Dear Homegrown Yogis,
The past few weeks have been a blur of sadness and tears, excitement and joy, little sleep, and lots of cold medicine. After a year-long battle with cancer, my husband’s mom passed away. My husband has been in Maine with his family grieving and going through what he has dreaded since her initial diagnosis. Here at home, on the other hand, Freida started “big kid school.” Every day when I pick her up, I get to hear how “It was the best day I’ve ever had in my whole life.” Personally, I’ve had a head-cold that has been lingering now for two weeks – a combination I think of little sleep and lots of emotions.
Over these last few weeks, I have had so many moments when I just wanted to quit showing up for my life. I’ve wanted to get other teachers to sub my classes; I’ve wanted to zone out on the couch instead of talk and play with Freida; and I most definitely have not wanted to get on my own yoga mat to practice. Yet each time that I have made the decision to show up, I have felt more grounded, more energized and yes, happier!
At our Kundalini Yoga workshop this past month, visiting teacher Lizz Cohoon shared something that Yogi Bhajan would always say: “Keep up and you will be kept up.” In other words, do the work and it will serve you.
The practice of yoga is totally okay with you showing up exactly as you are. The past few weeks I have shown up – oftentimes distracted and a mess – but I’ve been there. And just as Yogi Bhajan promised, yoga has done its part. It has kept me balanced, going and “kept up.”
No matter what is going on in your life right now – happy things, sad things or what may seem like everything – I encourage you to keep showing up on your mat regardless of how that looks from day-to-day. By doing your work, you allow yoga to do its work.
With love,
Rachel