Connect
The way to find calm within the chaos is to connect. Not to a screen, or a device, or an inanimate object. Rather, connect to another living and breathing human being. Life is in the breath, and when you connect with another living and breathing being, you begin to develop a stronger, deeper breath. When you combine two things, you get something new and different. Sometimes it is stronger, sometimes it has more obvious flaws and fractures that need to be addressed before the growth and transformation into something strong begins.
When two humans begin to spend significant time together, in close proximity, with a physical connection, their biology begins to overlap in ways that may go unnoticed at first. It begins simply with a matched rate of breath, or a heartbeat in unison. To allow this connection to establish and take place, there must be space. Space within each individual to release their grip on their own self. Not to give it up, but rather to release their attachment to the idea we are solely existing as individuals. Through yoga we learn about the interconnectedness between all living beings. Through life we experience that interconnectedness with others, for better or for worse. Choosing someone to establish a connection with, one that runs deep isn’t easy. It requires a certain level of trust. In yourself, and in humans in general. In humanity as a whole. Sometimes we choose wrong, and sometimes we choose right but the timing is wrong. Sometimes life gets in the way and the connection, no matter how promising or enchanting, is dissolved before it truly begins. For whatever reason, some things just don’t work out the way we want or the way we hoped. The way we hope. And therein lies the finishing ingredient to lasting and lifetime connections. Hope. similar to faith, but a little bit lighter. Something you could see floating through the rays of the sun peaked out from behind an enormous storm cloud. Faith is the belief that the sun is there even if you can’t see it. Hope is the feeling you get behind your chest when you see that first glimmer of light. Hope is a feeling, while faith is a mindset. Between hope and faith there exists belief. The requirement for all things we cannot see. The precursor to belief, for those of us who have felt our ability to believe shaken over time and through experience… is the ability to suspend disbelief. Sometimes we don’t need to believe right away. We simply need to be willing to suspend our disbelief, even temporarily. For a moment, for a round of breath. To suspend the disbelief in life we have built around ourselves and around our hearts and minds in an attempt to protect against further pain, bruises, damage or discomfort. Avoiding discomfort is avoiding growth, avoiding life, avoiding the exact thing and the most powerful experiences of being human. Too much discomfort can yield a long term state of disbelief. Too much pain can result in an unwillingness to believe there is any other option.
There are many, many reason why we come to the practice of yoga. For some it is a moment to reconnect with the mind body and soul. To truly feel the breath as it moves through the body. For others it is a time to meditate, clearing away storms in the mind, and the body. Others arrive for the beautiful connections that are created through finding your yoga community- the music, the stories, the laughter cultivated and shared in a classroom and beyond. Whatever brings someone to yoga, it is often the connection encouraging us to stay. The connection we develop with ourself, our own body, our own mind. The connection with our teachers or students, our classmates and peers. The connection and the ability to connect that deepens our relationship with the world, our family and our friends. Yoga opens the world to you, and it allows you to have a safe place to land when the world creates moments of discomfort eliciting an experience of disbelief. Yoga keeps us mobile, not just in our bodies, but in our nervous systems ability to feel. It allows us to continue to move through the spectrum of emotions that is being a human. We don’t get stuck in the sadness, or trapped in the euphoria. Too much of anything, even euphoria can be damaging.
Yoga restores balance in our lives, and shows us how to maintain that balance. We are the only ones who can change our lives. We are the only ones who can choose the way an outcome influences our life and our direction. While we may not always have control over the outcome of our experiences, we can control our reaction. Our response, and our mindset as we move forward from an outcome whether it is an idyllic one or a heartbreaking one. Knowing we have this ability, this power to choose how we move forward is something we learn each time we practice yoga. We learn it again and again. Every practice is a reminder of what non-attachment, non-judgment and non-reactivity can yield. What we discover is peace. Balance. Stability. A more easeful flow through our lives, bodies, minds. Perhaps most important of all, we continue to learn how to connect. To ourselves, our breath, the world around us and the universe which we are all a part of.
