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Better Days

by ultrapeg

changing seasons

Every day is different. Even people living a completely ritualized existence will need to acknowledge this fact.  If nothing else, think about weather.  There may be places on earth where the weather is the same every day, but I doubt it.  Even if you live alone in the woods you are still part of an ecosystem that is in a constant state of flux. None of us is exempt from external influences.  We are all interconnected in this way.  Each of us is just a small part of a larger whole where we frequently find ourselves being impacted by circumstances beyond our control. This can be a blessing or a curse depending on your point of view.

Some of us welcome change.  These folks are constantly seeking something different and may even get bored or restless when things seem to stay the same for too long.  Others (and this is most of us) hate change, resisting even the smallest manifestations.  We like consistency because it gives us a sense of predictability reinforcing our illusion of control.  If we believe we can rely on things as they are, we don’t have to fear the unknown.  This fear is really just anxiety that we won’t be able to handle whatever changes occur in the future.

Despite this sense of anxiety there is not a single person among us who can look back through their lives and not see evidence of an ability to handle change.  We’ve all faced changes at some point in our lives regardless of our age.  In fact, small children change on a daily basis and usually manage to adapt.  As we age, we may become more invested in the status quo.  Yet we can still find even more examples of accepting change.  We may have been dragged kicking and screaming into a different scenario from the one we were used to, but still most of us find a way eventually to see things as they are and adjust.  Sometimes change brings hidden blessings which may not be recognized immediately but might become evident in hindsight.  Looking back can sometimes help us move forward when change is required.

Sometimes change is forced on us for one reason or another.  At other times the status quo itself is causing our suffering and we need to create our own change.  This can be difficult.  Inertia is a powerful force.  Also, just as changes in the world impact our own personal lives, so changes we make to our personal lives can impact the lives of others.  This doesn’t make those changes good or bad, right or wrong.  But it does help to remember that all decisions have consequences, some unexpected and unanticipated.  Being willing to accept and deal with the consequences whatever they are is one of the characteristics of resilience.  This is a quality defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.”  You may have heard the saying “pain is inevitable but suffering is optional.” Resilience is one of the traits that help us deal with the pain without buying into the suffering.

So what does all of this have to do with yoga, Pilates or exercise in general, my usual themes?  Basically it’s this – since each day is different and change is all around us all of the time, our practice can be impacted.  One of the many benefits of practice is that it helps us to deal with stress.  Practice can be an anchor in a raging sea of change.  There can be a comfort in the experience of simple breath and movement.  One of the things I often tell students is that if you really focus on connecting breath and movement there is usually no room in your head for anything else.  This can provide a brief respite from the ills of the world.  In fact, practice might help you to remember that in this moment right now there is still alot that is OK.  We as humans seem to naturally gravitate to noticing what’s wrong more often than what is right. Those of you who take my classes know that at the end of each class I always offer gratitude for being able to move and breathe.  This is something I learned from yoga teacher Seane Corn and I am grateful to her for passing on that tip.  It has served me well.

Another consequence of daily changes is that some days are better than others physically as well as mentally.  As we get older, we tend to focus on the negative aspects of these feelings, but they are not limited to older people.  Everyone has days when they feel like they could conquer the world and other days when staying in bed seems like the only option.  On days like that it helps to remember that practice can be a source of comfort.  If you take classes regular, the group can also be a support.  Just like you feel differently on some days, your practice can be different, too.  If you’re not feeling terribly energetic or if you are bogged down by some difficulty, don’t blow off your practice. Instead allow it to change just as you are changing.  Be gentle.  Take it slow.  Don’t work so hard.  Bend your knees more.  Try using an extra blanket or other prop to make it less stressful.  Or just take Child’s Pose and breathe whenever you feel like it. You can also just completely avoid poses that are painful or difficult.  Or use modifications even if that’s something you rarely do.  There are no expectations you need to live up to. Your practice is for you alone.  There may be a benefit to others due to the effects of your practice on you, but that’s not the point.  The ultimate goal is for you to take care of yourself.  So just for today whatever will help you do that is the right thing to do.  Tomorrow will be different.

Think Small

by ultrapeg

Tenacious Little FlowersAfter living most of my life in the Northeast corner of the U.S. where high humidity is frequently a dominant feature of local weather patterns, I now live in the dry, high desert climate of the Black Hills of South Dakota.  In addition to adjusting to cultural differences, it has also been interesting to observe and learn about the differences in local flora and fauna.  Not surprisingly, stuff that grows where it’s wet is often totally different from stuff that grows where it’s dry.

Having grown up in congested suburbs and cities, I must admit that I did not pay much attention to nature during my childhood.  My parents were not outdoorsy people.  Once I spent two weeks in a Girl Scout camp in upstate New York, but that was the extent of my exposure to living in the woods.  My mother appreciated the roses, dogwood tree and azaleas in our front yard, but she was not a gardener.  We didn’t even have pets.  In grade school I recall learning about butterflies and their emergence from cocoons.  One day I found a cocoon on a branch, took it home and put it in a jar expecting to watch the birth of baby butterflies. What hatched instead was about 100 praying mantises.  My mother freaked out and immediately ended my observation of nature in action.

It wasn’t until much later in life that I got introduced to trail running and, by extension, hiking and even a little bit of camping, albeit mostly with an RV.  At first trail running was really hard for me.  The roots and rocks, steep climbs and descents were alien and daunting.  But eventually I came to really appreciate being in the woods.  That exposure was enough to inspire me to become a lover of the outdoors, regardless of the season.  The wide open spaces and abundant public land of my current home has increased that appreciation even more. Having said that, though, my knowledge of living things that reside in natural habitats remains incredibly paltry.  The good news is I now have many friends with backgrounds in things like wildlife biology, ornithology and horticulture who have kindly been willing to share their knowledge with me.  Now when I hike I find myself actually making an effort to observe the plant and animal life around me.  Although I still rarely remember the names of things, I do notice many more things than I ever did before.

Recently I journeyed back to western Massachusetts for a hiking trip with friends.  It had been many years since I had been there and I had forgotten how lush the forest can be.  The area we were in had recently experienced abundant rains which brought out a profusion of leaves and flowers.  When I left South Dakota the greening and blooming were still in very early stages so the proliferation encountered in New England was almost like sensory overload.  The trees seemed enormous and the flowers riotous in the variety of colors and shapes.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip and a good reminder of the vastness of our country and the many regional differences.  But I was grateful to return to the wide opens spaces of my current home.  Still I commented on these differences to a friend recently and she said, “Here you need to think small.”  It’s true.  Even the deer and the squirrels are smaller here, but that doesn’t make them any less significant.  Also we have a surprisingly wide variety of wildflowers in the Black Hills, but some of them are tiny.  Little gems that only reveal themselves to the most patient and careful observer.  Some flowers, like the hearty wood lilly, appear only as singles rather than in groups.  They display a rare red bloom that seems to shine out in the middle of pine cones and ground cover.  Living here has helped me to become more discerning and attentive to detail.  No longer do I take abundance for granted.  Yet life is tenacious even in the most seemingly inhospitable places.  Here we see tiny trees and flowers clinging to the sides of rocks, returning to bloom every year despite wind, hail and temperatures that can reach into the double digits below zero.

All of these traits provide lessons that relate directly to my usual themes of mindful movement and practice.  First, there is the call to be present in the moment.  Paying attention to my immediate surroundings, rather than lamenting the past or worrying about the future, allows me to experience the joy of noticing what’s right here right now.  Without that mindfulness I might miss out on some elusive and beautiful treat.

Secondly, there is value to “thinking small”.  Little things can make a big difference.  For example, sometimes the tiniest of modifications can turn a yoga or Pilates move from something dreaded into something do-able.  Also small changes can result in big gains. Followers of this blog know that I’m a strong advocate for taking baby steps toward whatever goal you have in mind.  Rather than overwhelming yourself and risking injury or turn-off by trying to do everything at once, take small steps and increase slowly.  Start with 2 or 3 repetitions of a movement instead of 10.  Hold the yoga pose for 1 breath instead of 5.  Walk to the corner of your street or to your neighbor’s driveway and back rather than hiking for 3 miles on your first day out.

Long-time teachers in many disciplines often tout the benefits of adopting a “beginner’s mind” regardless of your level of experience in a particular discipline.  This is because beginners usually have no idea what’s going to happen when they are just starting out.  They have fewer expectations and are more willing to simply allow the process to unfold.  Whatever it is that you want to do, if you start slow and practice regularly there will almost certainly come a day when you suddenly realize you are doing more than you thought you could.  That’s a great motivator for continuing your practice.  The key is that release of expectations.  Don’t get hung up on the outcome.  Just pay attention to the process and observe what is happening in each moment.

Your own ability to move and breathe is as miraculous as the amazing variety of living things that surround us.  Treat your body with the same reverence and you will find its unique beauty.