Some days are just tough

Some days we wake up with happiness and then life decides to take it away.  Tough days.  Those moments that add up to hours and then at the end of the day you feel beat up, worn down, frazzled.  These are the valleys.  These are the days when our yoga practice is kicked aside and we must move into quick reaction like a fireman arriving at a fresh blaze.  Yes we have trained for this, practiced the skills, and now life is requesting we put our training to the test.  On that yoga mat our breath is calm, the body moves in fluid motion and our spirit is lifted.  Now, in this dark moment, we can feel the panic set in and the pulse quicken.  We feel the body’s nervous system send out a sensation to sound the alarm, and our spirit musters courage and strength to take on the immediate situation.  Here, now is where the breath practice will take over and begin to slow pace.  Here is where the body’s nervous system will begin to soothe and the spirit will become quiet.  Or, so we hope! Yes, some days we wake up and life shakes us to our core.  Its those days of our worst nightmares coming to life.  Those days when you think you cannot move forward.  Hope seems far away and the tunnel starts to envelop the light.  Is it ok to feel down? Is it ok to feel sad, angry, ashamed.  The answer is YES.  When life hits you in the gut, it is time to feel the emotion.  Yes.  But then after the full force of the negative emotion, we must reach for the light.  Like Alice in Wonderland falling into the rabbit hole, she tumbled and grumbled,  and then,  SPLAT, she landed.   She landed and then she worked hard to find her way back to the light.  She worked within the environment and fought through the crazy circumstances to get back to her peace.  That is what we learn to do on our Yoga Mat.  Day after day.  Week after week.  Over and Over.  Breath by breath.  Work, rest, repeat.  Work, rest, repeat.  If you are having a bad day today I hope you will allow yourself to feel the hurt and then reach for the light.  If you need to, allow yourself to cry, scream, and get out those negative feelings.  When you feel the full spectrum of the negative, then, you can release it and make room for the positive.  Releasing the anger allows the softness to come back inside.  Crying helps release the hurt so the forgiveness can fill the heart.  Releasing resentment allows the beauty to surround the soul.  Recently we experienced the death of a dear friend.  The grieving spouse remarked that she would grieve, but, she would grieve in the sunshine.  How beautiful is that statement!  Not only does this speak to the inner strength of her spirit, but, it is a celebration of the love she still has for her spouse.  To experience feelings is to live.  To shut ourselves off from emotion is to squelch our spirit.  Open yourself to experience emotion and you open yourself to vulnerability.  The very definition of vulnerability is to “open yourself to attack or injury – to be exposed”.  If you do the work on the mat daily, you will eventually begin to allow yourself to become vulnerable to the emotions that present themselves during practice.  In your practice is the protected environment to discern the emotions of the past or present.  This will allow you to take a step forward into the future.  We must allow ourselves the opportunities to experience these sensations of release to proceed into our destiny of light.  For in the light is where our peace exists.  Remember, it can rain even in the sunshine.  We can embrace the rain and still have the warmth of the sun.  Love, Peace and Light.