Dear Beautiful Human,
The dust has settled as it’s been about 5 weeks since we shifted into shelter in place and schools were cancelled. The first couple of weeks were a blur. Luckily my online business was already set up. Nonetheless I was flooded with new students joining, fielding tech issues, responding to emails, managing my kids transitions to online/at home school and so much more.
I personally felt I was in fight or flight mode and had to contend with my own shock, fear, sadness, worry, loss and adjustments. This is a once in a lifetime experience that none of us has ever been through. I knew that despite the challenges of this time there would be some true goodness to come from the changes. One thing life has taught me is that adversity, challenge, loss is a call to learn and grow. These events either take us down or force us to grow and expand. I am always choosing to grow and I am taking this challenge for all it’s worth right now. I am practicing presence, flexibility, letting go and acceptance. I am also weeding out the negative mental patterns that pull me into fear and doubt.
Acceptance has settled in and there are some real gems and sliver linings I am discovering both at the micro and macro levels.
Changes at home:
- My kids are hanging out together in a new and different way. There are late night sister snack runs down to the kitchen to get food and not get caught, there are neighborhood walks and time chilling outside in the back yard soaking up the sun. They are creatively keeping themselves occupied.
- I realized I feel the need to fix things and figure stuff out for them and this time I have had to step back and let them do it themselves. It’s given them more freedom and independence and it’s taught me they need to step up. I have to get out of the way so they can step up. It’s good for all of us.
- Family drives have become the highlight of the day. There used to be a lot of whining, fighting, arguing about the music or who sat where. Now we all pile into the car in the late afternoon, open the windows, blast the music and quietly enjoy the beauty of west Marin, all together in silence. It is literally priceless. It has made us all appreciate the little things.
- Personally, my practices have deepened. I spend even more time on the mat and both my mind and body feel pretty damn good. The lack of running around has done wonders for my energy levels and I have incorporated more rest into my day. I am listening better than ever to my intuition, my own internal navigation system.
Changes out in the world:
- I am in total awe of how adaptable and kind people are. A couple of weeks ago I stood outside Trader Joe’s in a long line of people, 6 feet apart patiently waiting to go in. Almost everyone had masks on and not a single complaint. People were grateful to the workers, people stayed calm and present and there wasn’t a lick of entitlement anywhere. People are checking on each other, making masks at home, stepping up where they can. It’s truly beautiful.
- Creativity abounds. Businesses of all sorts are figuring out how to keep functioning and maintain the new safety rules. What seemed impossible is now totally manageable.
- Nature is thriving. We have all see the photos of less pollution in the skies, dolphins reappearing in areas not seen in years, waters running cleaner and the roads are pretty empty. On days I have felt low, I hit the trail by my house and within minutes I feel faith and trust return. Nature hasn’t stopped, she is still doing what she has always done, thrive.
How are you doing? Are you finding silver linings in this big, huge, gigantic moment of PAUSE? No matter what you may be going through right now, there are some silver linings. The yogi knows this challenge is a tapas (a burning away of what isn’t needed) and rather than fight it, we accept it and use it for growth.
Wishing you great growth and new insights during this time of global reset.
Love & Yoga,
