I love this very succinct way of stating a practice I remind myself of frequently. I know from my life experience that if I am pushing, or forcing, or rushing, some part of me is out of balance, and if I continue on that path, the results are generally not satisfying, and I get worn out from unnecessary expenditure of energy.
Some examples... if I'm in hurry to get somewhere driving, I hit every light red, get frustrated, and may not be paying attention to what I'm doing. If I tell myself I am NOT in a hurry and calm down, I arrive at my destination in fine time and fine emotional shape.
I also tend to be a person who feels, in the moment, that things aren't happening fast enough in my life. That would be impatience. But in hindsight, everything always works out perfectly. Slow down, Leta.
Folks tell me sometimes that yoga is too slow for them. My response is, "If yoga is too slow for you, you need to slow down." See Nepo quote above.
Faith is an integral part of the slowing down process. There's something to slow down and ponder!
Relaxed and peaceful,

Posted by Leta Renee Miller at 7:35 AM No comments: Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Whining, or not

I recently returned from an awesome trip to the Bahamas. What a magnificent spot on our glorious Planet Earth! I went from sunshine and temps in the 70s to cold and snow back in Kansas. I awoke to an inch of snow, and began mentally whining about it, even though I knew it would be gone in a matter of hours. Sure wish I could have stayed in the islands!
Then I opened my daily meditation book by Mark Nepo, and this was the day's reading (in part):

"If peace comes from seeing the whole, then misery stems from a loss of perspective... We begin so aware and grateful. The sun somehow hangs there in the sky. The little bird sings. The miracle of life just happens. Then we stub our toe, and in that moment of pain, the whole world is reduced to our poor little toe. Now, for a day or two, it is difficult to walk. With every step, we are reminded of our poor little toe.

"Our vigilance becomes: Which defines our day--the pinch we feel in walking on a bruised toe, or the miracle still happening? ... It is the giving over to smallness that opens us to misery. ... When we narrow our focus, the problem seems everything. ... So, when feeling miserable, we must look wider than what hurts."

Quite the wisdom there. So I stopped whining and went to the YMCA and climbed into warm water and had a great swim. Life is good. Perspective broadened!
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