Getting Your Groove Back

I read a great quote this morning. It's a philosophy called the Pura Vida. "Everything is good, life is beautiful, go with the flow, surrender to what is, let things go, enjoy your life." Perhaps it hit me as my life's in turmoil right now because we're moving. I'm a Vata so change and an uncertain future is difficult for me. But this quote simply states that I'm making my own chaos and stress. I'm choosing to be unhappy and scattered.

I tell students in class all the time how most of the pain and tension in their body is coming from their mind. Our thoughts and emotions physically affect our bodies. We can go through a yoga practice and feel relaxed, only to have the tension creep back in because we never let go of the emotions that led to the tension in the first place. We've created these negative grooves or samskara's in our way of thinking. In order to be happy, we need to get our positive groove back.

Committing to a regular yoga practice is a great way to make this quote a part of your life. When I say yoga practice I don't mean just waking up and doing the poses. A yoga practice should include not only poses but breath work, meditation and at least a 10-15 minute relaxation at the end. Like anything in life, if you just go through the motions, you won't get results.

Everything is good: focusing on the bad is easy. Especially in your practice and life. My knee hurts so I can't do a certain pose. I'm weak so I can't do an inversion. My marriage is bad because I never spend quality time with my spouse. You've got to change those negative thoughts into positive ones. Yes, your knee hurts and you're too weak to do an inversion, but that doesn't mean that's that. You can modify your brain like you modify your poses. Instead of thinking about how bad your relationship is with your spouse, think about ways that you could make it better. Be proactive. Like building strength to get into that inversion, changing our negative thoughts to positive takes time, but change can happen. It's all how you look at it.

Life is beautiful: you just have to slow down to look at it. When I step out of a yoga class my senses are on fire. I feel the breeze, notice the warmth of the sun and just walk around with a smile. I've cleared the tension out of my body and mind allowing me to enjoy the beautiful things in life more because I'm not focused on the bad.

Go with the flow: I love a flow yoga classes. I like linking my breath with my movement, it's almost like a dance. I find when I'm not in a flow class it feels awkward and clunky. The same is true in life. When we don't transition easy, things get mucked up. We fight things that aren't worth our energy. Life is easier if we just go with the flow on things that would take more energy than we have to give.

Surrender to what is: I'm hyper-flexible so there are some yoga poses that I just can't do anymore without causing more damage to my joints. I was pretty upset about this when I first figured it out. A practice I've done for years and love was suddenly going to have to change. I could fight this and be upset about it, but that would only take more away from my yoga practice. I've now adapted my practice to fit my physical needs, I've surrendered to where my body is at this time. I chose to let go of the turmoil instead of fight it and I've now got a new practice I love.

Let things go: what's the point of dwelling? All it does is maintain the negative emotion you felt in the first place. We tend to hold onto these negative emotions because we want an explanation or resolution to the thing that set us off in the first place. Most likely you'll never get that. Do yourself a favor and let go of what irks you. Your body and overall health will thank you. You can't live a happy life if you're holding onto other peoples crap.

Enjoy your life: you should do one selfish thing every day. We tend to do more for others than we do for ourselves, especially if you're a parent. Make sure to do one thing every day that is just for you. Go for a walk, take a class or simply find time alone to read for awhile. The world won't end.

A good yoga class or practice will give you the sensation of how great it feels to completely let go. In class don't just focus on the physical practice but on the breath and releasing the mind. The yoga breath you do and the focusing of the mind are what truly relieves your tension. If you can't let go of the mind stuff and take a deep breath, all that stretching will be for nothing. Let go of all that weighs you down. You have to choose a good life, it won't just happen to you.