Lifting the Veil: You’re Already Awesome, Why Not Enjoy It?

This is my 14th week recovering from major reconstructive foot surgery. I was in a cast up until last Friday, and very limited in my ability to move. As someone whose life’s work is movement, it’s been very challenging. Before the surgery my border collie Winnie and I would walk 5 or 6 k’s just about every day. Walking is a form of meditation for me, a place where I lose track of time and space, and find myself immersed in nature, Winnie and the cadence of my steps. My walks are often where I have my greatest epiphanies or moments of inspiration, and I learned after awhile to take either my phone or a paper and pen with me so I can write things down. I’m still a long way from being able to do a 5K walk, so when the Dr. told me I could get out of the Air-cast and into a shoe, I decided to buy a bicycle. I taught a training all weekend so yesterday was the first chance I had to go for a ride. First thing in the morning I got out on the riverwalk and took off. It was sunny, there was a breeze; and I was finally MOVING! After awhile the time stood still; the ground began to fall away underneath me and at one stage during the ride there was no me, no bike, just flow. It felt like I was being carried by a wave of energy outside of myself. It was effortless magic, pure ecstatic movement. I rode 18 kilometers on that first ride, and I couldn’t wait to do it again!

We all have moments in life when we get completely lost in the moment. Being fully immersed in and carried by the current of life, it’s like the veil is lifted and we awaken to the beauty of exactly where we are and what we’re doing. These glimpses can occur doing something physical like it did for me on my bike or during my walks, but in truth these moments of absorption can come anytime you are completely immersed in the here and now. Life is full of beauty and magic to get lost in, but most of us have to train ourselves to tune in in order to fully appreciate it.

Yoga philosophy takes the premise that not just life, but every human being is intrinsically good.

Even the most hardened criminal was once a tiny baby who needed the care and nurture of his or her mother. In the deepest reaches of your own core shines the light of your authentic self. Even during the dark times. Celebrating that light, moving from that place inside not only enriches your own experience; it naturally enhances the beauty of everything around you. Yoga philosophy espouses that life in the physical world doesn’t have to be to be transcended or suppressed in order to access these moments of connection. It teaches that life is a treasure, a gift to be enjoyed and lived fully. Right now.

Yoga and meditation are tools that can help you get out of your head and into the effortless magic of life. When I ask people how yoga has changed them, they never talk about yoga poses. They don’t say “I’ve worked hard and now I’ve got a wicked Triangle Pose”. They say things like “My perception has changed”, or “My life has shifted”, or “There’s been a transformation”. They use terms like open, connected, and present. They report that they’re happier and more able to serve their friends and family, and to live more fully.

Your yoga mat is a sacred place where you can let the stuff of life fall away, reconnect with your truest nature, and align yourself with Spirit. Whatever your word for it is, there’s a universal flow that connects us all, and when you line your body up with that flow on the yoga mat, you can feel its current fanning the flame and enhancing the light at the very core of who you are. You become more attuned to the beauty around you. When you greet the world from this receptive and expanded place, even though it feels like you’re shifting and changing, in truth you’re becoming more fully yourself.

You’re already awesome, why not enjoy it?