We’ve all been there. Settling into the most peaceful, blissful, soothing Savasana…leaning into the subtle spaces of ease and honoring the gentle waves of relaxation, releasing all unnecessary tension in favor of sweet, sweet relief.
We breathe in, filling up with comfort and prepare to let go of all that no longer serves the present moment…inhale…ex…BOOM!
A hefty (and somehow still full) metal water bottle crashes to the floor.
And where only milliseconds ago we were getting lost in the dreamscape of Savasana we’re now frantically battling a heart-pumping, nervous system attacking, jolt back to reality…far too soon and far before we were ready; wishing to return to what was and what could have been…fighting with the ever-present desire to “get back.”
This my sweet friends, is yoga.
It’s easy to use yoga as a tool. To have intention for how yoga should be. Many of us approach our mats with the decided expectation that we will feel differently after. We anticipate, we await, we attach. And it is true, yoga can be useful.
But yoga wasn’t necessarily designed to be a space of calm…rather, an entryway into the cultivation of calm.
While we may begin categorizing water bottles, one helpful and one loud, over time we may begin to see the water bottle is neither one thing nor the other. It merely is.
Perhaps proximity to the water bottle and possession feel like emotional support. In that moment we may ask, “what need does this water bottle fill and why must I bring it with me to the park, the grocery store, to yoga, to dinner, to the everywhere?”
Maybe our emotional support water bottle can do no wrong but others can. Maybe ours is always perfectly stickered and bountiful while others are scuffed and easily knocked over. In these moments we may ask why we take pride in comparison.
Or, what if our water bottle was the one that fell? Our beloved water bottle may have been the reason for perceived unease and consequently we now grapple with the familiar experiences of guilt and shame. In these moments yoga may ask us to explore our connection to community, to personal development, and to our relationship with self…
Yoga is the moment right after the water bottle falls - it’s the recognition of change and the immediacy of thought, of reaction, of relativity. Yoga is how we embrace the uncontrollable and the choices we make to stay steady in the face of chaos.
Yoga is simply the practice of being. With or without a water bottle.
BAM!
XOXO,
Haley