Giving yourself time and space

I said to Mel my marketing manager that I would write this blog by the 30th of June.  Today is the 1st of July and after a class on the mat with Angela at the Lower Hutt studio, the inspiration suddenly arrived.  The practice of yoga was the great reminder of the importance of giving the body, mind, and soul - time and space on the mat. 

Working through some of the challenges of life requires a certain amount of equanimity, and time and space are so necessary.  This is one of the many gifts of yoga. In the asanas, we give ourselves time and space in the shapes we work towards, using the breath with consciousness, noticing the mind and practicing letting them pass by like the clouds in the sky; feeling the sensations in the body knowing they and everything will change.

So, the invitation to myself and those reading this blog is to give yourself some time, some space, in whatever way feels nourishing and kind.

Last week I got interviewed about what it means to be happy – it was a good question as one of the things I truly believe is that happiness (or I’d call it more contentment) is an inside job and that is what Yoga teaches us, to go inward.  That the external world is always changing, going from one thing to the next, the senses are bombarded, and it feels exhausting. 

So rather than “doing”, finding the space to just “be”.  After all, we are human – beings, not human doings. 

The famous Ram Dass says this

“I am without form, without limit, beyond space, beyond time.

While there is no promises of an easy road, nor a one-fix wonder, finding the magic of being in the present moment, being with whatever arises and living it more nor less is the road to inner peace.  Finding gratitude even in the challenges of life, being a student, coming with a beginner’s mind is what we learn on and off the mat.

My life is much richer in so many ways, time and space in some ways become irrelevant when I’m in that place of being.  I am kinder, more forgiving, funnier and so much shinier, but it does take work, it is a discipline. 

So how can you give yourself some time and space?

And so, it is.

“Yoga does not transform the way we see things; it transforms the person who sees.” BKS Iyengar