SOVEREIGN, MAGICIAN, WARRIOR, LOVER

I'm still trying to find my rhythm after my 5 weeks of travel in Great Britain.  All good intentions to get fully back into my Yoga practice and YMCA workouts have been sporadic at best -- victims of jet lag, illness, conflicting commitments, and frankly, a bit of "I don't wanna" blues that has made my sofa more inviting than the yoga mat.   Does this ever happen to you?

Over the weekend my husband and I were on a retreat where we facilitated a personal growth session on the Jungian Archetypes of Sovereign, Magician, Warrior, & Lover.  Psychologist Carl Jung posited that these archetypes are working invisibly in our psyche, informing how we see and respond to the world around us.  And of course there are "shadow" archetypes of each of these as well, which tend to thwart our more benevolent intentions, but I'm focusing here on the more healthy, or "golden", facets of these and how they keep us in balance when we are aware of them.

The Sovereign creates and holds the vision.  Like a good and healthy King or Queen, the Sovereign energy within sees the big picture, is calm, balanced, confident; encourages creativity, honors and supports, gives blessing.

The Magician knows what needs to be done, and how, to realize the Vision.  The Magician uses knowledge and intuition to solve problems, uses tools/technology, is thoughtful, reflective, and clear sighted.

The Warrior enacts the Vision.  Warrior energy rouses, energizes, motivates; is focused, courageous, and mindful; removes obstacles, sets boundaries, gets the job done.

The Lover provides the reason (emotional connection) for the Vision.  Lover energy is sensually aware and sensitive to the rhythms of the world; empathetic, compassionate; elated, strong, alive, enthusiastic, romantic -- connected.

I've been thinking about these energies and how to employ them to get myself back on track.

My Vision:  to live in a state of peace with myself, those around me, and the world by having a healthy body, mind, and spirit.

My Magician: knows through study and practice that there are tools I can use to achieve this vision -- regular yoga practice in asana and meditation and regular physical activity to build endurance and muscular strength.  Diet, social interaction, relaxation time, etc. are also tools to use toward the vision.

My Warrior:  knows how to focus my intention on the vision; can remind me to remove the obstacles to achieving my vision, to set boundaries, (Don't say yes to coffee with friends on yoga mornings!), to say "no" to donuts and "yes" to fruit.  

My Lover: knows that my Vision is in service to my mental well-being, my healthy body, and living a life of connection to myself, my family, friends, community, and the world at large; this energy encourages me to find self-compassion when I mess up and to find forgiveness when others do.

When all of these archetypes are in healthy balance, well, what can stop us from realizing our visions -- from the simple to the sublime, on the mat and off?!   ©

Namaste, donnajurene

Happy Halloween, Warriors!

JUST LIKE STARTING OVER

Whew! It's good to be home.  Don't get me wrong; 5 weeks in Great Britain with my husband was great fun.  It was also exhausting.  And I came home with a head cold and a recurrence of my old migraine problem.  Too little rest, too much travel stress, too much restaurant food, maybe a wee bit too many shortbread cookies.  And no yoga.  None.  Nadda.

Pre-trip I had entertained the notion that I'd have time to find little yoga studios to pop into here and there in our travels, but being on two back-to-back tours meant the itineraries were not our own.  There was almost zero time to ourselves and what there was was spent trying to recuperate from the jam-packed on the go schedule.  One afternoon I just stayed in my room and slept.

In the almost two weeks since we've been home, I've been slowly reacclimatizing.  It was summer when we left, and suddenly it's fall and the short days mean disorientingly dark mornings and evenings.  I'm still tired and wonder how long jet lag is supposed to last.  My cold and migraines have sidelined me from the activities I had looked forward to resuming.

But I got myself to the studio on Tuesday in spite of all this.  Sipping my coffee at home, I almost talked myself out of going, but I could hear Karen's admonition that the hardest part of yoga is getting there.  So even though I was running late, I got myself out the door and on the familiar drive to the studio.

It felt great to be there.  Warm, beautiful, welcoming environment; friendly, familiar faces (and so many who were brand new!).  I told Karen to go easy on me, but others were ready for a challenge so she led a "gentle, general" class that was just right.  Except....

I could really tell I was rusty.  I knew all the poses, of course, and most felt wonderful to do.  But I also felt stiff and weak and not as bend-y.  I noticed I still have that mystery issue with my left hip not opening as it used to.  Even Child's Pose, my usual favorite resting pose, took some squirming to find a place of comfort.

The victory in all of that was noticing how accepting I was of my (temporary!) deficits.  I didn't beat myself up, but lovingly accepted that of course I was out of practice and why not after 7 weeks out of the studio?  I gently held the truth that I will resume my regular practice and continue to loosen and soften into it.

At the end of class my cough returned when I tried to lie down in Savasana, so I sat up in Easy Pose, eyes closed, meditating on the great good fortune I had to travel, to return safely, to find my yoga community thriving, and my place in it easy to inhabit again.

If you are starting over, after an absence of a day or a month or more, be gentle and know you are right where you need to be.  I'm with you.©

Namaste,  donnajurene

COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT

I don't meant to complain, but....

Ever notice: 1) any sentence that has "but" near the beginning eradicates any phrase that comes before it?  2)  complainers know they shouldn't complain, because they apologize for it before forging ahead?

Karen apologized for starting class a few minutes late last week because, she said, she was listening to complaints.  I don't know where the complainers were -- whether at her city council job or at the yoga studio, but I want to believe at the city job.  We yogis would be far too mellow to complain, wouldn't we?

Maybe not.  I've been known to be a complainer, more so when I was younger and enjoyed the adrenaline surges of immature self-righteousness.  Complaining inherently comes with an "I'm right and you're wrong" bias about a person, a situation, the temperature of the room, whatever.  As I've matured (grown older) my complaints are fewer as I've discovered I pretty much can accommodate any situation. They are all temporary.  Or I can take action on my own behalf and change what doesn't work for me.  I am not powerless.

Still, there are times when one does want to vent; like the hour it took me to get through to my credit card customer service departments yesterday to take care of one simple task!  We will be traveling soon and I wanted to notify them so they didn't put those fraud holds on my cards.  Turns out "Customer Service" was only truly easy for one of the three calls I made.  Frustrating.  But a cup of coffee, some focused attention, rising to a challenge, and refusing to be defeated made the task sort of a personal triumph when completed.

I also tend to complain about weather more than one should.  I've lived in the Northwest for 36 years and yet, the cool, dark, drizzly, gray days we endure (see? even that "endure" word is a complaint!) leave me longing for sunshine and warmth.  I've complained lately that August, one of the months I live for the rest of the year, has been lost in a cloud of wildfire smoke, to the point where I didn't even open doors or windows for a week or more.  Lots of grousing about that.

So what to do when things don't exactly go your way.  Yes, speak up respectfully and ask for what you want/need.  Yes, take action on your own behalf and change what you can.  Yes, accept what is real and let go of the fantasy of how you want things to be.  So often our complaints are that life doesn't live up to our expectations.  But where did those expectations originate?  From a TV show?  A photo on the internet?  A childhood dream?  Accepting what "is" in the real world helps us adjust our expectations to a more realistic level.

Another antidote to complaint is gratitude.  See my examples above:  Yes, huge hassle and time suck around the credit card calls.  And yet....I am fortunate enough to have the financial security to even have a credit card which I will use to take a lovely vacation!  And the weather: I am fortunate enough to live in the Pacific Northwest, one of the most beautiful, lush, green, vibrant areas of our country.  To get all that, a little rain's gonna fall.  And the smoke?  I'm fortunate enough to be retired, to have the option of staying in and keeping myself safer from the harmful effects of breathing smoky air.

As yogis we have the tools of concentration, breath, silence, and lovingkindness meditation to see us through the hard times.  Attitude adjustments and gratitude practices work wonders when you find yourself in a complaint cycle.  Try it next time and leave complaining behind. ©

Namaste,  donnajurene

SMILE YOUR WAY TO HAPPINESS

"May I be happy; May my friends be happy; May my enemies be happy; May all beings be happy.  May I be at peace; May my friends be at peace; May my enemies be at peace; May all beings be at peace;  May I be free; May my friends be free; May my enemies be free; May all beings be free."

Karen began our practice meditation today with those words, a variation of the Buddhist Lovingkindness Meditation.  My mind, body, and soul are calmed every time I hear this.  Why don't I do this meditation more often?

We get caught up in the Monkey Mind/Busy Body rush of our days and forget to send a blessing to ourselves, to those we love and to all beings -- even our enemies (or those we really and truly do not like.  C'mon, admit it.  You can think of one or two...)

Throughout the practice Karen reminded us that happiness happens when we take action on our own behalf and when we change our mindset to embrace happiness.

She reminded us over and over to SMILE.  Just the act of smiling triggers an emotional response that causes us to feel lighter and more joyful.  Maybe it's the muscle memory of all the times our smiles have been in response to joy in our lives.  Try it.  It works.

At one point in the practice I found myself gritting my teeth and wondering how much longer I needed to hold the pose.  I've had some unexplained stiffness in one hip that is frustrating me and also is a bit painful.  I try to stretch it and ignore the twinges, but so far that isn't working.  Still, as we sat in Easy Pose, with Karen reminding us to breathe, smile, and take any action needed to fully relax I realized that I was holding that leg at a weird angle and all my focus (even though I was smiling) was on the pain I was feeling.  I grabbed a blanket, folded it, and put it under my knee to prop my leg.  Ahhhhh....that did the trick.

Having self-compassion in that moment allowed me to be truly happy.  I stopped pushing myself; stopped the incessant chatter that had come up questioning what is wrong with my hip and why it happened and how to fix it and when it will get better....and just relaxed with one leg propped and the other flat.  Sure, I want my old flexibility back, but in that moment and maybe for all the moments to come, I found a way to accept what is and to find comfort and contentment there.

A shift in thinking led to a shift in posture which led to a shift in emotion.  If it can work on something as easy as Easy Pose, imagine what it can do on the really big stuff.

May all beings be happy.©

Namaste, donnajurene