With the new year, change is on everyone's mind. Any good gym member knows this, which is why they are not surprised when on Jan. 2 the parking lot looks like the mall before Christmas.
This does not create more than a slight inconvenience for the seasoned gym member, because--they know--change is hard to get and most people give up too soon. Which is why the parking lots return to normal about mid-March, if not sooner.
I don't say this to depress you or in any way to dampen the zeal you have for the New Year's resolutions you set (or pretended not to set but thought about in your mind anyway). The problem is our approach to change.
By definition, yoga is change. It is transformative. Anyone who teaches anything different or anything less than that isn't truly teaching yoga. Sure, a yoga class can help you lose weight or firm your abs, but that is just a side benefit. Most importantly, yoga can change your breath, which affects your state of mind . . . and everything about you.
We make two mistakes. (1) we assume we have all the time in the world.
In our mind we say this: "I am 26, I expect to live till I'm 80 (at least, may even go for a Guinness record); therefore, I don't have to do anything truly meaningful for about another 25-30 years."
In reality, all we have is the breath we are breathing now. We are not guaranteed another one. I don't say this to be morbid, just to illustrate the point: how much more deeply would we breathe, how much more closely would we see the world around us. . .if we remembered that only This Moment matters?
We also make another mistake. (2) we make war on our present condition.
So we want to change our quick temper. We've finally faced the truth and decided we don't want to end up like our mother (or substitute some relative/boss/neighbor here). So in our minds, our anger becomes something bad--something to be gotten rid of or destroyed. It is now the enemy.
All we have done is create a mini-war within ourselves. Instead, we should use our energy to transform one thing (our anger, worry, fear, tension, procrastination, passive aggressiveness, gossiping, depression, puppy mind) into something new.
Try this: create a personal, two-word positive-negative intention, perhaps something you want to remember this whole year. Think of something you want more of in your life or something you want to be more like (i.e. more patient, strong, calm, content, happy, etc.). Also, think of something you want to release from your life, or an obstacle you want to move past.
Boil both of these--the positive and negative--down into one or two words each. Now use them as a personal mantra. In class (or in your car or wherever) chant the positive word on your inhale and the negative word on your exhale. Breathe in what you want more of, and breathe out what you want to release. With Each breath.
We change change our breath. Our breath will change our mind. Through our yoga practice, we can substitute one state of mind for another, and that will change our lives.
Someone asked me recently, what can yoga do for you? I said: everything. It can change your life, if you let it.
Happy New Year. May it be one of transformation.
Kelly
[thanks to Jamie Elmer for teaching me this intention]
