Balance is the month's theme at my yoga classes where I seem to be spending a lot of time these days. (Flow is a word commonly used in the Yoga practice and it reminds me to stay in the flow of things - go with the flow - as in the case of this morning when I woke up intending to practice yoga in my living room and see a voice over student at 11:30 just to discover my student cancelled via email which opened me up to be able to do a 10:00 Yoga class instead!) I wasn't irritated or didn't have a feeling of, "Great. Now what?" Instead, it was perfectly fine and natural thinking, "Oh. I'll be able to go to the ten o'clock Yoga class I enjoyed so much last week!" Definitely in the flow. Two bonuses to my morning: One, Sam eating my pancakes from scratch (I'm sure women for decades have stumbled from bed to stove but for me this is not something practiced daily) which include to Sam's unawares wheat flour, egg, milk, honey and, wait for it...wheat germ (recipe thanks to my good friend from college we stayed with over Thanksgiving!) Sam had three. Two: I had a voice-over audition to record and it was a children's story narration to boot - work I feel very confident in and shine at, so I was able to be in my art first thing this morning which is always a great jump start to my day.
Back to balance.
My Yoga teacher, Monica, asked the class who among us was feeling out of balance this morning? After thinking a bit, I slightly raised my hand, deciding that I think every day has the potential for me to feel at least slightly out of balance, especially having two other people in my inner most world - my husband and son - and their worlds meshing with mine every day. Interesting.
Monica spoke several phrases of wisdom this morning and one thing was about taking pause. How in the Yoga practice, we take pause and give transition between poses which allows us to fully experience and appreciate the place we have just come from and open the next place we are going to. Monica suggested taking this practice into our daily routine as we rush from activity to activity - to take at least one minute after completing one activity or task before diving into the next. I like that. I am going to try and remember this as I go forward now with my life, even when I finish writing this and hit "Publish" to sit with it for at least a full minute before going onto my email, or writing checks for my bills, or editing a narration I recorded yesterday for a website for the blind. After each activity I will allow myself the opportunity to pause...or I will try to anyway!
Monica also spoke about appointment books and balance. How she used to be a person (very much like myself currently) who tried to manage every moment in a date book or appointment book and then one day decided to just chuck it all. She said she realized quickly (her toddler daughter having much to do with the decision) she wasn't doing very well with her time without some semblance of logging appointments and notes and gave herself permission (and suggested to us) to use an appointment book or time management system if that worked for us. There's a balance there as with everything else. Monica also suggested (which I like very much) to include the appointments and times that are good for us in our daily activity journal - like meditation, or yoga, or whatever that may be...when I was pregnant I took a nap every afternoon and never felt guilty about it because I was pregnant. I already have my yoga sessions scheduled but will open myself up to include even just some quiet moments for me as well.
I can't end these thoughts without thinking about the people of Japan again, as I have been doing so much as I'm sure so many of us have. At the Brother Bear coffee shop in Yellow Springs where I sit typing, there is a post card labeled 'Japan' above the register and the photo is of a harbor with a glorious bridge and building structures. I can't help but think of New York City and how people internationally were going about their lives in the initial aftermath of 911, taking occasional pause to think of the Americans and lives lost here in our country...some sending prayers... some reflecting on their own situations and being thankful...some sending money. I cannot imagine what it is like over in Japan right now. No amount of media images do the damage justice. I cannot fathom what "1,000 Bodies Washed Ashore" as the headline on my Dayton Daily Newspaper read yesterday even looks like, save from imagining some horror movie-esq type images. As a mother of a small child, when these disasters occur (Katrina, Haiti, Christchurch) my mind always goes to the parents and I think of those who are separated from their children when the disaster strikes, or who have children in hospitals, or who have children who aren't potty trained and no access to dry cloth or diapers. My heart breaks and opens compassionately to these people and I surround them with healing light and love and I am grateful for my own existence and families health and safety. I am also grateful to be able to send a small donation to the Red Cross which I will do today.
A very wise woman I know commented on what I wrote yesterday that she daily prays for peace and patience in her life. Peace and patience. Balance. Challenging to do when thinking about Japan right now. Essential though in mind, body and spiritual health. For me at least. Maybe for you.
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