Ahimsa Day 9 March 31, 2020

Fear.

Deborah Adele writes, “fear creates violence.”  She also writes about two types of fear.  One type is “built in us for survival” and the other “fear of the unfamiliar.”  When faced with going to the grocery store last week, I will admit my anxiety was elevated.  How many surfaces would I touch?  How much food would I really be able to get?  Would this trip really be worth it if I were to get sick?  I knew I had to get some protein and fresh fruits and vegetables, but I also knew that I could grab some extra frozen vegetables and order some canned tuna on-line.  So I did the best I could and set my fear aside to grab enough to get through the next few days.   I do not believe in hoarding, which is another yama, because we are all in this situation together and there will be a time that supplies run low for all of us.  So I need to be mindful to take what I need and move on, not attaching to what I got or did not get.  I have food.  I am happy and I am loved.

COVID-19 is striking fear into a lot of us.  The media does not help by showcasing data day in and day out.  I am thankful my family, friends, and I are all healthy.  I am thankful I am able to walk, run, workout, do yoga, cook, and work from home.  I am thankful for electricity and running water.  I realize our situation could be much worse and that utilities like that could be monitored like they are in some countries.  I am thankful our county is offering WIFI to students who are able to work in the parking lots of our middle and high school to complete assignments.  Assignments that we, the teachers, have been stressing over how to plan, execute, and follow up on.  I set my fear aside that all the hard work will pay off and there will be some students who benefit from what we are doing for them.   I set my fear aside that I will continue to get a paycheck during this time and my health insurance will continue as well.  I refuse to live in fear and let life pass me by.  Yes, life right now is much, much different than it was 3 months ago or even a week ago.  I am also hopeful that in another six months we look back at all the things we did or did not do and are happy with the choices we made and what our society looks like.  I pray everyone does their job and stays home, loves their family and prays for this situation to pass so we can move on healthy, stronger, and kinder once it is all over.

Namaste.

Ahimsa Day 8 March 30, 2020

Today I continue to stay present.  On my run today, I saw the sun peek between the clouds.  The whole sky was gray except the one bright spot.  I always look for the bright spot.  Times are really unstable right now, and I am clinging to my routine to feel grounded.  I run Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and sometimes on Saturday or Sunday.  I train with weights Tuesday, Thursday, sometimes Saturday or Sunday.  I do yoga 7 days a week.  That is how I feel 100% my best.  The dark and cold mornings have kept my inside on my running days and I did some cardio Tabata training instead.  Those days are fun but nothing takes the place of my runs.  I get so much clarity.  I feel close to God and I feel close to my dad.  Because I know my dad is running right beside me.

Today when I saw the sun peek out, the tears came as they often do when I run. The release, the surrender, the “I don’t need to hold to____”.  I know my dad is watching over us and protecting us the best he can.  I feel him so much and have the past few months.  As I finished my run, the train whistle blew and the birds were chirping.  And then I realized I am but a speck on this planet, which does not belong to me.  I am on borrowed time.  Nothing here is mine and I am to live my life the best way I can for the time I am allotted here.  As a yogi, I touch everything with love.  I set boundaries and I accept all things that happen to me and around me.  I look for the lessons I am to learn from every experience that happens to me, positively or negatively.  Honestly, those labels are just that…labels.  Experiences are what happens to us, we attach a label to them making them positive or negative.  I choose the life I want to live.  I choose how I want to live my life.  Yes there are things that are more “positive” than others.  Yes, there are times that I wish I could hold onto forever soaking up every last drop.  But, that is not reality and that is not how we are intended to live because that would also be attachment.  I choose to live every day like it is my last.  I choose to make the best of what’s around with my people and my places.  I choose laughter, light and love always.  I will never live with a hardened heart or with regrets because that burden is too heavy to carry.

What are you learning about yourself through social distancing?  What are you learning about virtual ZOOM meetings and Google hangouts?  I am working way outside my comfort zone currently and I am making it work.  I have had several breakthroughs which had made me jump up and down because I was able to figure it out on my own.  Technology is not my friend on a good day.  I love interacting with people and seeing their faces when I talk.  I love reading body language.  I do not like the coldness of  screens or worse yet screens that freeze.  I found a pocket of anger today about my dad’s death that I am still working through.  Ironically I turn to the coldness of a screen to write about it through my blog.  My effort here is that maybe my words will bring comfort to someone else who is going through something similar, and then we realize we are not alone even though we are forced to be.

How are you staying present?  It is easier to stay present now that we are forced to socially distance ourselves?

Ahimsa Day 7 March 29, 2020

Today I continue to focus on living in the present by enjoying life through my five senses.  I am able to hear the shower running.  I am able to see the glow of the computer screen and the words of connection I am writing.  I am able to feel the keys under my fingers.  I taste my coffee.  I smell peppermint essential oils from my coffee and Breathe from my diffuser.  Tell me what you see, touch, taste, feel and hear in this moment.

Ahimsa Day 6 March 28, 2020

Daily challenge:  How can you be kinder to yourself today?  In what area of your life can you give yourself a break?  Today:  I am embracing the fact that it is raining and I will not be able to get my hyper puppy out for a walk.  She will have lots of time to play inside today chasing her ball and snuggling.  Happy Saturday, friends.

Ahimsa Day 5 March 27, 2020

A little challenge for your Friday, friends.  Can you enjoy your life wholly for today?  Just for today can you allow yourself and your time to be enough?  Is it possible for today to not think about the past or future or where you want to be, but to sit where you are and really enjoy the moment?  I had a moment like this yesterday.  The sun was shinning brightly and I was out on the deck journaling.  I laid back in the chair and closed my eyes feeling the sun shine on me.  I allowed myself to sit and not jump up and think about something else I needed to be doing like I would on a typical “down day.”  Sitting felt really good, enjoying the sun felt really good, and just breathing in the space in my home felt really good.  I invite you to sit, breathe, and enjoy the moments that make up today without trying to get to the next step.  When we rush forward, we miss the “little” things along the way that get us to the next moment.

Ahimsa Day 4 March 26, 2020

Help VS Support

Deborah Adele writes “to help is to one up a person.  Support meets the person on level playing field.”  Today I invite you to discern the difference in your life.  Are you busying helping people or supporting people?  I help my students when they struggle with a concept.  I am teaching them the skills they need to be productive citizens in this crazy world.  However, I support my colleagues when they approach me about a topic or a situation that is happening in their classrooms.  I always begin a conversation with a colleague about how we are a team and together we will find something that works for the situation.

Do you find yourself helping people or supporting them?

Ahimsa day 3 March 25, 2020

Balance

Something I struggle with at times.  I go, go, go.  Eat the same foods day in and day out. Partly out of ease and partly because I really do enjoy what I eat.  Having struggled with many body image and eating issues in the past, balance is something that often scares me.  What if I eat _______, will I gain 20 pounds?  What if I skip a workout?  Will I lose all the muscle I worked so hard for?  Will I lose my flexibility if I skip yoga a day?  Am I lazy for wanting to stay in bed all day and not get up early to walk the dog, workout, read, be productive in general?  Studying in my yoga teacher training classes has taught me a lot about self love and just letting go of expectations and being present in the moment.  It has taught me not to freak out about my schedule and to relax and go with the flow of things.  When I start resisting what is happening to me, anxiety sets in as well as tension in my jaw and shoulders.

I pray anyone struggling to find balance learns to let go and ride out the waves of life.   Please reach out to someone you trust or respond here if you’d like to chat about all things balance and how I found it in my life.  Wishing everyone light, love, and happiness on this rainy Wednesday.  Namaste.

Ahimsa Day 2 March 24, 2020

Today I encourage you to try something new in an effort to be brave.  Part of living without limits is being brave and true to yourself.  When you fully embrace who you are, there’s no need to worry about judgements.  You just live.  Today, I am creating a ZOOM account so that I can teach virtually.  I am excited to be able to offer this service to my colleagues when they need it the most.   Tell me what you are trying today.

Ahimsa-nonviolence March 23, 2020

According to Debra Adele’s book The Yamas and Niyamas, Ahimsa is considered the core value of yogi principles.  Live your life the way you want to live it, without doing harm to yourself or others.  “The way you treat yourself is the way you will treat those around you.”  Because I love myself so much, it is easy for me to love people.  It is also easy for me to ” step lightly, do no harm, and honor the relationship we have with the Earth, each other, and ourselves.”

During this time of slowing down and not really having a schedule, how do you take time to love yourself?  I am running my diffuser with a different type of essential oil, eating yummy foods that I love, spending as much time as I can petting and snuggling Robin, and also working on some major projects around my house.  My house feels great and I do too.

Online book study

Hello friends,

With the current state of unrest that I feel in our world right now, I am reminded of the Yamas and Niyamas.  Multiple trips to the grocery store to try to find what I need have become fruitless.  I am having to improvise, adapt, and flow with life.  I’m thankful that I have food to eat, fresh fruits and vegetables and items in my pantry.  I know there are many people who cannot say the same.  During my recent trip to the store, I had another customer say to me, “You don’t have that many items.  You can use the express lane.” I politely told him no. All I could think about was a single mother coming in with a crying baby just needing one or two things, and I would be standing in that line where she needed to be.   I stayed in the line I was in and chatted with him about his work experience at Dupont.  I would have felt awful about “stealing” someone’s place in line when they needed it more than me.

I think about Asteya, nonstealing and Brahmacharya, nonexcess, during my trips to the store.  I am not willing to take more than I need.  I am not looking to take something that I know someone else may need.  That is not how a yoig lives.  I will not hoard items in my pantry.  I will not hoard items in the closet.  I have all that I need and will be able to create meals based on the foods I have.

I have decided to run an online book study of the Yamas and Niyamas.  There will be a different prompt a day for us to write and respond to.  Using the yogi principles of Ishvara Pranidhana, surrender, and Pratipaksha Bharana, taking negative experiences and changing them into positives, I am approaching my life as gracefully as I can.  If you are interested in joining me, here is the book I will be referencing:

I wish you love, light, peace, and happiness.

Carol