Monday night was class with energetic Lynne. After class, she sat down to talk with me for a while about the Challenge and certain postures, and how I felt, and then she asked, "And how are your expectations?" And I realized that they're mostly gone, which surprised me. I said, "I just show up for class and try to do what I'm told."
It's amazing how freeing this is! I've known for a long time that I am the cause of my own suffering. We all are. We dread things, we put them off because we dread them, or we fight with ourselves over them, we become exhausted and then, WE STILL HAVE TO FACE THEM ANYWAY! Why not just let go of this purposeless struggle and clean the house, do the taxes, tackle the work project, have the difficult talk, replace the kitty litter, and do the yoga? In addition, why don't we change our attitude while we're at it? I'm grateful I have a house to clean, a tax return to put in the bank, a job I find challenging, relationships I cherish, kitties I love, and yoga that fixes everything! Why not show up with no baggage, be in the moment, let it go afterward, and move on to the next moment with the same lightness of being?
A friend who had borrowed my copy of "Start Where You Are," by Pema Chodron, just returned it to me. Perfect timing!
Don't worry about achieving. Don't worry about perfection. Just be there each moment the best you can. ... Everything is changing all the time, and we keep wanting to pin it down, to fix it. So whenever you come up with a solid conclusion, let the rug be pulled out. You can pull out your own rug, and you can also let life pull it out for you.
Having the rug pulled out from under you is a big opportunity to change your fundamental pattern. It's like changing the DNA. One way to pull out your own rug is by just letting go, lightening up, being more gentle, and not making such a big deal.
I'm big on making a big deal out of everything; but life {and yoga} are better served by just showing up and meeting what happens as it happens. The labels can fall away and movement can occur. This is as much a practice for me as the postures and is even more beneficial.
Thank you Lynne and Kyle {see her comment on my last post} for being teachers that help me find the path through the postures AND the philosophy!
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