue shirt, green pants or yellow tie and have fun on the journey. Being in the flow of the moment means you have clarity and focus and are having fun even while accomplishing a task. It allows you to build the bigger picture without it feeling like you are working so hard to arrive. Arrive in the moment and let it carry you.
Much love everyone. 🙏
*Inspirations from our practice on July 20th, 2020*