“We can stop trying to get something out of life. Striving for perfection, the compulsion to manufacture a perfect situation, is a habit with us. We are addicted to improving ourselves and our lives’ situations. But we cannot experience our true openness by improving ourselves. It is a bit like taking better and better care of our bodies; eating nothing but brown rice and vegetables and running marathons and so on, and doing all this in the hope that one day we will be able to fly.” –from Radically Condensed Instructions for Being Just as You Are by JJ Mathews
Peace and Joy!
It’s almost March and for many the buzz of a new year has slowly faded. It’s a funny thing that we start the year setting intentions or resolutions, too often ignoring that the new year is not really new after all; it’s continuity.
Yet in our hearts we too often long for the new, for the break that will liberate us from whatever it is that we see as our burden to resolve or remove.
With this message Maribel and I want to remind you, as we remind ourselves, that there is absolutely nothing missing, broken, our out of place in your soul. There is nothing to fix, reform, change, or somehow manage.
We often see people come to training or yoga with some sort of desire to fix or change the body. This desire is ingrained in us by every single thing we ever see in the media, have learned in school, and may have even heard from those closest to us. Self improvement is part of our cultural DNA.
Unfortunately, this conditioning takes us out of the present moment and puts us in the mode of future thinking. If I lose this much weight… If I firm up my arms… If I get abs…. This list can be pretty endless and has repercussions outside of the body.
Making such lists or embracing them forces us to let go of deeply appreciating the current moment in the faith that somehow in the future we will find that happiness and satisfaction. List making of this sort is the way into the trance of unworthiness that comes from losing sight of what we are.
The sad trick of it all is that the future always remains the future. It never manifests as the present leading us to go through life seeking for something that is not here and will never be here. It’s a sad affair.
A famous rabbi taught that the Queendom/Kindgom of God is in our hearts, is at hand, and is experienced when we become like little children. The teaching is that we don’t have to walk a thousand miles to find it, do 3000 crunches to experience it–it is closer than our own hands and breath.
With this teaching in mind, we want to encourage you to embrace your beautiful souls, celebrate your one precious human lives, and do all in your power to live in wonder and love. This is such an amazing life–a mix of sorrow and joy. Right now is a good moment to appreciate this and to settle into the spaciousness and peace found in our hearts (قلب).
In all of this we are not suggesting that you don’t take care of the body. On the contrary, the body is the vehicle by which we experience the grace we are pointing to. Staying as healthy as possible is a worthy goal we so much support.
Our point with this short message is to encourage you when you come to training this week or to yoga, that you do so in celebration of the opportunity to move and breathe in full acceptance of the beauty and miracle that you are right now, just as you are. We can let go of our self-improvement plans, our resolutions to get it right, and instead, enjoy the very moment.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Spring Retreats
May 18-21; 25-28
We have two retreats planned in Tennessee this spring. The first one will focus on strengthening one’s inner life through journaling and yoga in the beautiful setting of Narrow Ridge.
We will offer a second retreat toward the end of the week that will be geared for those interested in weight loss and well being and will focus on food, cooking, and movement.
We are offering the two retreats back-to-back and providing a discount for those who would like to take part in both.
Cost for one retreat: $600 (Includes all meals and lodging.)
Cost for the two retreats: $900 (Includes all meals and lodging.)
Call for more information: 786.991.2269.
