To everything there is a season

One of the things that I like about Bikram yoga is that it is the same 26 poses every time. One of the benefits of this is that I really get to know what is going on for me on any given day. On Monday, I might be struggling to stay balanced for a full 60 seconds in standing bow pulling pose, but ten minutes later I might find my flexibility increased and my head closer to the ground in standing separate leg stretching pose.

Bikram yoga occurs in a closed environment. The room temperature and humidity should be the same no matter where in the world I practice. The dialogue should be the same. The variable is me. The lessons are profound. I am slightly different each day in my strength, my balance and my flexibility. Sometimes the differences are in my body. Other days they are in my focus and mind. No matter where the difference is, I see and feel yin and yang. The truth of this resonates in my body. When I extend a muscle, the opposing muscle contracts. When I lose a fraction of balance, it may because I have gained strength or flexibility.

One night, not too long ago, as I was falling asleep, my mind turned to standing bow pulling pose. I said to myself, "there is no reason for you to fall out of it as often as you do". The next day, I stayed in the pose, with my leg held high and my torso moving parallel to the floor, for a lot longer than usual. Mind over matter. Belief makes a difference.

Life does not occur in a closed environment yet similar lessons are inherent... just harder to see and feel when so many variables are in flux. I wrote recently about patience. When I am finding it challenging to be patient, something else is growing within me. Perhaps, it is conviction or confidence. The seed is there and with time (patience), it blossoms into a gift. Other times, I may be feeling sad. The sadness may be because I am out of sync. It is fall and I want it still to be summer. The key to understanding life' s lessons is to listen to our whole selves, body, mind and spirit.

A favorite song of mine, and one of the few I have learned to play on the guitar, is "Turn! Turn! Turn! ( to everything there is a season). The lyrics are taken almost verbatim from Ecclesiastes:

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace"

Do. Do not...Strength; Vulnerability... Striving; yielding....Firmness; flexibility... Be. Just Be.

Namaste,
Ginny