The spinning world is presenting some powerful obstacles to remain in a balanced state of mind. Today, I had to cancel my long-awaited trip to Spain. I was willing to go forward but unfortunately my traveling companion was not quite up to leaping into such uncertainty with the threat of the coronavirus.
Yes, all over the world, life is coming to the harsh acceptance that we are being presented with the possibility of getting sick or even worse being quarantined and stuck in a foreign country unable to return home. Today, my daughter’s friends are coming back from what was supposed to be their dream semester abroad. Unable to return to school and having to finish the semester with a self-contained isolation period.
Costco is a shocking experience with the hoarding of toilet paper and water, and Amazon has run out of hand sanitizers. Life as we know it is now shifting into a new landscape of unknown territory. And I have one word for my day, acceptance. I am humbly accepting the situation even though I don’t like it one bit. I’m sad and disappointed, but I’m asking for the courage to accept what is being presented today.
I am looking at all of this as a practice of my daily yoga. Returning to the sutras, I am reminded that the first Niyama that Pantanjali offers as a tool of cultivating right thought is Saucha. It means on a very literal understanding, to practice cleanliness, not just a discipline for the body but for mind and speech.
I am humbled to see the entire world addressing the virus with remedies we can all practice: cover our mouth when coughing, washing our hands and keeping the spaces around us clean. But for me, this practice is more than just my physical awareness of space and body purity. It is a constant reminder of my thoughts that link me to fear and doubt.
When I harbor resentments, frustrations, and anger, I am hoarding my light. To clear out my thoughts and shift my behavior from language directed at harming myself, I am cleaning my mind. The practice is being presented today as a way to enhance the immune system since my agitation only adds to my adrenal function being pushed into overdrive with worry and fear, weakening my entire system towards maintaining balance.
My overall health is depleted when I focus on the negative of any situation. How can I shift my habit when I’m in a state of flight or fright? I have to bring my mind into a new experience creating a better way to navigate through this unsteady time. So I go to my breath. I link my mind to the breath and on the inhale welcome in the healing light of nourishment.
Prana, the intelligence that rides on the breath, comes into my physical form and within the subtle body. I experience the release of tension on the exhales, cleaning out stagnant air in my lungs and activating new oxygenation within my respiratory system. The process is nature’s brilliant way of helping restore the immune system by cleaning my blood.
Yoga practice is not on a mat when I stand in my kitchen and remind myself to let life in and release my negative thoughts with a new samskara of positive thought by repeating an internal, "THANK YOU" on my longer exhale. My focus on the inhale and exhale breath is my ability to bring my mind inwards, allowing for a more balanced state of mind.
This simple practice is the beginning of meditation where I link my awareness to the sweet ease of witnessing the belly expanding and contracting. I feel the presence of the moment and choose to nourish myself in light of the healing sun. Inhale with a silent, “yes”, and exhale my silent gratitude with a simple, ”thank you”. To feel this creates a new better experience than my previous tight, tense body and mind resisting what is being presented and stirring up my negative mood.
Meditation is my medicine, my daily practice of cleaning out the old and bringing in the new. Let’s not forget the tools of yoga now as we build up our immune system with loving, nourishing mindful breathing. This is a respiratory dis-EASE of our humanity, and we all need to go inward, taking time to clean out our old habits of rushing and doing. Ask to slow down, appreciate where we are as we might not be able to travel or get to work or leave our homes.
And yet, this might just be an opportunity to reconnect to our inner selves and cultivate the tools of yoga as we journey forward with this new landscape. The inner landscape of the possibility to be still and ask for the courage with humility to help humanity in loving kindness.
My daily practice might just help others as we are all in this TOGETHER! I offer you my commitment to our center staying as clean and safe as possible with your help. Please stay home if feeling ill, take care to wipe down your mat when you are finished with your practice, and respect your fellow yogi.
Let us continue to live life fearlessly and to know you have a welcoming place to practice. We hope that all of us can work together to keep our community and world healthy and vibrant as we journey forward and inward.
Blessings,
Laura Jane