Carried Away

You wake up in the morning & hit the ground running.

As you brush your teeth, you worry about the presentation that you have to give at work today.

In the shower, you wonder about the engine light that just came on in your car & worry about where you will find the money to fix whatever is wrong with it.

You half-heartedly pay attention to the story your child tells you as you frost the cupcakes for her class party that day...you worry that another parent's cupcakes will be better & wonder why you volunteered to bake them in the first place.

Driving to work, you check your emails, make a few quick calls, a go through your to-do list for the day...errands, bills, shopping for a friend...where will you find the time for everything & everyone? 

"To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone & everything, is to succumb to the violence of our times" - Thomas Merton

Work is work - you have to do what you have to do.  Bills need to be paid - there's not alot of way around that.  You care about others & want to help. 

There will always be a multitude of things & people that you can worry about.  There will always be things & people demanding your attention.  When those demands & worries take over your life...you feel stressed, worried, angry.  You lash out at others, eat too much (or not enough), drink too much, complain...it's the opposite of bringing compassion into the world (which is what you want to do when you offer to help someone).  You add to violence & the chaos of the times.

You have a choice.  Succumb to that violence or cultivate compassion - be present & breathe.

Every time you get on your mat, you have that same choice.  When you move through a challenging practice - you can get angry & frustrated at yourself & the teacher & the class & the world.  Or you can cultivate compassion, for yourself & others.  You can be present & breathe.

When you're present - you're calm, grounded - even if everything going on around you totally sucks.  You're not off & running through your day, worrying about where you have to go & what you have to do.  The bills won't go away, your boss & work won't go away.  But you feel your strength & cultivate compassion & breathe through those challenges as you move through them.  (You might even find yourself enjoying frosting those cupcakes with your kids).

You can succumb to the violence or cultivate compassion.

Cultivate compassion.


You can now find my blog at the Register Citizen: http:http://www.registercitizen.com/blogs/life/

If I could just....

I love my body.

It allows me to do so much.  Run & play with my son.  Hug & kiss him & my husband.  Embrace family & friends & students in time of both joy & sorrow.  It gets me through those mundane everyday tasks - dishes, laundry, cooking & cleaning.  It carries me up three flights of stairs to my beautiful yoga studio.  It allows me to enjoy a powerful, strong physical yoga practice.

I am so grateful for all that my physical body does for me.

And yet....

As I stood in front of the mirror the other day, I couldn't help but think "if I could just loose my baby belly then..." (my son is 3 years old, afterall).

And then immediately I thought "well, then what?!?"

If I "lost" the baby belly...would I suddenly be happier?  Wealthier?  Smarter?  Prettier?  Would I win the Nobel Peace Prize?  Find a cure for all disease?

Not likely.

I'm already happy & smart & living a life of abundance.  Oh, and I'm beautiful too.

We all have moments like these.  "If I could just..." - you fill in the blank.  Get a bigger house, drive a nicer car, be thinner, smarter, etc

If things change, life may be different, may be easier.  But you'll still be who you are.  If you want to feel better, right now - embrace all that you have.  The things you love about yourself & even the things you're not crazy about.  Wake up every morning filled with gratitude because you did wake up!

Love yourself & your body & your life - imperfections & all.

And then watch as it just gets better & better.

You can now find my blog at the Register Citizen: http:http://www.registercitizen.com/blogs/life/