MINDFULNESS

My husband and I hosted a Meditation Mini-Retreat at our house this morning for a group of 10 friends, led by our friend who runs Meditate Seattle.  She did a great presentation of why meditation is so good for us:  mind, body, and soul.  She gave us lots of scientific evidence for the power of meditation to keep us healthy physically and mentally. The data is compelling.  We did several meditation practices -- using a mantra, focusing on taste, doing a body scan, focusing on listening.  With mindfulness meditation there is never a moment too short to "meditate" or be mindful of the moment you are inhabiting; it is, after all, the only real moment that exists.  The past and future are just products of the mind: memories and projections; regrets and worries; if only's and what if's.  Right now is ... well, whatever it is.  And actually right now, this split second!, is usually pretty fine.

Yesterday in class I was still trying to find my strength and balance after a long hiatus due to illness and found myself struggling a bit.  As we stood to do a pose where we raised first one arm then the other in the air to do a side stretch, it turned into a bit of a flow motion.  Suddenly I got out of my own critical way, and opened my eyes to what was around me.  I saw the class of 15 women, moving in perfect symmetry.  All ages and body sizes, all ability levels, fitness levels, baggy pants and t-shirts, lycra and sports bras, friends and strangers meeting together in the tranquil, beautiful studio.  Hues of green, blue, purple, red, yellow -- clothing and yoga mats and curtains -- flowing into a river of beauty surrounding and accentuating our movements.

It no longer mattered that I felt weak and uncoordinated, frustrated, or exhausted.  The only thing that mattered was being there in the company of others committed to breathing through whatever challenges they'd brought through the door with them, finding a space of welcome, of community, of breath and life.

Can you open your eyes to the beauty around you even in the midst of struggle?  Can you accept whatever is happening, knowing our minds tell us stories that may not be true?  "If only" can't be changed; "what if" may never happen.  Be. Here. Now.©

Namaste,  donnajurene

FINDING BALANCE ON UNEVEN GROUND

How's everyone's balance these days?  Strong and steady?  Or, like me, are you feeling like the world tilted a bit off its axis in the past week and the ground beneath us is more like quicksand?

This blog is about yoga, not politics, but I will reveal I'm not at all happy about the outcome of the presidential election.   I am reminded that life often throws us a curveball (yes, the sports analogies will still be de rigueur with a guy still at the helm) and what we do with it is what counts.  We can keep swinging wildly until we strike out, maybe we'll get a base hit and rely on our teammates to see us home, or gloriously, we might hit one out of the park and make everything right in the world again.  My response so far is to swing wildly.  But I haven't struck out yet.

Coupled with the election result and the shockwaves it has sent through my nervous system, I'm STILL battling a cold/bronchitis that struck on October 23rd and has only subsided enough to plague me with a lingering hacking/gagging cough -- exacerbated by breathing deeply or lying down.  I don't sleep well at night and I have not yet been able to return full speed ahead to my yoga practice and strength/aerobic classes.  I'm just a mess!

But last Thursday I did venture back to the studio and it felt so amazing to be held in the graceful beauty of a safe place for body and soul.  The class teacher,  Carly, led us in a deep and gentle practice that was perfect for tender emotional state and my tentative re-entry into physical practice.

Here's the part I loved the most!   Carly had us stand in Goddess Pose for an extended period of time. While we held the pose, she told us that this and other "big power poses" have been found to decrease cortisol (the stress hormone) by 25-40% and to increase testosterone by 20-25% (based on the work of Harvard's Social Psychologist, Amy Cuddy.)  How about that?!?   I think we will need all the calm and strength we can muster in the days ahead, so I may be hitting my Goddess Pose (or Warrior Pose) at unexpected times -- in line at the grocery store and Starbucks; waiting at the post office or doctor's office;  cooking dinner and chatting with friends.  Wouldn't that be fun?  (Choosing to find my power in Goddess pose feels appropriately subversive to me right now.)

Being back in class last week reminded me of how quickly I lose strength and balance when away from my practice for awhile.  Rising up from a low lunge into Crescent Pose I lost my balance and tumbled to the floor.  I lay there a little embarrassed and sort of chuckling.  I forgave myself immediately for not being "good enough" and picked myself up and was successful the next time through the sequence.  I found I couldn't do any of the lying down on my back poses due to my cough, so I found other ways to move my body.  I sat upright in meditation instead of lying down for savanna.  I coughed a little bit.  I cried a little bit.  I relaxed a little bit.  Sometimes baby steps are the only steps we can take when the ground beneath us feels uneven. ©

Namaste,  donnajurene

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