... and my favorite shoes don't fit me anymore

Wow! I've been gone for awhile! But here I am again. Hoyt is in school a few hours a week and with that my mind feels a little clearer. One of my college professor's once told me "you know Kathleen you really can't do EVERYTHING." I didn't really agree with her at the time. I wanted to at least try to do everything.  Finally I realized you really can't do everything at least ALL AT ONCE. I felt inspired again to come back to this blog and I couldn't help but share this great quote of Hoyt's today and it's impression on me. As many things in my life do, this quote offers great insight and inspiration for my yoga classes. So here's the quote...

"God made me, ME, and then he put me in an egg... and I grew Bigger and BIGGER!!! and now my favorite shoes don't fit me anymore..... where are my dinosaurs?"

The truth is we are always outgrowing our favorite and most comfortable "things" without even trying! Many of us continue to hold on to stuff well past their most functional time. Over time we get weighed down and worn out from carrying everything from our past. Fall is in the air and it is the prime time for letting all of our used up stuff go. The bonus is that when we let go of the old we make room  in our lives for new favorites and a feeling of freshness, clarity and vitality. I think letting go and finding new favorites is an essential part of a joyful life and is part surrender and part effort.

You may or may not have a lot of old material stuff but many of us also hang on to  patterns of moving, thinking and even feeling that regrettably aren't good for us anymore. Yoga is one way to process and release these old habits and patterns. I teach Anusara Inspired Yoga. In this practice, we use a concept called "Beginner's Mind." When you adopt a "Beginner's Mind" you let go of all the stuff you think you already know so that you can experience yourself and your world clearly as you truly are today unaffected by the filters of the past and future. Once you see where you really are, you can better assess what is adding to your life and what is draining or wearing you down. With this new awareness, making changes in your life becomes empowering and energizing rather than hard or sad.

The trick to beginner's mind is to really try to surrender, to be humble, to open to Grace and to let go of any preconceptions or judgements. In this state of curiosity and inner quiet you become more receptive to feedback from your body, heart and the CURRENT state of your mind.

You might image that wide-eyed look of an infant gazing out into an unfamiliar world and gaining true pleasure from the simplest of things... eye contact, a familiar voice, something... anything to touch or hold or taste. Life is so full of things that can give us pleasure if we open ourselves up to seeing what else is out there for us and each other.

We'll be working on this concept along with improving the alignment of our neck, shoulders and heads by releasing old postural patterns and creating new ones at Mulvaney's Personal Training Center tonight from 7-8. I hope you can join us. More details about location and such is on my website www.flourishunlited.com

Stay Curious!