Lessons in Balance

Rube-ly Interrupted

When the way you feel is controlled by a condition, you can never influence a change in the condition; but when you are able to control the way you feel within a condition, then you have the power to influence change in the condition. -Esther and Jerry Hicks.

If I gave you a day-by-day accounting of the past ten days, it would surely sound like a Rube Goldberg contraption. Disparate and unusual scenes and actions were all connected. Even while appearing to be roadblocks, things fell into place and led to the next step to accomplish one seemingly simple act: get to Day 21.

I learned, from the computer infection that plagued my system for over a week, that cures happen on different levels and they need to occur progressively. I had to run spyware detection programs over and over again in order to eliminate bugs missed in earlier sessions. Things would seem to be working until old "thought patterns" reconnected and pop-ups would begin streaming in again.

Throughout the ordeal, I read a book about abundant health and healing by Esther and Jerry Hicks. I would let the programs run on the computer and go sit on the couch to read or walk outside to lay by the pool. What poured into my mind and onto my skin made it impossible to feel anything but warmth and contentment. As my computer was healing, so was I.

Our lives are so full of actions that we think we have to take, make and go through in order to feel well and happy. We create a life of contraptions and steps, the more elaborate and difficult the better, in the belief that it will make us well and happy. Unlike the cartoon though, it only takes one step: decide to be happy. Until it becomes a reflex, you'll have to practice.

I learned some incredibly valuable lessons about health and healing during the 21 Days and my entire being was strengthened in the process. It didn't happen through two-fisted discipline and force though, I had to open my hands in order to pick and choose what I wanted. I love the lessons I'm here to learn.

On to the next step.

Illustration: via www.cs.cmu.edu

A 21 Day Grace Period: Day 14

Love is the outreach of self toward completion.- Ralph Sockman

Maybe it's all downhill from here. I planned to do my practice right after my yoga class this morning and I did. The rest of that day, also went as planned. Perhaps the trick all along was, "Just Do", as my teacher said.

All day, I felt as though I had landed just where I had intended. Easing up on myself these past few days, seems to have made me stronger.

Today's yoga practice:  Mother Sequence,1 hour and 10 minutes.

Location: Studio

Food consumed: Bananas, flax granola and soymilk (brunch), Tofu with miso sauce, brown rice and mixed greens (dinner).

Photo: Seattlearch.org

A 21 Day Grace Period: Day 13

From today's Daily Dharma:

Seung Sahn would say, "When you eat, just eat. When you read the newspaper, just read the newspaper. Don't do anything other than what you are doing."

One day a student saw him reading the newspaper while he was eating. The student asked if this did not contradict his teaching. Seung Sahn said, "When you eat and read the newspaper, just eat and read the newspaper."

–From Essential Zen, edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Tensho David Schneider (HarperSanFrancisco)

I read this in the morning and realized that there was really nothing I could say about my practice except that I did it. Will I have anything to say for the next eight days? Probably.

Photo: Julie Zikefoose

A 21 Day Grace Period: Days 11 & 12

If only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world.- Mercedes Lackey



There's a beginning and an end to everything in our physical existence. It's like a long road trip and we're the driver, navigator and kids screaming "Are we there yet?!"

The forks in the road appear rapidly and consistently. We make a split second choice at times or stop to recalibrate and contemplate.  This is another thing I've learned about following a daily practice: you have to call it good, everyday. Otherwise, whatever energy you expended begins to flow toward that big brain drain known often as regret, or guilt.

If you set a goal to walk for 30 minutes everyday, establish an MDR (minimum daily requirement, per the FDA), the least amount you could do to still say you got out and walked. Maybe three minutes, very fast. When you're done, pat yourself on the back. You're done.

The alternative is that you'll berate yourself for falling behind and quite possibly lose all the benefits of your practice, accumulated to that point and allow the rationalizing self-talk to speak louder: "I should have chosen 15 minutes everyday as my goal. I set myself up to fail." "I just can't find the time to do this so maybe in a few months when..."

I had a lot of unplanned visits and items, forks in the road, these past two days but managed to pull out the shorter version of my practice.  For any 21 Day practice, I'd suggest you find the minimum requirement for maximum satisfaction and just move it along.


Photo: The Roade

A 21 Day Grace Period: Day 10

The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same. - Carlos Castaneda

On Saturdays, I teach a yoga class for women. I choose a topic, we have a heartfelt discussion that's seasoned with a lot of humor, and then I choose the yoga poses that best relate to the topic. This morning I decided to have the class follow the full Mother Sequence along with me, to the best of their abilities.

I wanted to turn things around and do the sequence first and then we'd talk about their thoughts and reactions. As it often happens, I  plan a class around the needs and abilities of those who regularly attend and someone walks in who has very little, or no yoga experience. This morning there were two visitors with little experience and no prior exposure to the Mother Sequence, who came to class.

Usually, I set my plans aside when this happens, and improvise. This morning, something kept pulling me along and the only change I made, was to break the discussion part into two segments and I gave a few instructions at the beginning of the sequence. Most important were:

1. Access joy as you inhale, and find a sense of peace and calm as you exhale.
2. Do as much as you're able to and if you have to stop or are unable to do the full pose, stay aware of your breathing and just feel yourself doing the postures.

The outcome resounded: it's all a matter of Intention. I wanted the class to feel a physical sense of accomplishment in doing the entire Mother Sequence. I wanted them to experience joy and peace, even while doing something that's physically or mentally challenging or uncomfortable. They got it. No previous experience necessary, just the willingness to remain open and go with the flow.

Some of the assorted comments at the end of class were:

"I felt pulled along by the rest of the class, I would have stopped if I were doing this at home."

"I told myself that I really want to excel at this. I want to learn this sequence!"

"I felt nauseous at one point, but told myself that I could still be happy with each breath, the nausea went away and now I feel so much more in control of my body!"


"The key for me was focusing on being joyful, when I couldn't feel it, I stopped. I didn't feel as though I had to force myself through it."

It works outside a yoga class too:

 

"The trick is in what one emphasizes." Whether you're teaching a class, motivating your employees or rallying co-workers, pay attention to what you ultimately want. If it matches what others want too, everyone succeeds.

"We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy." You're not responsible for the happiness of others but you can surely help make the choice a happy one.

"The amount of work is the same." We all have a lifetime.

It was a beautiful day, bring on another one.

Photo: Jerrie Stafford

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A 21 Day Grace Period: Day 9

<FINE PRINT: These posts contain nothing legal or binding. Just twenty-one consecutive posts about a yoga sequence and suggested eating plan that I'll be following from March 5 to 25, 2009. I'm getting ready for a yoga workshop and exploring the 21-day-habit: myth or principle?>

“Superstition brings bad luck”- Paul Carvel

It's Friday the 13th, my lucky day. Contrarian that I am, I like to go through the day expecting good things to happen or at the very least, for things to go the way I planned. Sure enough, life went exactly as  scheduled and I took my practice to the studio.

After saying "goodbye" to the last massage client of the day, I locked the door, turned off my phone and rolled out my mat. In 75 minutes I repeatedly counted poses to 12, then 21, 12 breaths, 24 breaths and 12 breaths again. The number 13 was in there, but passed over without fanfare.

There are days when I know exactly what I want and plan for nothing else. Doing that everyday might be worth practicing itself. You think?

Today's yoga practice:  Mother Sequence,1 hour and 15 minutes.

Location: Studio

Food consumed: 1 Banana, 1 tangelo (breakfast),1 navel orange, granola & soy-milk (lunch), Vegetable soup & brown rice (dinner). I know, my meals are boring.

Photo: Sidetrackers.com

A 21 Day Grace Period: Day 8

“You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?”-Rumi

When I start my daily yoga practice, I always enjoy stretching slowly into the classical sun salutations. I repeat twelve postures, twelve times and then it's time to spin. I love the contrast of spinning free form to the exact and precise movements of the sun salutes. Although everything around me becomes a blur, I experience a sense of control over my environment, I don't have to see it as it is.

After spinning twenty-one times, it takes me a few breaths to come back to center, regain some balance and then move on with the rest of the postures. This is where I often step on tedium. Right there three inches from the front of my mat, when I kneel for the second rite, I realize that I'm not even halfway through.

What lifts me up is that I have done the sequence many times before and I remember the elation and satisfaction I feel at the end.  I stop paddling upstream, let go of the oars and slowly, let the current easily take me to the place I want to be, happy and joyous.

"Ah, Grasshopper. Why not begin your practice in the place you want to be?"

Today's yoga practice:  Mother Sequence,1 hour and 10 minutes, late afternoon.

Location: Home

Food consumed: Mixed fruit salad (breakfast), granola, bananas & soy-milk (lunch), green salad, cooked greens and the most perfectly cooked piece of fish (dinner with friends).

Illustration of a Whirling Dervish: Erkan's Field Diary

A 21 Day Grace Period: Day 7

Let Float

Today there was a breakthrough, I threw all the pieces up in the air and let them fall where they would. It's the seventh day, I've been at this for a week and I wondered,"Why am I not having fun?" Before I even had a chance to start yet another mental list, I remembered another favorite Abraham-Hicks suggestion:

You don't even have to find the thought that is causing the resistance ---you just have to find a thought that isn't causing resistance.

So I'm changing my story right here and now. A 21 Day program works, always has, always will. I'm not going to try to prove or disprove it. "Just do". There's an abridged sequence I can do if I'm pressed for time. "Just do".

Today's yoga practice:  Mother Sequence,1 hour and 15 minutes, late afternoon.

Location: Home

Food consumed: Bananas and oranges (breakfast), granola, bananas & soy-milk (lunch), ahi, brown rice and salad greens.

Have you ever found yourself trying too hard? What do you do to ease up on yourself?

Painting by Susan Brenner: Gips Museum Terra Firma

A 21 Day Grace Period: Day 6

Into the Mold

It seems as though I've been scrambling around these first few days, to assemble all of my tools, ingredients and instructions.  Clearing the table of all that possibly could get in the way of my 21 Day Grace Period. 

I'm adding an activity to my normal schedule that takes a little over an hour. Where I used to be able to flow with my day and whatever came up, I now have an extra activity that I want to do, everyday. I can't "save it for tomorrow".

How to Make Time for Your Personal Goals from Zen Habits gave me a few reminders and the two that really stand out at this point are:

1. Keep It Simple. I have a tendency to start thinking about all the projects that could evolve from the one at hand and have already started a mental list of possible 21 Day projects. "Just do", is what my teacher often says.
2. Make It Your Top Priority. If I've chosen something to focus upon for 21 Days, it's obviously a top priority. I think a little visual reminder would help: a display of the Mother Sequence book, the flier I made for the yoga workshop next month, some flowers, etc. It's beginning to sound like an altar.

I think a shift in attitude is all that's needed here. Rather than seeing the mold (24 hours/day) as restrictive and binding I can view it as the space I want to fill, with Grace.

Today's yoga practice:  Mother Sequence, Abridged. 15 minutes.

Location: Home

Food consumed: Bananas & a papaya (breakfast), Quinoa salad (lunch), Green salad and sushi (dinner out with friends).

Photo: Barlowstackle.com

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A 21 Day Grace Period: Day 5

“The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion”- Albert Einstein

There are times when I feel like a powerful fortune teller. What I foretell appears or happens and people "ooooh" and "aaaah" and ask for more.

 

Then there are times when I feel as though what I've created, has been done many times before and with much more finesse than I've been able to conjure.

During my time on the mat today, I felt a little of both. There's an unseen, unfathomable power that lies within this yoga sequence and in the diligent practice thereof. Yet, I have a feeling that once I "get it" and my proficiency and lessons learned are relayed to my teacher, he will say, "Okay. Now you'll understand the next lesson."

Today's yoga practice:  Mother Sequence, 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Location: Home

Food consumed: Bananas (breakfast); a salad plate of quinoa salad and a piece of cooked pumpkin (lunch); stir-fry of local and organic=tofu, shimeji mushrooms and mustard greens (dinner).

Photo of Fortune Teller: Copper & Blue

Photo of Snow Globe: Woman's Day

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