Bridget Stacey Luff

I had one of those mornings (or maybe month of mornings?) where it felt like that little grey cloud was hovering over me – broken toilet, bad coffee, bills to pay, slow bus, loud passengers. As I neared the yoga studio I suddenly caught a perceptive glimpse of myself. Here I am in this exciting city, owning an apartment with my dear husband, a job I love and wonderful friends. Uh… what am I moaning about?

It’s so easy to forget, to forget the dark times when things are going well and to nitpick and picknit everything and everyone. We close ourselves off in our bubble of man-made misery.

Yoga wisdoms teach us to be grateful for what we have. Because we have more than we need, and we are everything we should be. As we focus on the more positive aspects our life seems fuller, and we experience more contentment (santosha). No need to delude ourselves, just take a good hearty look. As my good friend always says “Don’t sweat the small stuff” . Your strong challenges will come don’t you worry about that, so preserve your adrenaline for when you actually need it, don’t deplete yourself.

Remembering your lot i.e. being grateful means bringing it back in, shutting off the “I wants” from the outside (not looking at the big A-boards telling you what you need). In your deep core you know you have enough. Go deep and see yourself for who you are, then spread out the lurve the luff the love!

I’ll share one of my favourite quotes (again):

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes" 
- Marcel Proust

Practice:  just before you drift to sleep and first thing as you wake , on the threshold of consciousness, think of three things you are really grateful for. They can be very small or very big, they can be the same thing everyday, but make sure you mean it.

"Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you"
- Walt Whitman, Song of Myself

We all hold the potential for limitless power. As we see our reflection of self in our yoga practice we realise that there is always more – there is always more energy, knowledge, strength, flexibility to be find. The more we weave ourselves mindfully through life the more we discover our own inner power.   That power being a combination of strength and flexibility in body and mind.

Often when we start yoga we only see the outer form of ourselves, what we can and cannot do. We push and compete with ourselves and others. And then the body confronts us (often screaming at us with it’s limitations with pain and injury) and we realise that the practice is actually about what’s happening deep inside.  We draw into the interior landscape of the practice. We discover that if we spiral our inner thighs back in space our hips find more flexibility, if our arm bones root back into the shoulder sockets we find more strength in upper body. The technology of the practice absorbs us and if we work hard at refining our practice, working deep into the core of our being, we suddenly notice ourselves sailing through poses we only dreamed of before!

When I started yoga I really was not particularly strong nor flexible it seemed comparing myself to the rest of the room. The more I compared myself the ‘worse’ I seemed to get and I seemed to get stuck half way fingers to toes, collapsing in my planks. Then it all shifted. And I believe that part of the shift came because I began to believe that I would one day be able to do it. I started to affirm myself instead of telling myself I was useless. I mean, of course I wasn’t going to get anywhere if I told myself I couldn’t get there.  Why on earth would my body trust my mind sending crazy mixed signals. One day when I was preparing to launch myself at the wall, instead of the aggressive internal dialogue my heart said to me “You do not need to be afraid, you can do this” and upside down I sprung. And stayed there.

Perhaps you can relate to the internal dialogue or perhaps your voices are different. But what I have learnt is that, yes, there is always more to be learnt and more to be done but we expand to embrace the challenge. And if we believe in and affirm ourselves it’s far more likely we will get there.

The Bliss of Awareness is discovered through the expansion of the centre. 
– Sutra 17, The Heart of Recognition, Ksemaraja (tr. Hareesh Wallis)

grounded [ˈgraʊndɪd]
sensible and down-to-earth; having one's feet on the ground - Collins English Dictionary

As we rise to new challenges unfolding its important to remember to stay grounded. As we get excited we can forget why we are doing what we are doing, who and where we came from.  We disconnect and lose perspective of our bigger picture.

Like the spring crocus that blossoms, it lasts longer if it stays connected to its roots.

Remember your Roots

And it is so easy to get uprooted and burn out in this crazy world. (Been there, done that times a hundred!) So we have to work to remember to actively bring our feet to the ground, remembering our support, being sensitive, so we can stay strong for long. Like in a headstand, we root down to rise up in life.

And the flower cannot grow more without its roots in the earth.

Micro Practice (for when you are busy running around like a headless chicken): take a moment to literally feel the ground beneath you and imagine roots growing under your feet into the ground. Balance out your stance between left and right steadying yourself. It’s as simple and effective as that, feeling the floor beneath you makes you more grounded as a person and gives you energy to keep going. If we take these quick moments every couple of hours to steady ourselves we ultimately become more productive and our decisions and energies flow. Give it a go .

(not all pretty)

I’d love to believe that life is a box of chocolates, but … sometimes it feels like we pick up a piece of turd in our metaphoric chocolate box.  Even with all our wonderful yogic beliefs, strong practice and healthy attitude, sometimes something comes up out of nowhere and really throws you off centre. You know what I’m talking about. At these times I need to remind myself that at the very least: this will change.  Nature constantly pulsates growth, contraction, expansion , change.

Everything flows, nothing stands still - Heraclitus

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus articulated that the only constant is change. Nothing is permanent in the universe; therefore attachment to any one state of being equals disappointment.

The contemporary American philosopher Douglas Brooks taught me that the cyclical nature of the universe is represented by the three goddesses Durga, Saraswati and Lakshmi.

Together these three goddesses represent the evolution of everything and every thing.  In a nutshell: Durga represents darkness and chaos, Saraswati – organization and order. And Lakshmi is our favourable lady of beauty and bliss. We always hold elements of these three goddesses within us and our lives. Different parts of our lives may be more Kali, Saraswati or Lakshmi weighted.  All three are vital for growth, learning and development.

We all love the Lakshmi moments of blissful contentment (the hazelnut centre of a chocolate moment) but the moment must pass. The more we chase the blissful nectar that Lakshmi gives the more elusive she becomes, and we begin to suffer immense disappointment when Durga raises her head to confound us. As we embrace Durga’s darkness Saraswati gives us the tools to negotiate the chaos and so we attain blissful realisation of Lakshmi again. For a while.  Each cycle is as important as the other .  If everything was sweet, we would by our very human nature grow bored and discontented. I know it, you know it.

Yoga gives us a much needed map to negotiate the balance of this bitter and sweet, dark and light in this topsy turvey and up down life.  If we focus on the fun and light beauty too much  - their shadows loom up and bite you on your bum.

The next time you hit the full force of a life tornado, give it a moment and instead of giving up all hope, make some extra time for strong yoga practice (sadhana) so you can be really steady. This gives you the freedom to face the storm full on. Perhaps discovering hidden strengths you had no idea were there. We all hold a fathomless amount of potential for growth -our nature is to expand from the contractions remember? And on and on the spiralling merry-go-round we go. So next time the turd turns up on your front door – stop your stride, look at it, accept it and get the tools you need to deal with it.