YOGA - WEST OF THE NARROWS
LIFE: AIN'T IT BOO-TIFUL?
I love Halloween. I've loved it since childhood. Place my love of spookiness aside, there's the excitement of choosing to be whatever you want. The first thing we ask children this time of year tends to be, "What are you going to be for Halloween?"
It leads me to wonder, what costumes (ie. identities) do we wear all year? More importantly, what costume, if we had a choice, would we like to try on?
"IN MOST OF OUR HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS, WE SPEND MUCH OF OUR TIME REASSURING ONE ANOTHER THAT OUR COSTUMES OF IDENTITY ARE ON STRAIGHT." - RAM DASS
If you knew there was no threat to your 'real' life and you could temporarily try on something new.....what would it be? What do you think this reveals about you?
Think about the "costume" you wear each day. Maybe it is the one you thought you wanted last year, but how does it fit now?
In my house, we save our costumes in an accessible box and the kids dress up OFTEN as we've collected quite a few. However, it always becomes clear when they've outgrown a costume and it needs to be laid to rest. Are there any aspects of your identity that you've outgrown?
If a new costume IS in order this year, what's the distance or contrast between the costume you'd like and the one you've been wearing? What could wage the gap between the two?
Engaging in and digging to answer these questions holds hands with the 2nd limb of Yoga in which we explore our own conduct, namely the 4th Niyama, Svadhyaya (Self-Study).
When the Fall causes us to retreat to our warm homes, it is a wonderful time to explore aspects of ourselves and other possibilities.
"WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS HAVING A SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE, WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS HAVING A HUMAN EXPERIENCE.' -PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN
What experience would you like to have? Try this out as a focus for your current meditation and you may try pairing with Yoga postures to help:
To dig deep and turn inward: Try variations of seated forward folds.
Opening to new possibilities: Try a NEW pose, practice style, or even an intimidating posture (however, be mindful of your current asana level and what modifications would make this new venture safe and accessible).
Letting go of old identities: Deep hip openers (think Goddess pose and varied lunges) ought to help.
Namaste, Yogis!
